10 Songs That Are Basically SF/F Novels in Music Form

A Space Oddity, by David Bowie
The late, great David Bowie’s classic tale of an astronaut who is launched into space and then apparently goes rogue and sets his spacecraft for unknown regions with no hope of a return voyage is surprisingly efficient in its lyrics, communicating the story as well as the “mind blown” reaction of the astronaut as he leaves his space capsule and encounters the vastness of the universe. While it probably helps to be in a smoky college dorm while listening, the story is powerful enough to appreciate under any circumstances. See also: Life On Mars, natch.

The Battle of Evermore, by Led Zeppelin
The guys in Led Zeppelin were doing a lot of drugs right around the time Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was enjoying its first wave of global phenomenon status, and it shows—references to Tolkien show up in a number of their songs. The Battle of Evermore, however, is a remarkably concise story of an epic fantasy war that could be a novel unto itself, made somehow more epic by the classic arrangement of mandolin music. Zeppelin bonus: Immigrant Song, an sea-spanning dirge of gods and vikings (and…kittens?).

’39, by Queen
Perhaps the most heartbreaking song ever written, ’39 tells the simple story of brave astronauts who leave a ravaged Earth in search of a new planet for humanity to colonize. The trip only takes a year from their perspective, but due to time dilation, when they return home to victoriously announce success, they find a century has passed, and their loved ones are all dead. The song ends with perhaps the greatest tragic mic-drop of all time: “For my life / still ahead / pity me.”

Come Sail Away, by Styx
Styx may go down in history as the cheesiest band on record, but to their credit, they wrote not one, but two songs that are essentially science fiction novels in music form. Come Sail Away tells a complete story: disaffected young man sails off in a boat to escape his boring life and discover new lands. Adrift at sea and thinking back on his life, he’s visited by what he first takes to be angels, singing to him—but they turn out to be aliens, inviting him to come with them to explore the universe. Playing this and their greatest hit, Babe, in succession will give you mood whiplash so fast, your eyes will cross.

Flash’s Theme, by Queen
Another song from Queen, who often explored speculative themes in their lyrics (when they weren’t obsessing about fat-bottomed girls). Flash was part of their soundtrack for the 1980 film Flash Gordon, and while the actual lyrics are minimal, the inclusion of clips of dialogue from the film spells out a clear story of heroism in space. Plus, the song hits the same campy highs as the film’s costume and set design.

Still Alive, by Jonathan Coulton
The classic song that ended the video game Portal on the perfect note recaps the basic plot of the game from the antagonist’s perspective, with the insane artificial intelligence GLaDOS that’s been trying to kill you for the last few hours singing sweetly about how you will soon die because you’re a mortal human while she will be “still alive” because she’s an eternal machine, then reflecting nostalgically on all the times you tried to destroy each other. It’s perhaps the catchiest science fiction song of all time.
In the Year 2525, by Zagar and Evans
This oddball 1969 single was a huge hit, even though it basically recaps the horrifying future history of mankind until the year 9595 using a tortured rhyme scheme that will haunt you forever and ever. Zagar and Evans certainly don’t see anything good coming for us in this mesmerizingly repetitive ballad, but they do lay out an appropriately epic science fiction vision, with mankind’s reign of terror over the world ending with a whimper, not a bang.

Iron Man, by Black Sabbath
These days people could be forgiven for assuming that Iron Man is just that classic guitar riff and Ozzy Osbourne saying “I AM IRON MAN” over and over, or maybe thinking it’s a song about the Marvel comics character. But its real story is surprisingly fully-fleshed: freak saves world, world turns on freak and treats him like, well, a freak. He then sets his sights on revenge. While the specifics of the danger Iron Man saves us from are missing, it only adds to the epic feel of the story.

2112, by Rush
2112 is essentially Mr. Roboto for thinking people, a story of a future galactic society where religious nuts control every piece of art, from books to music. A man discovers an ancient guitar and makes his own music, the future priests destroy it and rebuke him, and he commits suicide, prompting a rebellion that liberates the people to make more rock music. The theme of rock music saving the universe comes up a lot for some reason, but never more sincerely in this 20-minute epic, simultaneously as 1970s and as Canadian as anything ever created.

Mr. Roboto, by Styx
Another slab of cheese from our favorite Midwest rockers, Mr. Roboto was the first song on their concept album Kilroy Was Here, but oddly enough, the rest of the album is less about telling a story; the entire plot of the concept is outlined in this one horrifyingly catchy song. In a future where rock and roll is outlawed, once-famous rock star Kilroy is imprisoned, hears about a rebel movement to revive rock music, and escapes by impersonating a futuristic robot. No one said it was a good story, but we dare you not to do a very bad “Robot” when it comes on.
What songs hit your SF/F sweet spot?