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Science Fiction has been around since the start of the 19th century and the writing of the first novel in the genre by Mary Shelley in the form of Frankenstein. Since then, over the course of its rich history, it has touched every aspect of human culture and imagination, from art to culture to architecture, and most notably for this article, music.
While the list of music that was inspired by works of Science Fiction is beyond the scope of all but the most exhaustive of encyclopedias, readers might be surprised to find that some of the most seminal works in Western music are inspired by works of the genre.
These works, which will be elaborated upon briefly in the paragraphs below, include the obvious, such as Space Oddity by David Bowie, as well as some not so obvious in their inspiration, like Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze.
"Purple Haze", "Space Oddity" and other iconic songs inspired by Science Fiction
1) "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix - inspired by "Night of Light" by Philip Jose Farmer
Jimi Hendrix was reading Night of Light by Phillip Jose Farmer, which tells the story of a binary star world, whose people are often disoriented by sunlight. Farmer’s novel and its disorientation plot device was the inspiration behind what would eventually become Purple Haze.
2) "Space Oddity" by David Bowie - Inspired by 2001 Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick based on “The Sentinel” by Arthur C. Clarke and Kaleidoscope by Ray Bradbury.
The granddaddy of Science Fiction music, at least by popularity, Space Oddity by David Bowie pays homage to the 1950s Stanley Kubrick film 2001 Space Odyssey, which was in turn based on the fiction piece The Sentinel by Arthur C. Clarke.
While most fans and reviews focus on the homage to the Kubrick film in the song, the song was also inspired by another speculative classic, Kaleidoscope by Ray Bradbury (1951), which focuses on the tragic story of a spaceship crew left behind, just like Major Tom in the song.
3) "Sam Jones" by Leslie Fish and Ernie Mansfield - Inspired by "Downbelow Station" by CJ Cherryh
One of the lesser-known classics of the Filk genre, a genre that started as a way to pay homage to the great works of Science Fiction in some ways, Sam Jones by Leslie Fish and Ernie Mansfield is set in the same setting as the novel by CJ Cherryh and was written in collaboration with the author herself.
The song chronicles the friendship between a station-born apprentice engineer embarking on his first journey and the chief engineer of the starship he boards, who is slowly going blind.
4) "Heartlight" by Neil Diamond - "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" by Steven Spielberg
Neil Diamond co-wrote this song alongside Carole Bayer Sager and her partner back then, Burt Bacharach. The song, from the perspective of a young man who wishes his friend, the titular alien of the film to come back, landed Neil Diamond in legal trouble, with an alleged settlement of $25,000 being the price for it.
5) "The Mule" by Deep Purple - Inspired by "The Second Foundation" by Isaac Asimov
The Mule by Deep Purple is based upon the eponymous psychic warlord from The Second Foundation novel by Isaac Asimov, which was published in 1953. Band member Ian Gilian confirmed the same in the 62nd Q&A reply on his website (no date available):
"Yes, The Mule was inspired by Asimov. It's been a while but I'm sure you've made the right connection...Asimov was required reading in the 60's."
6) "To Tame The Land" by Iron Maiden - Inspired by Frank Herbert's "Dune"
To Tame a Land was inspired by Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 Science Fiction novel and was originally titled after the novel itself. However, Herbert refused to permit the band regarding the song title, so they changed it for legal purposes. The song chronicles the journey of the main character of the novel, Paul Atreides’ journey:
"He rules the sand worms and the Fremen/In the land amongst the stars/Of an age tomorrow/He is destined to be a King/He rules over everything/On the land called planet Dune."
7) "Watcher of the Skies" by Genesis - Inspired by "Childhood's End" by Arthur C. Clarke
Sometimes the inspiration is in the name itself. Watcher of the Skies alludes heavily to the above-mentioned Science Fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke, with the titular 'watchers' being the aliens who stand by and watch as man becomes reliant on technology, ultimately to his doom.
"Now their reign has come to an end/Has life again destroyed life/Do they play elsewhere, do they know/More than their childhood games?/This is the end of man's long union with Earth."
8) "Many Moons" by Janelle Monae - Inspired by "Metropolis" by Fritz Lang
Janelle Monae started her career with a seven-part series that takes inspiration from the 1931 film Metropolis by Fritz Lang, arguably the first Science Fiction film ever produced. Her debut album, Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase), follows the tale of an Android Cindi Mayweather who lives in a world of severely stratified human society, with all strata exploiting androids as a product, turning Fritz Lang’s tale on its head.
Many Moons, the most successful of the singles from the album, brings this to the forefront with a video that is set in an Android Auction event, styled after a fashion catwalk. In it, Cindi performs while people from different strata buy androids as they present them to the crowd and is taken away when her performance causes her to malfunction.
The singer elaborates upon her inspiration from Fritz Lang in an exclusive interview with Elle magazine on August 29, 2013, stating:
"It wasn't until I watched Metropolis, a German expressionist film, that I felt compelled to write a conscious album around science fiction. I heard the line in that movie, "The mediator between the mind and the hand is the heart," and I was like, "Wow, that's my music. That's what I want to represent in my music."
9) "99" by Toto - Inspired by George Lucas's "THX 1138"
Before George Lucas stormed the world with the tale of a galaxy far far away in the form of Star Wars, he envisioned a darker, dystopian future in the form of the Science Fiction film THX 1138, which depicts a character's disintegration in the 25th-century society.
Toto's 99 pays homage to this film, particularly its ending, with the nameless characters of the song mirroring the pervasive sorrow and sense of oppression in the film.
10) "Motorway to Roswell" by Pixies – Roswell and Area 51 conspiracy theories and works
While not inspired by any particular Science Fiction work, Motorway to Roswell is part of the larger mythos around Area 51 and the conspiracies and urban legends surrounding secret government facilities. The song tells the story of an alien who lands on Earth only to be caught and experimented on in Area 51, which is based in Roswell, New Mexico.
Aside from these ten songs mentioned above, Science Fiction has left a mark on several other songs, perhaps the most prominent of which include Karma by David Bowie and I Am The Law by Anthrax.
