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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galaxy Song | 2/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_Song | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T07:42:46.887043+00:00 | kb-cron |
Released in 1984, Jim Post's album Crooner From Outer Space features a remake called "Galaxy/Lighten Up". "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. 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. 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.
== Parodies and other uses == Between 1988 and 1991, furniture retailer Courts ran a series of advertisements in the United Kingdom which featured a jingle using the tune of the Galaxy Song sung by a man mimicking Idle's vocal style. The "Yakko's Universe" song from the animated show Animaniacs is a homage to the Python's song. The "Meaning of Life Space Song" from the animated show the Amazing World of Gumball has many direct references to the Python's song.
== References ==
== External links == A study of the Galaxy song Annotations to the Galaxy song "Galaxy Song" (02:43) on YouTube – sung by physicist Stephen Hawking.