Top 30 Songs About UFOs

The house race and rock ‘n’ roll launched on the similar time, so it is maybe no shock artists have seemed to the skies for inspiration.

We’re celebrating that lifelong reference to this record of the Top 30 Songs About UFOs.

Some tunes targeted on rocket males and house cowboys, whereas others ruminated on the thought of aliens invading earth’s orbit. Early rock hits resembling Sheb Wooley’s “The Purple People Eater” went the route of the novelty track, whereas classic-rock artists wrote about UFOs in a grander context (and even named themselves after these unexplained spacecraft).

We check out the Top 30 Songs About UFOs under.

30. Pixies, “The Happening”
From: Bossanova (1990)

Where’s the primary metropolis you’d wish to go to on Earth? In “The Happening,” Pixies frontman Black Francis imagines that the aliens have chosen Las Vegas. He vividly describes the pandemonium that ensues, as emergency CB transmissions unfold the information and vehicles fill unexpectedly wet desert highways to get their glimpse of our otherworldly guests. (Matthew Wilkening)

29. Fleetwood Mac, “Hypnotized”
From: Mystery to Me (1973)

Even the jazzy chords in Fleetwood Mac’s “Hypnotized,” written and sung by Bob Welch, fire up eerie emotions. Things begin innocently sufficient — two mates are merely having espresso collectively when one thing goes by exterior the window. Welch then recollects another unusual tales: a pond in North Carolina with sides like glass, a spot in Mexico the place individuals can fly about at will with none aircraft or engine. (The first of those examples relies on a real-life “anomalous depression,” as Welch advised Songfacts in 2012, close to Winston-Salem {that a} pal had advised him about. The second refers to a personality in a Carlos Castaneda e book, Don Juan the Yaqui Indian “sorcerer.”) Ultimately, Welch decides the one factor extra curious than a UFO itself is the tales we make up about them, “because there’s no explaining what your imagination can make you see and feel.” (Allison Rapp)

28. Sheb Wooley, “The Purple People Eater”
From: Single (1958)

Inspired by the joke a pal’s youngster advised, Sheb Wooley reportedly wrote this light-hearted, chart-topping monitor about an alien invasion in lower than an hour. “The Purple People Eater” has gone on to change into probably the most well-known novelty songs of all time, and its title was adopted because the nickname for the Minnesota Vikings’ famed ’70s line of defense. The “one-eyed, one-horned” flying monster described within the track is right here to get a job in a rock ‘n roll band, to not devour anyone. That’s fortunate for him since there aren’t many purple-hued individuals right here on Earth. (Wilkening)

27. Rob Zombie, “Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.”
From: The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser (2016)

Watch out for warp-speed whiplash as we bounce from essentially the most kid-friendly track on our UFO songs record to the one with essentially the most NSFW lyrics. In Rob Zombie’s foul-mouthed invasion story, the aliens are in search of intercourse along with large-scale destruction, they usually’re fortunate sufficient to have discovered the proper occasion host. (Wilkening)

26. Foreigner, “Starrider”
From: Foreigner (1977)

“Starrider” is a curious pay attention which sounds extra like a track that the Moody Blues may need crafted than a Foreigner track. It opens with a fragile flute half, performed by ex-King Crimson alum Ian McDonald, who had been drafted into the Foreigner ranks. In one other curveball, guitarist Mick Jones takes the lead vocal as an alternative of Lou Gramm. But as “Starrider” retains climbing increased and better, Gramm steps in on the climax with an appropriately epic vocal half. “Speed increasing, all control is in the hands of those who know / Will they help us grow, to one day be starriders?” The cosmic story shortly turned a stay standout as soon as they hit the highway in 1977. (Matt Wardlaw)

25. Ramones, “Zero Zero UFO”
From: Brain Drain (1989)

Dee Dee Ramone co-wrote a few paranormal punk tunes for his final Ramones album: “Pet Semetary” (written in live performance with the film’s launch) and “Zero Zero UFO.” Joey Ramone growls the lyrics a few man in Idaho who witnesses the touchdown of an alien spacecraft that “did not look like it came from Japan.” An odd man approaches him, however we’re not advised a lot about what occurs after that, besides that most of the people isn’t prone to imagine tall tales advised by potato farmers. (Bryan Wawzenek)

24. Pink Floyd, “Let There Be More Light”
From: A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)

There’s no terror or dread to be present in Roger Waters’ story of a UFO’s first go to to a navy base, simply surprise and enlightenment. The opening monitor from Pink Floyd’s sophomore album borrows a personality from the Beatles as “Lucy in the Sky,” dazzling in flowing robes, is the being revealed as soon as the outer lock of the mighty ship is rolled open to the amazement of the gathered servicemen. (Wilkening)

23. Brownsville Station, “The Martian Boogie”
From: Brownsville Station (1977)

If “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” is the one track you already know by Brownsville Station, you’re in for an actual journey with “The Martian Boogie.” The B-movie sci-fi story that unfolds throughout seven minutes, expertly narrated by vocalist Cub Koda, is absolute lunar perfection in its execution. Koda and the Martian have an unforgettable assembly in a late-night diner. The alien has arrived within the unnamed city, it appears as a result of he was advised it was the boogie capital of the usA. Brownsville Station allegedly recorded it in a single take, they usually have been satisfied that they had the track which might change into their largest hit since “Smokin’.” That didn’t occur, however it stays an interesting novelty of their catalog. (Wardlaw)

22. Judas Priest, “Invader”
From: Stained Class (1978)

Judas Priest continued refining and streamlining their anthemic heavy-metal assault on Stained Class, however the album nonetheless featured a number of moments of progressive, sci-fi grandeur that categorized their early output. See: “Invader,” a cinematic story of extraterrestrial guests launching an offensive blitz towards an unsuspecting Earth. Rob Halford’s uncharacteristically subdued vocal permits the suspense to construct throughout every verse, whereas Glenn Tipton evokes dueling laser beams together with his hovering guitar solo. Judas Priest’s lyrical M.O. of excellent triumphing over evil stays intact on “Invader,” as Halford declares, “We won’t give in without a fight, a fight until the end.” (Bryan Rolli)

21. Porno for Pyros, “Pets”
From: Porno for Pyros (1993)

Porno for Pyros frontman Perry Farrell is greater than able to roll out the welcome mat for any conquering alien forces who wish to take over the Earth. “My friend says we’re like the dinosaurs, only we are doing ourselves in much faster than they ever did,” he laments on the primary single from his post-Jane’s Addiction band Porno for Pyros. His resolution is straightforward: Let someone else run issues. “Maybe Martians could do better than we’ve done. We’ll make great pets.” (Wilkening)

20. Misfits, “I Turned Into a Martian”
From: Walk Among Us (1982)

The cowl of Walk Among Us, the Misfits’ debut album, exhibits the horror-punk pioneers standing in entrance of the UFOs from 1956’s Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers and the Martian Bat-Rat-Spider from 1959’s The Angry Red Planet. The LP inside is a 25-minute tour de pressure of B-movie carnage, off-the-rails riffing and gang-vocal choruses and almost all of its songs could be proper at residence on this record. “I Turned Into a Martian” is likely one of the grisliest of the bunch, a breathlessly catchy blitzkrieg about an earthling who’s possessed by an alien invader and develops an insatiable thirst for homicide. “Can’t even recall my name – won’t you tell me, what the fuck is my name?” Glenn Danzig wails, however one will get the sense that he is having fun with his rampage an excessive amount of to care. (Rolli)

19. Elton John, “I’ve Seen the Saucers”
From: Caribou (1974)

Elton John and his co-conspirator Bernie Taupin are not any strangers to space-based songs. On the mid-tempo rocker that opens Side 2 of Caribou, John sings in regards to the pleasure of a real believer who’s taken aboard a UFO. Facing the big scope of the universe, the house traveler shortly will get homesick (similar to the “Rocket Man”) and prays to return to Earth quickly: “Maybe if I promise not to say a word, they can get me back before the morning light.” (Wawzenek)

18. Sammy Hagar, “Silver Lights”
From: Nine on a Ten Scale (1976)

Sammy Hagar has been obsessive about unexplained phenomena for many years, writing a number of songs (resembling this one, from his solo debut) in regards to the universe and the opposite life kinds that will exist in it. “Silver Lights” describes a gaggle of alien beings that visited Earth, then whisked a few of the inhabitants away whereas the remainder “fought for the broken bits” that remained. In his autobiography, Hagar described a dream he had about having his ideas uploaded by aliens – one thing he later claimed wasn’t only a dream, however occurred to him. If he will get kidnapped once more, it higher be in a fast-flying saucer. After all, Sammy can’t fly 55. (Wawzenek)

17. Billy Thorpe, “Children of the Sun”
From: Children of the Sun (1979)

This makes our record for Thorpe’s out-of-this-world intro alone, one which begins with a sequence of ominous, closely processed rhythms earlier than exploding into wave after thunderous wave of streaming spaceships. They descend upon our honest planet, surrounded by a silvery mild (and a monstrous riff), then open the door to a brand new world of sights and sounds – however solely after a weightless center eight that finds the earthlings experiencing zero gravity for the primary time. Cool! (Wawzenek)

16. Jefferson Airplane, “Have You Seen the Saucers?”
From: “Mexico” single (1970)

Released because the B-side to the anti-Nixon tirade “Mexico,” “Have You Seen the Saucers?” marked the final recording by the classic-era Jefferson Airplane lineup. Over Jorma Kaukonen’s livid, wah-drenched lead guitar, Grace Slick dares listeners to think about: What if alien craft are the least of our worries? What in the event that they’re only a handy scapegoat for greater, extra imminent horrors, like government-launched missiles? What if aliens have not come to destroy us, however to shake their heads in dismay and beckon us to go away this wretched trash heap behind? As leaders of the countercultural and psych-rock revolutions, Jefferson Airplane dared to dream of a utopia unsullied by human corruption. On “Have You Seen the Saucers?” they notice it’d be out of orbit and out of attain. (Rolli)

15. Radiohead, “Subterranean Homesick Alien”
From: OK Computer (1997)

Following the equally themed multipart epic “Paranoid Android,” “Subterranean Homesick Alien” arrives in the midst of Radiohead’s masterwork as one other voice of isolation in a sea of communication breakdown and technology-induced paranoia. “I wish they’d swoop down … take me on board their beautiful ship,” Thom Yorke sings over a skittering rhythm impressed by Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. The track’s origins date again to Yorke’s faculty days when he was assigned to write down “Martian poetry.” Here, his narrator welcomes a visit on a saucer to interrupt up his on a regular basis mundane life. (Michael Gallucci)

14. Graham Parker, “Waiting for the UFO’s”
From: Squeezing Out Sparks (1979)

Showing up close to the tip of Graham Parker’s wonderful Squeezing Out Sparks, “Waiting for the UFO’s” is an anomaly within the album’s overriding idea about residing on the finish of the ’70s. Among tracks like “Local Girls” and “Saturday Nite Is Dead,” a track about anticipating the arrival of holiday makers from outer house appears a little bit misplaced till you dig a little bit deeper. “This new obsession is turning us alien, too,” Parker concludes, tying collectively issues of the guts, authorities conspiracies and extraterrestrial invasion. “We know that they’re there.” And Parker does not appear to thoughts in any respect. (Gallucci)

13. A Flock of Seagulls, “I Ran (So Far Away)”
From: A Flock of Seagulls (1982)

A Flock of Seagulls’ extraterrestrial preoccupation started with their debut single “(It’s Not Me) Talking.” It then carried over to their eponymous debut album, whose breakthrough single “I Ran (So Far Away)” turned the new-wave band’s solely Top 10 U.S. hit. They acquired a double dose of inspiration from watching a band on the Cavern Club of their native Liverpool taking part in a track referred to as “I Ran” and seeing an image of two individuals operating away from a flying saucer the following day. “It was like, ‘Look at that! First ‘I Ran’ and now that!'” lead singer Mike Score advised Billboard. “We went to rehearsal that night, and the picture was in my head, and we started to try to formulate words about that. And when I’m playing live, that picture comes back into my mind.” (Rolli)

12. Klaatu, “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft”
From: 3:47 EST (1976)

For a time within the ’70s, there was a buzz surrounding the Canadian prog band Klaatu that they have been the resurrected Beatles in disguise. Fueling these rumors have been the group’s mysterious lack of look on document covers and their obsession with sci-fi themes. The epic “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” celebrates the very actual World Contact Day when telepathic messages could be beamed to would-be outer-space guests. An odd twist to the story arrived a yr later when Carpenters launched a trustworthy seven-minute cowl model throughout a business downturn. It made it to No. 32. (Gallucci)

11. Megadeth, “Hanger 18”
From: Rust in Peace (1990)

In creating this metallic traditional, Megadeth was impressed by the UFO conspiracy theories suggesting that Hangar 18 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio is the place the U.S. authorities hides aliens and their spaceships – such because the notorious craft mentioned to have landed in Roswell, N.M. Then-drummer Nick Menza was credited because the band’s alien believer, BUT the lyrics additionally tie into frontman Dave Mustaine’s anti-authoritarian stance: “Military intelligence – two words combined that can’t make sense.” (Wawzenek)

10. The B-52’s, “Planet Claire”
From: The B-52’s (1979)

Built on prime of the musical bones of Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn Theme” (to the purpose that the composer obtained a writing credit score), the B-52’s’ “Planet Claire” nonetheless in some way manages to sound like nothing else. A cosmic planetary soundscape takes form within the lengthy intro, which rolls for greater than two and a half minutes earlier than quirky Fred Schneider makes his entrance. Speaking in an appropriately alien cadence, it appears fairly doubtless that he beamed in from components unknown, quite than Athens, Ga. “Planet Claire” turned a fan favourite and Schneider later reprised his function for a memorable Foo Fighters cowl. (Wardlaw)

9. Blue Oyster Cult, “E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence)”
From: Agents of Fortune (1976)

Did you see a UFO if three males in black do not additionally seem to firmly warn you towards recounting what you have seen? “Don’t report this,” these males say in “E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence).” The title “Balthazar” seems within the track’s refrain, a attainable reference to one of many Bible’s Three Wise Men – or maybe Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. (Balthazar is the character who informs Romeo of Juliet’s demise. “He’s found the awful truth,” Blue Oyster Cult’s Eric Bloom sings.) It may be about Dennis Balthaser, a well known impartial UFO researcher who targeted totally on the Roswell incident. (Rapp)

8. Deep Purple, “Space Truckin'”
From: Machine Head (1972)

Leave it to Deep Purple to discover a option to take the trials of their regular touring life and make an area track out of it. Somehow, the day by day grind of the highway feels higher in case you’re in outer house, doesn’t it? “We’ve rocked the Milky Way so far, we danced around with Borealis / We’re space truckin’ round the stars,” Ian Gillan sings over a jaunty rhythm, setting the right tone. Clocking in at a compact 4 and a half minutes on the Machine Head album, “Space Truckin’” took on an entire new kind in live performance and was usually their closing quantity. One model, recorded stay in London, finds the members of Deep Purple jamming for greater than a half hour. (Wardlaw)

7. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “It Came Out of the Sky”
From: Willy and the Poor Boys (1969)

John Fogerty employed a B-movie plot (even the track’s title appears like a schlocky sci-fi flick) for this Creedence Clearwater Revival monitor. “It” is rarely revealed to be something; we simply hear about what everybody else sees within the UFO that landed “a little south of Moline.” In the chooglin’ rocker, Fogerty explains that scientists search a pure rationalization. The Vatican sees an indication from God, conspiracy theorists blame the Communists, Hollywood turns it right into a big-budget movie and then-Vice President Spiro Agnew appears to revenue from “It.” (Wawzenek)

6. Parliament, “Mothership Connection (Star Child)”
From: Mothership Connection (1975)

This LP’s third and closing single could be crucial since “Mothership Connection (Star Child)” is the place George Clinton’s extraterrestrial alter ego was first launched to the world. “Starchild here,” he proclaims, “citizens of the universe / I bring forth to you the good time.” The whole album targeted on the outer-space theme and the next tour additionally featured a large spaceship prop onstage. “We had put Black people in situations nobody ever thought they would be in, like the White House,” Clinton advised Cleveland Scene in 2006. “I figured another place you wouldn’t think Black people would be was in outer space.” (Rapp)

5. The Byrds, “Mr. Spaceman”
From: Fifth Dimension (1969)

This hit single – together with “5D (Fifth Dimension)” – led to the primary use of the time period “space rock.” The country-rock jangle of “Mr. Spaceman,” in fact, bears no resemblance to the progressive rock epics that will be related to that time period within the ’70s however the subject material of this two-minute Byrds tune is nonetheless proper at residence with these later works. Roger McGuinn wrote the light-hearted story a few man who’s visited by UFOs each night time however is dissatisfied once they refuse to carry him aboard and take him for a spin across the universe. McGuinn hoped that extraterrestrials could be inspired to contact Earth in the event that they heard the track on AM radio; sadly, AM indicators dissipate shortly in outer house. Thanks for making an attempt, Roger. (Wawzenek)

4. Yes, “Starship Trooper”
From: The Yes Album (1971)

The arrival of Steve Howe in 1970 was a pivotal second for Yes. “It definitely upped our level of writing,” late Yes bassist Chris Squire advised UCR in 2013. Their new guitarist introduced within the music for “Wurm,” the closing part of “Starship Trooper” that includes an epic guitar solo that’s one among Howe’s finest. In the opening moments of the track, Yes vocalist Jon Anderson factors out the mysteries of life, cautioning that some issues amongst us are finest left in the dead of night. “Though you’ve seen them, please don’t say a word / What you don’t know, I have never heard.” A journey in three components, “Starship Trooper” is an interesting journey that’s price taking each time. (Wardlaw)

3. Blondie, “Rapture”
From: Autoamerican (1980)

At the identical time that punk and new wave music started budding in New York venues within the late ’70s, so too did town’s rap and hip-hop scene. Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, mates of hip hop artists like Fab 5 Freddy Brathwaite, drew from the freestyle groove of native rap MCs once they wrote “Rapture,” a six-plus minute science fiction-inspired track about an extraterrestrial beamed down from Mars who eats bars, vehicles and guitars. By the tip of the monitor, the person from Mars decides Earth is an excessive amount of for his style: “Now he’s gone back up to space, where he won’t have a hassle with the human race.” (Rapp)

2. Styx, “Come Sail Away”
From: The Grand Illusion (1977)

This traditional rock radio staple from Styx is neatly break up into two components. There’s the baroque, piano-ballad portion, which presents a lonely ship captain on the open sea, and there’s the guitar-fueled finale, which is the place the UFO is available in. Angels, who’re aliens, rescue the depressed captain and crew and take them on a journey into the ultimate frontier – stuffed with spacey synthesizer and keyboard results. Dennis DeYoung mentioned he wrote this track as a result of he was unhappy about his band’s lack of success on the time. Like the extraterrestrials within the track, “Come Sail Away” rescued Styx and have become one among their largest hits. (Wawzenek)

1. David Bowie, “Starman”
From: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (1972)

You couldn’t have a UFO songs record with out David Bowie. From “Space Oddity” to “Loving the Alien,” the Thin White Duke wrote and carried out a fair proportion of sci-fi materials – together with Bowie’s most well-known album. Contrary to what many assume, the character of Ziggy Stardust isn’t an alien, however merely an earthbound messenger who speaks for otherworldly beings that might rescue Earth within the final 5 years of humanity’s existence. “Starman” tells the story of youngsters who hear Ziggy’s message about alien beings who’re “waiting in the sky” and can land their ships if the younger individuals can “sparkle” for them. The track is a key second within the story of Ziggy, but in addition Bowie’s profession. “Starman” was his first British hit within the three years that adopted the discharge of “Space Oddity.” (Wawzenek)