10 Selected Songs from the Golden Record

1. Southeast Asia: Java, court gamelan, “Kinds of Flowers,” recorded by Robert Brown
2. Africa: Senegal, percussion, recorded by Charles Duvelle
3. Australia, Aborigine songs, “Morning Star” and “Devil Bird,” recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes
4. Mexico, “El Cascabel,” performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México
5. North America: “Johnny B. Goode,” written and performed by Chuck Berry
6. Georgian S.S.R., chorus, “Tchakrulo,” collected by Radio Moscow
7. South America: Peru, panpipes and drum, collected by Casa de la Cultura, Lima
8. Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor
9. Asia: China, ch’in, “Flowing Streams,” performed by Kuan P’ing-hu
10. Solomon Islands, panpipes, collected by the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service

I have a love-hate relationship with music. Having studied traditional and classical music for 15 years, music is something I would automatically love wholeheartedly if I am spared the traumatically dreadful practice sessions. Since I did not have to play any music and only had to listen and choose songs to be included in this list, I really enjoyed this task!

However, out of 27 songs, I can only pick 10 – it is somehow not as easy as I thought. I initially wanted to prepare a rubric (as what many teachers are usually accustomed to) but as the Golden Record was intended for extraterrestrials, I was not even sure what I should include in my rubric. As my overarching aim was to create a list of songs representative of the population on Earth, I came up with a list of continents – Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, Australia/Oceania. My first step was to categorize all the 27 songs by country of origin. If there are two songs from composers that represent the same continent (for instance, Bach and Mozart), I have to admit that I am emotionally inclined and pick the song that is more pleasant to my ears. I am also not completely impartial as I found I was drawn to songs that included instruments that I played in school. Kinds of Flowers immediately got in the list because of the many years spent playing the Javanese gamelan.

Reviewing the final list, I also realized that I tended to gravitate towards music that is rich in sounds and tones. IF I were allowed to simply pick ANY songs that I am familiar with or merely appeal to me, this task would have been much easier, but I am sure the list would have been one that is biased and not representative of the many beautiful cultures on the planet.