"I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", sometimes cited as "(I Lost My Heart to A) Starship Trooper", is a 1978 single written by Jeff Calvert and Geraint Hughes of

Typically Tropical Typically Tropical were a British band comprising two Trojan Records audio engineers, Jeff Calvert and Max West. They are best known for their 1975 number one hit record "Barbados" and for writing the 1978 disco hit "I Lost My Heart to a Starsh ...

and performed by

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers who appeal to different types of audience. This can be seen, for example, (especially in the United State ...

and Hot Gossip. It was the debut of the 18-year-old singer, and reached number six on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Background

The song is a

space disco Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the early 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, p ...

track that cashed in on the media hype surrounding the original ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' film. The lyrics include the lines "And evil

Darth Vader Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...

he's been banished to Mars" and "Or are you like a droid, devoid of emotion". Other science fiction references include: "I lost my heart to a

starship trooper "Starship Trooper" is a song written by British musicians Jon Anderson, Steve Howe and Chris Squire, which first appeared on Yes' 1971 album '' The Yes Album''. The song is in three parts, "Life Seeker", "Disillusion" and "Würm". "Life Seeke ...

", "

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established '' Buck Rogers'' adv ...

's left me, he's gone to the stars", "What my body needs is close encounter three", "Static on the comm – it's Starfleet Command" and "Fighting for the

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

" The song uses musical themes from ''Star Wars'', ''

Thus Spoke Zarathustra ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None'' (german: Also sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen), also translated as ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'', is a work of philosophical fiction written by German philosopher Friedrich Niet ...

'' (from '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''), and the "spaceship communication" melody from ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

''. The song was performed on '' The Kenny Everett Video Show'' by its regular dance troupe Hot Gossip. Its lead, Sarah Brightman, was dressed in a silver catsuit and black

thigh-high boots Thigh-high boots, known also as thigh-length boots or simply thigh boots, are boots that extend above the knees to at least mid-thigh. Other terms for this footwear include '' over-the-knee boots'' (abbreviated OTK boots; the full term is also u ...

. In 1997, Brightman rerecorded the song, with producer

Frank Peterson Frank Peterson (born 29 December 1963) is a German music producer known for his work with Enigma and artists such as Sarah Brightman, Ofra Haza, Gregorian, Princessa, and Andrea Bocelli on his first international album, '' Romanza''. Peters ...

, and released it as a single to coincide with the film ''

Starship Troopers ''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of F ...

''. Although the single carried artwork from the film, the song itself was not in the film.

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

External links

A video of a live dance performance of the songSong lyrics
1978 songs 1978 debut singles Sarah Brightman songs Song recordings produced by Steve Rowland British disco songs {{1970s-pop-song-stub