A Song from Space

A lot of music has been written about space and space travel, but very few have been sung from space. And fewer still have involved a duet between someone in space and someone on the groundâ¦and I can only think of one co-written by an astronaut and then recorded together via video link to space.

That song is âI.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing)â, written by astronaut Chris Hadfield, current commander of Expedition 34 on the International Space Station, and Ed Robertson from Barenaked Ladies (if you donât know, the group that did the theme song used by âThe Big Bang Theoryâ). Performing with Hadfield and BNL are the Wexford Gleeks, from the Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts.

The song is about going into space, looking back on Earth, and wanting to go home again. Unlike Elton Johnâs âRocket Manâ, though, this isnât a song about loneliness and regrets, itâs about how amazing it is that we can go to space at all. My favorite line: âWhat once was fueled by fear, now has 15 nations orbiting together here.â

Which is kinda nice, donât you think?

Teen Skepchicks has the full lyrics if you want to follow along. This song was sponsored by The Coalition for Music Education for their Music Monday project, in collaboration with CBC Music and the Canadian Space Agency (Commander Hadfield and BNL are Canadian).

And one final note: If you are not following Commander Hadfield on Twitter, you are seriously missing out. He posts pictures he takes from space every day, and they are incredible. Go.

[Correction: The Barenaked Ladies were originally referred to as Bare Naked Ladies, a mistake that I personally never thought I'd run across, but there you go. My apologies to BNL.]