3 Cosmic Tracks To Lift You From Earth

Music serves many functions but escape is one of its most essential.

It’s one thing to seek a getaway from work, school, the parents who don’t understand, or the noisy neighbor blaring thumping hits from Billboard‘s Hot Dance chart.

But what if you also want to leave the planet? At least for a little while. Though space travel is still … a little pricey, these cosmic tracks might take you to some faraway and more peaceful places. Another dimension.

Each song below appears on a longer work that’ll leave you in an intergalactic state of mind. Consider these three the prologue to an otherworldly trip.

Rocket man
Burning out his fuse up here alone

“Kelly Watch the Stars” by Air from Moon Safari (1998)

The French electronic duo Air became infatuated as kids with Jaclyn Smith’s character Kelly Garrett from Charlie’s Angels. Nicolas Godin said he and Jean-Benoît Dunckel considered Smith “the most beautiful woman in the world.” The song’s only lyrics are in the title, and its digitized repetition offsets the track’s warm vintage synthesizers. If you want to float into outer space, Air’s cosmic Motown-inspired groove will propel you there. Moon Safari is the perfect companion piece for daydreamed space travel.

“Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” by Spiritualized from Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (1997)

Jason Pierce (or J. Spaceman) formed his space rock project Spiritualized following the dissolution of Spacemen 3. Though his previous band gained recognition as a groundbreaking psych- and space-rock band, Spiritualized achieved wider commercial success. “Ladies and Gentlemen” isn’t just Pierce’s defining song, it’s a surreal mantra. The title track slowly builds while Pierce loops his voice, using Elvis’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” as its launching pad. His voice sounds like it’s transmitting from another galaxy. He’s teetering on the horizon, fading in and out of reception against the London Community Gospel Choir.

“Starman” by David Bowie from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)

Bowie’s alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, arrived on Earth to save the world. “Starman” became a hit and inspired future rock stars like Robert Smith, Morrissey, and Bono. Bowie writes from the perspective of looking up, seeing the star in the sky who’s here to teach the earthlings. Bowie tries to reach the stars by jumping an octave in the chorus, similar to Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow.” It’s celebratory and hopeful, and the la, la hook rejoices in the possibilities of a better life. It does what every good cosmic track must do: offer an escape. Though Ziggy Stardust was doomed to his own ego, his voice resonates brightly through the broken radio on “Starman.” The same old rock and roll fades, giving way to something new—let all the children boogie.

Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage