What a terrific and daunting task it is to, from an armchair, critique and determine the most significant ten songs to include on a hypothetical scaled down version of the Voyager Golden Record. I have known about the Voyager spacecrafts in a very superficial way, vaguely remembering when they left our local solar system in 2012 from news broadcasts, but having no deep understanding of why and when they were launched.
As I listened to the podcast it struck me time and again just how much pressure and significance this task would have on the original creators of the record, (and NASA, of course). To curate an art form that is universal, (in the Earthly term), into just a couple of dozen tracks, must have been immense. Any art form is contextual and subjective, and there would have been millions of examples of music to choose from. How does one represent the diversity, culture, and experiences of all humans?
Listening to the various tracks of the Golden Record brought into focus a few key commonalities – love, loss, nature, cooperation, emotion, fear, courage. To narrow this down to ten was challenging, and completely subject to my own understanding, experiences, and current mood. To bring some objectivity in, I employed a matrix of sorts, a procedure to more objectively share my considerations and process.
In short, I focused on:
- An imperfect balance of population size and cultural diversity. The United States and Western Europe accounted for half of the tracks, even though they only represented about 13% of the population at the time. Given that these two regions developed and launched the Voyager spacecrafts, I allocated two, (or 20%), of the tracks, (plus the bonus tracks, which I’ll get to later).
- Modernity and tradition play a part. Traditional folk music and hand crafted instruments represent thousands of years of localized music, but the influence of electricity and the affordances they provided to the instrumentalization of music cannot be ignored.
- Instrumentalization and vocal music convey similar themes and messages, but in different ways. One is a technology by definition, and the other is literally born within most humans. Both can make music, but the effect and delivery of language–based music is very different from invention-based music. What’s more is that they often work in, (no joke intended), harmony.
Within these considerations, I separated the world into very rough and imperfect regions: Western Europe, the USA, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, Pacifica, Africa, Central & South America, and South Asia. With these eight regions in mind, and to represent the very diverse and broad cultures within these regions, I selected one track to represent each area. That left two selections in hand, and a little bit of creative license with the assignment.
As I considered the parameters of the assignment I put myself in the place of those producing the Golden Record. What song would I select given its place in history at that time? What if I could choose a song from the time beyond the 1977 launch of the Voyager spacecraft?
And thus, I presumptively added two new categories: What should have been on the original 1977 record, and what would be added from 1977 to 2025? Let’s take a look at the list.
- Western Europe – Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67, First Movement (Germany) This track brings the human element of drama. It is intense, and globally recognized. It conveys the concept of power through its iconic opening. It can, and has, been a central event of opera houses and Bugs Bunny cartoons. When one listens to it, it shifts people to action and focus, (as it did for Beethoven who was suffering from deafness at the time of its composition). It also has mathematical implications, following Golden ratios and rhythmic harmonies, important for newcomers to Earth.
- USA – Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode” (USA) At the time of the launch of the Voyager starcrafts this would have been considered relatively modern. As a counterweight to the previous Bach piece, Chuck Berry brings energy and a liveliness, with very different instruments and the addition of lyrics. The song helped give birth to an entirely new musical genre and was an expression of the American Black experience. The theme of success under systemic challenges may be one that current or future alien civilizations can understand.
- Eastern Europe – Bulgaria – “Izlel e Delyo Haydutin” (Sung by Valya Balkanska) As mentioned in the podcast, there may have been a concern that a narrative of an unkillable rebel may be perceived as a provocation, but it is also a fundamental motif of the human experience. This song presents a tale or narrative, and symbolizes a region, (the Balkans), that defines ‘conflict, (hence the term, Balkanization)’. It is a song of resilience in the face of an empire. It is also an example of folk music, which is universal, accessible, egalitarian, and requires little to no technology.
- Southeast Asia – Japan – “Tsuru no Sugomori” (Crane’s Nesting) (Shakuhachi performance by Goro Yamaguchi) An example of traditional instrumental music, this piece uses a simple and natural tool, the bamboo flute, to represent the life cycle of the crane. These birds represent peace and longevity in Japanese culture, and may introduce alien species to the connection between humanity and nature. It also blends Zen Buddhist principles, making it a representation of religion, another important aspect to the human experience.
- Pacifica – Australia – “Morning Star” and “Devil Bird” (Aboriginal songs) Unlike Tsuru no Sugomori, this piece blends vocal music with traditional, indigenous instrumentation. Like the previous track, it calls spirituality to the forefront of Indigenous Australian culture. The connection, symbolic, cosmological, and spiritual, to the natural environment guides their worldview. I also wonder if extraterrestrial species would feel a connection to the concept of the morning star, (Venus), as, I would assume, interstellar travellers.
- Africa – Pygmy girls’ initiation song This is the first song in my playlist that presents a portion of the human experience and biological cycle of humans. This ceremonial song explores and represents the journey of females from childhood to aspects of sexuality and motherhood. Motherhood is such a foundational concept in our world, and it is critical to understanding society, survival, and culture.
- Central/South America – Mexico – “El Cascabel” (Lorenzo Barcelata and Mariachi México) Alongside motherhood, (above), comes love and joy, and this folk music has love and joy in spades. Multiple instruments, percussion, and vocalization leads to a song that is vibrant, festive, and energetic.
- South Asia – China – “Flowing Streams” (Guqin performance by Guan Pinghu) Back to nature, Flowing Streams would provide a musical introduction to perhaps the most important element of life – water. Chinese civilization dates back thousands of years and evokes the importance and meditative nature of watching water flow. As someone who lives near a river, I connected with this song and how it represents such a connection to the basic human experience of sitting and watching water flow by.
- Bonus Track 1 (What should have been on the record in 1977) Jimi Hendrix – “The Star-Spangled Banner” (Live at Woodstock, 1969) A live performance of a battle hymn that was, and is, the anthem of the most powerful nation on Earth, in front of an audience and event with counterculture beliefs and practices, set within the context of the Vietnam and Cold Wars, performed by a black American artist who was once a member of the vaunted 101st Airborne Division – what a statement this track would have made. Was it an homage to America? Of a symbol of protest and rebellion? Typically, the anthem would have been very precise, rehearsed, and routine, (it was, after all, a daily ritual of school children), but this version was improvised, distorted, and raw. While most of the tracks of the Voyager Golden Record were “safe”, (representative of various cultures and widely accepted), this would have carried risk, but may have also carried the human touch of emotion, artistry, and national identity.
- Bonus 2 (Post 1977 – what would we add post 1977?) Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1991) *note -after selecting these two bonus tracks, I realized that they had a lot of connections, not the least of which is that they were both rock artists from Seattle. I considered reviewing them, but in this case I’ll stick to my initial thoughts.
While many of the tracks on the Voyager album were representative of majority of the cultures they represented, there wasn’t a track that really symbolized the ‘other’, those that were on the outside of their culture and looking in. ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ is my choice for the post-1977 song for the hypothetical Voyager record. (For the record I have never been a grunge or Nirvana fan, but the 34 year gap between its release and now has given me some appreciation for its impact upon popular culture).
This song captured the alienation, frustration, and disillusion of an entire generation. It was released in between the ages of neo-conservatism and the internet-age, and made it acceptable to produce music that wasn’t polished, processed, and targeted for radio, music videos, and television, (although it saturated those mediums). For alien explorers, this song would carry the human values of art for art’s sake, (not for commercialism), youthful rebellion and angst, and anti-aestheticism.