"Celestial Soda Pop" is a song by American

new-age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consid ...

musician Ray Lynch for his second album, '' Deep Breakfast''.

Composition

The song was composed in

C♯ minor C-sharp minor is a minor scale based on C, with the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of four sharps. The C-sharp natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are ...

and features a repetitive progression performed on a

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

Reception

In reviewing Lynch's album '' No Blue Thing,'' Keith Tuber of ''

Orange Coast The Orange Coast is the string of cities and neighborhoods fronting the Pacific Coast in Orange County, California. From northwest to southeast, these cities are Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point and San ...

'' called "Celestial Soda Pop" "irresistible." Meanwhile, in reviewing ''Deep Breakfast,'' P.J. Birosik of ''

Yoga Journal ''Yoga Journal'' is a website and digital journal, formerly a print magazine, on yoga as exercise founded in California in 1975 with the goal of combining the essence of traditional yoga with scientific understanding. It has produced live events ...

'' called "Celestial Soda Pop" a "wonderfully memorable little tune". Steve Korte of ''

CD Review ''CD Review'' (formerly known as ''Digital Audio'' and ''Digital Audio and Compact Disc Review'') is a discontinued American monthly magazine that specialized in reviewing albums and audio electronics, especially compact discs. The magazine was ...

'' referred to the song as "a standard that you've probably heard dozens of times in your local supermarket or dentist's office". However,

John Schaefer John Schaefer is an American radio host and author. A longtime host at WNYC, Schaefer began hosting the influential radio shows '' New Sounds'' in 1982 and ''Soundcheck'' in 2002, and has produced many different programs for other New York Publi ...

, author of '' New Sounds: A Listener's Guide to New Music,'' referred to the piece as a "vacuous title" and claimed that Lynch possesses "limited ability on the synthesizer".

Remixes

In 1998, Ray Lynch produced a

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

remix of "Celestial Soda Pop" for his

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

, '' Ray Lynch: Best Of, Volume One.'' The song was later remixed by Boreta of

the Glitch Mob The Glitch Mob is an American electronic music duo from Los Angeles, California. It consists of edIT (Edward Ma) and Ooah (Josh Mayer). Boreta (Justin Boreta) was a member of the group from its formation until 2023. Chris Martins of ''LA Weekly' ...

in 2015.

In popular culture

In 1986, "Celestial Soda Pop" was used as a theme song for the

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

show ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's hosts are Terry Gross and Tonya Mosl ...

.'' The track was also featured in the 1987 documentary film, ''Downwind/Downstream.'' On May 26, 1990, Joel Selvin of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' commented that the use of the song by NPR probably caused ''Deep Breakfast'' to have a "considerable boost" in sales. In 1991, the Stone Mountain Laser Show near

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

began using "Celestial Soda Pop" as one of the tracks in the show, set to animated shapes and colors.

References

{{authority control New-age songs 1984 songs 1980s instrumentals