The acclaimed British artist returns with an ethereal, pensive, soaring, orchestral-backed number with swelling string arrangements and pulsing synthesiser signals stretching out into the cosmos: icy, ethereal, and pensive, inspired by NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 space probes that launched in 1977, now still transmitting on the move in interstellar space, the single now out on Partisan Records. Harvey contemplates our small, fragile place in the universe; a 'pale-blue dot', a flake of snow, dust in a sunbeam, and was already working on this song when British astro physicist and TV presenter Professor Brian Cox asked her to write a song for his ongoing Emergence tour.
The Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecrafts are the only human-made objects to reach into such vast distances into space. They each contain the Golden Record, a disc with information about Earth intended for aliens. Astronomer Carl Sagan helped curate what would appear on the record, which includes the sounds of Earth—such 55 different languages and whale songs—as well as music by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Blind Willie Johnson, and Chuck Berry. There are also images of Earth embedded into the discs.
Harvey had this to say about the song in a press release: “I was excited for the challenge to compose a song in the ‘voice’ of Voyager 2. I have long been fascinated by the spacecraft and its journey, and asked myself what it might say to us if it could? This was an inspiring route to take to develop the song.
“The song had already started life as part of the ongoing work towards my new album, so when Professor Brian Cox invited me to write a piece for his new show, I sent him the voice memo of this song to see if it resonated. It immediately made him think of the Voyager craft and the sound of its signal being sent back to Earth. With these ideas as my starting point I let the song develop, and discussed an orchestral accompaniment with Dario Marianelli.
“I’m very happy with the end result, and it’s wonderful to hear the orchestral score bring such expansiveness to my music. I thoroughly enjoyed researching the history and journey of Voyager 1 & 2, and was glad to be able to quote the great Carl Sagan within the song, and his famous description of our fragile and beautiful ‘pale blue dot.’”
Harvey’s last album was 2023’s I Inside the Old Year Dying, also released on Partisan. To explore and enjoy more by PJ Harvey, see also the other embedded links below.
Long years, far place
Dark nights, dark days
Frozen, silent
Bearing Earth-songs
Earth-songs
Force fields, high winds
Cold moons, bright rings
Hear my signal
Will you follow?
Look back at us
As a speck of dust
Darkness our home
Bear it through love
Last note, last sign
Neptune, Triton
Fading signal
Choose light, choose love
Voyager, look back
At a pale blue dot
All we don't know
A flake of snow
Dust in a sunbeam, blue dot
So far, so cold
Kindness, kindness
Care for
Our shelter, tender, tender
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained in About/FAQs ...
Feel free to recommend more new songs and albums and comment below. You can also use the contact page, or find more on social media: Song Bar X, Song Bar Facebook. Song Bar YouTube, and Song Bar Instagram. Please subscribe, follow and share.
Song Bar is non-profit and is simply about sharing great music. We don’t do clickbait or advertisements. Please make any donation to help keep the Bar running: