"Astronomy" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed on Long Island, New York, in the hamlet of Stony Brook, in 1967. They have sold 25 million records worldwide, including 7 million in the United States. ...

that has appeared on several of the band's albums. It was first released on their 1974 album '' Secret Treaties''. Their second live album, ''

Some Enchanted Evening "Some Enchanted Evening" is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical '' South Pacific''. It has been described as "the single biggest popular hit to come out of any Rodgers and Hammerstein show." Mast, Gerald''Can't Help Sing ...

'', included a version with an extended guitar solo and a third version was included on the '' Imaginos'' album. It was also re-recorded for the band's ''

Cult Classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...

'' collection in connection with the TV miniseries of

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

's ''

The Stand ''The Stand'' is an epic post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday. The plot centers on a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza and its aftermath, in which some of ...

''. Most recently, the song was included on the ''

A Long Day's Night ''A Long Day's Night'' is a live album by American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult, recorded in Chicago, Illinois, on 21 June 2002. The title is a reference to the album being recorded during the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. ...

'' album.

Lyrics

The song's lyrics are selected verses from a poem by

Sandy Pearlman Samuel Clarke "Sandy" Pearlman (August 5, 1943 – July 26, 2016) was an American music producer, artist manager, music journalist and critic, professor, poet, songwriter, and record company executive. He was best known for founding, writing for, ...

, the band's producer and mastermind behind their image, called "The Soft Doctrines of Imaginos". In the poem, which was later partially released under the BÖC moniker in the album '' Imaginos'', aliens known as Les Invisibles guide an altered human named Imaginos, also called Desdinova, through history, playing key roles that eventually lead to the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In "Astronomy", the character of Imaginos comes to realize his heritage and his role as the altered human. He is raised from the dead and transforms into the female persona of Desdinova, who is also mentioned on the back cover of ''Secret Treaties'' and in the song "I Am the One You Warned Me Of" from the ''Imaginos'' album. References are made to celestial objects throughout the song: "the light that never warms" being the Moon, "the queenly flux" the constellation

Cassiopeia Cassiopeia or Cassiopea may refer to: Greek mythology * Cassiopeia (mother of Andromeda), queen of Aethiopia and mother of Andromeda * Cassiopeia (wife of Phoenix), wife of Phoenix, king of Phoenicia * Cassiopeia, wife of Epaphus, king of Egy ...

, though both may also serve as

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

s or descriptions of Desdinova. "My dog, fixed and consequent" refers to

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word (Latin script: ), meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbr ...

, the dog star. The "Four Winds Bar" may be a reference to the

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, also known as the Northern Tropic, is the Earth's northernmost circle of latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun ...

, compass rose, or an actual bar.

Music video

A music video of the 1988 version was released by Sandy Pearlman in the United Kingdom. The video had no footage of the band playing, and instead focused on the story told by the song. Longtime BÖC fan and author

recorded a spoken narration for the video, which is as follows:

Covers

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

did a cover of the song for their 1998 '' Garage Inc.'' album. *

Arch Enemy Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a Supergroup (music), supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass (band), Carcass, Armageddon (Swedish band), Armageddon, Carnage (band), Carna ...

used the chorus for their song "Pilgrim" from the ''Burning Bridges'' album. *

Albert Bouchard Albert Bouchard (; born May 24, 1947) is an American musician. He is a founding member and one of the first and most prominent drummers of the hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult and current drummer of The Dictators. He is the older brother of f ...

's band the

Brain Surgeons Brain Surgeons were an American rock band featuring Albert Bouchard formerly of Blue Öyster Cult and vocalist Deborah Frost. Guitarist Ross the Boss was a later member of the band. The Brain Surgeonsat Allmusic They formed in 1994 and origi ...

recorded the song for their 1997 album ''Malpractise'' with Deborah Frost on lead vocals. Albert's post-Brain Surgeons band Ünderbelly released a version of the song with original Soft White Underbelly singer Les Braunstein on lead vocals in 2011.

References

External links

Official lyrics
* {{authority control 1974 songs 1998 songs Blue Öyster Cult songs Song recordings produced by Sandy Pearlman Metallica songs LGBTQ-related songs