(Art/Ziona Kocher)
You can’t say that the songwriters of Athens aren’t a bunch of dreamy folk. Many of us spend nights outside in tents or on roofs, listening to crickets and looking at the night sky. Many a good song has been inspired by those brightly burning balls of gas and frozen space junk hanging up there in the black. The following are some Athens songs about space or have some connection with planets.
“Satan’s in Space” – Packway Handle Band
A delightful little folk tune about the dangers of letting your guard down against the Prince of Darkness. Turns out that ol’ Lucifer is everywhere you are too. Even in space. So next time you’re floating around collecting moon rocks, watch out for a hoofed space suit.
“Solar System” – Vigilantes of Love
A beautiful and haunting ballad from, in my opinion, the best songwriter in Athens. With vivid imagery and a soft performance from the Vigilantes, the quiet tune will stick around to find you in the depths of the night, making you wish you could listen to it forever.
“Astronauts” – Modern Skirts
A rare song sung by Phillip, it’s the understated parts of the song that really grab onto you and force you to re-listen. Harmonies seem to come from outer space, bouncing off the satellites and into your brain.
“Little Aries Girl” – The Bros. Marler
A country tribute to times gone by. It’s more about the girl than the Aries part. True, Aries is a constellation more so than anything else but it is considered a masculine, positive sign. Found on the album “Songs For Pluto.”
“Man on the Moon” – R.E.M.
Probably the song that best represents the R.E.M. sound, “Man on the Moon” deals less with the lunar and more with the abstract ideas of life embodied by Andy Kaufman. Putting a man on the moon could be seen as the pinnacle of human achievement. So if you believe they put a man on the moon, isn’t anything possible?
“Comet” – Five Eight
A touching song from the rockers about how the little one is a comet in the subject’s sky. It’s amazing how comets often only come around once every few centuries. It takes a very special person to be a comet. At the same time powerful and beautiful.
“Saturn Return” – R.E.M.
Full of references to the great beyond that is space (see what I did there?), it’s the quiet and contemplative sound of this Reveal track that makes it work. Written from the viewpoint of a woman who takes a ladder to the top of her workplace and just leaves everything behind by looking up at the stars. Sometimes that’s the only way.
“Another Athens Song About…” is a continuing feature where we discover and dive into topics that appear to be popular with Athens bands.
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