As the Artemis II crew prepare for the first moon mission since 1972, we select the best songs about our lunar neighbour, from Ella Fitzgerald’s romance to Gil Scott-Heron’s social commentary
This tribute to comedian Andy Kaufman came at the height of REM’s superstardom, but it’s a typically elliptical song that defies easy analysis, the chorus seeming to compare the moon landing conspiracy theories with claims Kaufman faked his own death. Its bassline recalls another lunar classic, The Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen.
The lyrics of this No 1 hit fall into the sort of doggerel Sting can often be prone to (“Giant steps are what you take … I hope my leg don’t break”), but the lunar arrangement also captures the song’s true subject, walking dizzily back from a girlfriend’s house, feet hardly touching the ground.
As with blockbuster ballad Stay, Moonchild’s twisted synth-rock thrives on the distinct contrast between the velvety, theatrical delivery of Siobhan Fahey and the skyscrapingly high vocals of Marcella Detroit. Here the moon makes common cause with the misfits as Fahey and Detroit reassure them: “Oh, little moonchild, you’re not the only one …”
Firmly embracing the dark side of the moon, this slice of gothic horror from Ozzy’s third solo album depicts a terrifying beast rising from “a nameless grave”, with howling and cackling laid on suitably thick. It makes the similarly themed Thriller by Michael Jackson and Warren Zevon’s Werewolves of London seem wholesome by comparison.
