Released 1983 | Genre Comedysoundtrack Writer(s) Eric IdleJohn Du Prez | |
"Galaxy Song" is a Monty Python song written by Eric Idle and John Du Prez.
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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. In 2014 the song was featured in the live stage show Monty Python Live (mostly).
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) 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 facts and figures, which may have accurately reflected the known values at the time the song was written. Some of these have changed as improved technology has allowed scientists to make more accurate measurements.
Remake
Released in 1984, Jim Post's album Crooner From Outer Space features a remake called "Galaxy/Lighten Up".
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. He is knocked over by Stephen Hawking going by in his motorized chair. Hawking tells Cox not to be so pedantic, and then starts to sing the song himself. During September 2014, Hawking's cover for the song was released as a single.
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 500,000 stars instead of 100,000; the galaxy rotation speed of 500,000 mph instead of 40,000; the galaxy thickness as 6,000ly instead of 16,000, and a spiral arm thickness of 1,000ly instead of 3,000.