Weekend Playlist: Songs About Mars

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Andrew Liptak in Weekend Playlist // 7 Comments

Welcome back to the Weekend Playlist! We hope that you had a good week off for Thanksgiving, and now that the holiday is over, we’re back to full swing.

On Saturday, NASA launched Curiosity, a new Mars rover that will explore the red planet, and to commemorate it’s 9 month voyage, we’re looking at songs about Mars this week.

“Mars, The Bringer of War” by Gustav Holst

There is no more evocative piece of music when talking about the planets than Gustav Holst’s classical piece, “Mars, the Bringer of War”. Dark, brooding, and all around excellent, this is a stunning piece of music in a stunning series of songs.

“The Case for Mars” by Symphony of Science

Symphony Of Science has hit another one out of the park with “The Case for Mars”, featuring Robert Zubrin, Carl Sagan, Brian Cox, and Penelope Boston with samples the “The Mars Underground”, Cosmos, and Wonders of the Solar System documentaries.

“Life on Mars” by David Bowie

This is one of my favorite Bowie songs: energetic, interesting and fun all at the same time, it’s a highly recognizable piece of music, and one that’s inspired numerous covers (and television shows). Truly a rock classic.

“Life On Mars” by Dexter Wansel

This “Life on Mars” isn’t a cover of David Bowie’s more famous song, but it’s off of Wansel’s debut album by the same title. This bit of space-funk is inspired by science fiction themes, and it’s a neat ambient / funk track that I’ve grown to enjoy.

“Moving to Mars” by Coldplay

This is a quiet song from Coldplay’s Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall EP, and is a neat track with some vivid science fiction imagery throughout.

Marco @ Angry Robot // December 2, 2011 at 3:13 am //

And a few more for you from the Angry Robot office jukebox…

The full-on colonisation freakout that is Hawkwind’s “Uncle Sam’s On Mars”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGyeULvpQdY

Retro rocking with the Hoodoo Gurus on “Mars Needs Guitars”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCPbIqVM5do 

If you’re a techno head, check out the legendary Underground Resistance spin-off, Red Planet, who released not one but X twelve-inch EPs devoted to Mars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR6GkLguprc

And the pounding “Mars Needs Women” from Meat Beat Manifesto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6zSU7fzdmY

Freewheeling indie-pop with Ash and “Girl From Mars”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8hJXLW6kKk (OK, not actually about the red planet.)

Oh, and *cough* Jeff Wayne’s “The War of the Worlds”…

Yr Angry pals.

Andrew Liptak // December 2, 2011 at 7:38 am //

That’s an awesome list, all of which I didn’t have: onto the master list they go!

John Anealio // December 2, 2011 at 10:06 am //

Howie Day has a great song called “Postcard from Mars” from his Sound the Alarm album.

Mike Johnstone // December 2, 2011 at 2:22 pm //

There’s also “Field of Mars” by The Church, on The Blurred Crusade (1982).

Field of Mars

Jetse // December 2, 2011 at 6:43 pm //

The second part of the “Clone” album of British prog metal band Threshold is about a trip to Mars: the very last song is indeed called “Sunrise on Mars”.

Houston melodic metal band Galactic Cowboys (cool name if there ever is one) has a song called “Ranch on Mars Reprise” on their self-titled debut album, and one called “Ranch on Mars” on their second album: “Space in Your Face“.

Canadian metal band Voivod had an album called “Phobos” (with the title track being about Mars’s moon).

Maybe more as they occur to me.

PS: even if not songs, there are bands with Mars in their name like 30 Seconds to Mars and The Mars Volta.