Galaxy Song Explained

Galaxy Song
Cover:Galaxy Song.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Monty Python
Album:Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
B-Side:"Every Sperm Is Sacred"
Released:27 June 1983
2 December 1991 (reissue)
Label:CBS / MCA
Producer:Andre Jacquemin[1]
Prev Title:I Like Chinese
Prev Year:1980

"Galaxy Song" is a Monty Python song written by Eric Idle and John Du Prez.[2]

The song first appeared in the 1983 film Monty Python's The Meaning of Life and was later released on the album Monty Python Sings. The song was released as a single in the UK on 27 June 1983 when it reached No. 77 in the charts[3] and again on 2 December 1991 as a follow-up to the successful reissue of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. In 2014 the song was featured in the live stage show Monty Python Live (Mostly) which was followed by another single release on 13 April 2015, this time in collaboration with Stephen Hawking.

Premise and synopsis

The song originally debuted during the comedy sketch "Live Organ Transplants". The paramedic (John Cleese), upon failing to persuade Mrs. Brown (Terry Jones) to donate her liver, opens the refrigerator doors to reveal a man wearing a pink morning suit (Eric Idle). The man accompanies Mrs. Brown through outer space singing various statistics about the galaxy. The upshot of the song (which follows a synthesized instrumental montage that, in the movie, is accompanied by a computer-animated picture of a woman being impregnated and giving birth to the universe) is that in the grand scheme of the universe, the likelihood of Mrs. Brown's existence was almost zero, but that she should "pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space, 'cause there's bugger all down here on Earth". The singer returns to the refrigerator, at which point Mrs. Brown admits that the singer convinced her to hand over her liver.

Accuracy of astronomical figures

The lyrics include a number of astronomical quantities, most of which are accurate to within one or two significant figures. A few statements are only approximately correct or have liberties with definitions, likely to fit within the meter of the song.[4]

Remake

Released in 1984, Jim Post's album Crooner From Outer Space features a remake called "Galaxy/Lighten Up".[16]

"Galaxy Song" was performed by Sharon, Lois & Bram on The Elephant Show and appeared on their album Stay Tuned. (The final line was changed to "Because we need some here on Earth".)

In 1999, Clint Black recorded a remake of "The Galaxy Song" on his album D'lectrified, as well as the "Outside Intro (To Galaxy Song)", which he co-wrote and sang with Idle.

In late 2012, an updated version of "The Galaxy Song" aired on BBC Two in a trailer for Wonders of Life, hosted by physicist Brian Cox. It was called "The Galaxy DNA Song" by Idle.[17]

In 2014, the song was performed in the stage show Monty Python Live (Mostly). Idle emerges from a refrigerator and begins singing to an elderly woman (Carol Cleveland). At one point, they start dancing on stage as a clip shows them dancing among the stars with the galaxy in the background. After the song ends, the show cuts to a clip of Cox at Cambridge discussing the various scientific inaccuracies within the song only to be knocked over by Stephen Hawking with his motorized wheelchair. Hawking tells Cox not to be so pedantic, then starts to sing the song himself. Hawking's cover for the song was released as a Record Store Day single in 2015.

In December 2016, the theme of the song was extended into the hour-long BBC Two The Entire Universe show. Written and co-presented by Idle and Professor Brian Cox, it took the form of a lecture by Cox interspersed with a "comedy and musical extravaganza with the help of Warwick Davis, Noel Fielding, Hannah Waddingham and Robin Ince, alongside a chorus of singers and dancers". The show closed with an ensemble rendition of "The Galaxy Song" with updated figures: the galaxy containing 500 billion stars instead of 100 billion; the galaxy rotation speed of 500,000 mph instead of 40,000; the galaxy thickness as 6,000 ly instead of 16,000, and a spiral arm thickness of 1,000 ly instead of 3,000.[18]

In December 2019, Sabine Hossenfelder (physicist and quantum gravity researcher) covered the song for a YouTube video – retaining many elements of the original Monty Python set in cartoon form.[19]

Parodies and other uses

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Monty Python – Galaxy Song . Discogs .
  2. Monty Python Sings CD booklet. 1989 Virgin Records
  3. Web site: galaxy song . Official Charts Company .
  4. A study of the Galaxy Song by Eric Idle . Paul . Kohlmiller . San Jose Astronomical Association . Ephemeris . December 2003.
  5. Web site: What is Earth's mean orbital speed?. WhatIs.com. 11 March 2008. 16 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090916005524/http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid183_gci849653,00.html. dead. 2.978589*10^4 m/s is 18.51 miles per second
  6. Web site: Earth's Speed . Jerry . Pool . AOL . https://web.archive.org/web/20030919160000/http://members.aol.com/nlpjp/speed.htm . 19 September 2003.
  7. Web site: The Speed of Light. University of Virginia.
  8. http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question18.html NASA – StarChild Question of the Month for February 2000
  9. Web site: Period of the sun's orbit around the galaxy (cosmic year). Stacy. Leong. 2002. The Physics Factbook. Elert. Glenn. 2022-01-25.
  10. Web site: Ready Reference. justforkidsonly.com.
  11. Web site: How Fast Are You Moving When You Are Sitting Still?. 2017-09-27. 483000 miles/hour = 11.5 million miles/day
  12. Web site: Milky Way Galaxy . University of Oregon . 11 March 2008 . 4 February 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080204231258/http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast122/lectures/lec25.html . dead .
  13. Web site: Milky Way twice as thick as thought . earthtimes.org . 4 August 2008 . 16 July 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150716173950/http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/186976,milky-way-twice-as-thick-as-thought.html . dead .
  14. Web site: John Alex . Wood . 6 or 16 thousand light years thick? . 4 August 2008 . pythonline.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20080815043835/http://pythonline.com/blogs/johnalexwood/6_or_16_thousand_light_years_thick . 15 August 2008.
  15. Web site: Wright . E. L. . 12 June 2009 . Cosmology Tutorial – Part 2 . Ned Wright's Cosmology Tutorial . . 2011-09-26.
  16. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Web site: 900 MPH The Galaxy/Lighten Up . YouTube.
  17. Web site: Idle . Eric . 29 October 2012 . Eric Idle on 'Galaxy Song,' the New Biological Version . The Nerdist.
  18. Web site: The Entire Universe. BBC. 26 December 2017. 27 December 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20161227183617/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b086kfbj. 27 December 2016.
  19. Web site: Galaxy Song, Monty Python (cover). . 11 May 2022.
  20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE8q43ZfokU Courts UK Advert: "See You All In Courts"
  21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSRqzc4fUEw Courts UK Advert: "See You All In Courts: Winter Sale"