Where are all the STEM songs hiding?

[WWGD]

Since we are on the topic of STEM songs, Neil deGrasse Tyson was asked on the popular YouTube show First We Feast by host Sean Evans on rap lyrics with references or comments on science.

(Note: Skip ahead on the video to 11:56.)

De Grasse is always greener with Neil ;).

 

[pinball1970]

You're just jealous 'cause Vanadium isn't first.

Why Vanadium?
I think we have demonstrated songs about science are not that rare.
Hawkwind sang about Galileo and Einstein, interstellar travel cloning, sonic attack...
This one is about pseudoscience.

 

[pinball1970]

There is a connection between this song and Orgone accumulator.

 

[pinball1970]

This is certainly a Scientific question. Probably the question now is WAS there life on Mars.
Anyway a good excuse to put more Bowie up.

 

[OCR]

Probably the question now is WAS there life on Mars.

Just off and on . . . .

.

 

[WWGD]

This is certainly a Scientific question. Probably the question now is WAS there life on Mars.
Anyway a good excuse to put more Bowie up.

Dont mean to nitpick but is it about technical questions on determining if there was/is life on the moon or about emotional implications of the existence of life on the moon? Sorry, I am on my phone having trouble opening the video.

 

[pinball1970]

Dont mean to nitpick but is it about technical questions on determining if there was/is life on the moon or about emotional implications of the existence of life on the moon? Sorry, I am on my phone having trouble opening the video.

Bowies lyrics can be cryptic at the best of times.
He give some explanation here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars_(song)

 

[WWGD]

This is a perfect example of what I was referring to in terms of songs being visceral:

Whether you like the song or not, it hits you in the gut before you even consider analyzing it.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

There are plenty of STEM tunes, here are a few I like:



I'll write a tune on F theory and LQG...

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

I am more into instrumental music; and I study with instrumental music the best.

 

[WWGD]

I am more into instrumental music; and I study with instrumental music the best.

I like some of the white noise " music". Seems one gets enough input otherwise in today's world.

 

[chemisttree]

Not sure if it is STEM enough but here goes...

“In the constellation of Cygnus
There lurks a mysterious, invisible force
The Black Hole of Cygnus X-1
Six stars of the northern cross
In mourning for their sister's loss
In a final flash of glory
Nevermore to grace the night
Invisible
To telescopic eye
Infinity
The star that would not die
All who dare
To cross her course
Are swallowed by
A fearsome force
Through the void
To be destroyed
Or is there something more?
Atomized, at the core
Or through the astral door
To soar
I set a course just east of Lyra
And northwest of Pegasus
Flew into the light of Deneb
Sailed across the Milky Way
On my ship, the 'Rocinante'
Wheeling through the galaxies,
Headed for the heart of Cygnus
Headlong into mystery
The x-ray is her siren song
My ship cannot resist her long
Nearer to my deadly goal
Until the black hole
Gains control
Spinning, whirling
Still descending
Like a spiral sea
Unending
Sound and fury
Drowns my heart
Every nerve
Is torn apart”

Cygnus X-1, Rush

 

[chemisttree]

In answer to the OP’s question, “why so rare?”, I submit that it’s because you can’t dance to a STEM song.

 

[WWGD]

In answer to the OP’s question, “why so rare?”, I submit that it’s because you can’t dance to a STEM song.

Just, I guess, like one cannot dance to something like the 'Happy Birthday' song. That would be fun to watch :).( Of course, the birthday song is not intended as music.)

 

[AndyY]

In answer to the OP’s question, “why so rare?”, I submit that it’s because you can’t dance to a STEM song.

I feel like all the They Might Be Giants STEM songs beg to differ

 

[pinball1970]

In answer to the OP’s question, “why so rare?”, I submit that it’s because you can’t dance to a STEM song.

You have never been to a Hawkwind gig?

 

[gleem]

A Tribute to space travel by Joe Steven inspired by the SpaceX Mars project.

 

[BWV]

A catchy tribute to The Manhattan Project

 

[MidgetDwarf]

Mathematics and particularly, the usage of Mathematician, has been used in countless Hip Hop songs.

 

[256bits]

This has got to be stem.

 

[gleem]

While not a STEM song or about STEM subjects the title does invoke a scientific theme. "The Neutron Dance" by the Pointer Sisters, written by Allee Willis and Danny Sembello. I was supposedly written to be used in the film "Streets of Fire" humored to be about the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust which it turned out not to be. Instead it was featured in the movie "Beverly Hills Cop"

 

[Mary Conrads Sanburn]

Girl on Fire Angelica Hale Gets the Guest GOLDEN BUZZER!

 

[waternohitter]

“The Prawn Song” — Superorganism

 

[WWGD]

A false positive:


Somehow found it as a hit but not quite, it seems from hearing it.

 

[Infrared]

String theory put to the melody of Bohemian Rhapsody:


A cute math love song:


There are plenty of pop songs that don't revolve around STEM topics but still allude. For example, the title of Muse's "Butterflies and Hurricanes" (a great song!) is a reference to the butterfly effect, but the song itself has no technical content.

 

[Mary Conrads Sanburn]

Elton John Host The i Heart Living Room Concert for America presented by Fox# StayHome # With Me

 

[Mary Conrads Sanburn]

 

[sadhappymusic]

Feynman would have probably written a cool STEM song if he had cared to try.

 

[DrGreg]

Not really a STEM song, but a science title. And the psychiatrist is played by a real scientist, Magnus Pyke, who was well-known in the UK as the presenter of a science TV show. Despite that, the song failed to chart in the UK, but was a big hit in the US and Canada.

 

[DrGreg]

Not really a STEM song, but a maths title.

 

[atyy]

Tool referred to the Fibonacci sequence in Lateralus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateralus_(song)

 

[Klystron]

The brilliant song "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Canadian musician Gordon Lightfoot contains numerous STEM references including the static and loaded weights of the cargo ship, several integral ship time and calendar (seasonal) references, descriptions of wind, waves and weather, and interesting distance vs. time comparisons that might have saved the vessel. Numbers are used throughout the song to connect the listener to the doomed crew and the bereaved survivors ashore.

Lightfoot weaves technical accuracy with ancient lore and modern musical instruments into a beautiful haunting melody that transcends the relatively mundane original subject matter.

 

[BillTre]

I guess the several indian (native american) words are part of the lore.

 

[jtbell]

I'm surprised that apparently nobody has mentioned Tom Lehrer yet.

[added: ah, now I see Tom has been mentioned. Serves me right for relying on the forum's thread search, which can't peek into videos and extract the text from them. ]

 

[Janus]

While not technically a song, here is Albedo 0.39 by Vangelis, from the 1976 album of the same title.