Science Fiction Inspired Song: The Rolling Stones’ ’2000 Light Years From Home’ (1967)
April 19, 2011 § 8 Comments
I’d completely forgotten about The Rolling Stones’ interesting (if somewhat underrated) psychedelic album Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967) and its few noteworthy tracks until one popped up on my pandora station. The sci-fi and LCD inspired ’2000 Light Years From Home’ is notable for Brian Jones’ synthesizers and its general underlying creepiness. Definitely worth the listen and by far the best song on the rather average album.
Lyrics
Sun turnin’ ’round with graceful motion
We’re setting off with soft explosion
Bound for a star with fiery oceans
It’s so very lonely, you’re a hundred light years from home
Freezing red deserts turn to dark
Energy here in every part
It’s so very lonely, you’re six hundred light years from home
It’s so very lonely, you’re a thousand light years from home
It’s so very lonely, you’re a thousand light years from home
Bell flight fourteen you now can land
See you on Aldebaran, safe on the green desert sand
It’s so very lonely, you’re two thousand light years from home
It’s so very lonely, you’re two thousand light years from home
By far my favorite Stones album, but then it’s really Mick and crew doing “Sgt. Peppers,” and I always was more of a Beatles fan. I have a great rerelease of this album that has a holographic image of the band in their psychedelic attire on the front.
I’ve NEVER been a fan of the Stones except for this and one or two other songs from this album. But yeah, they’re simply rehashing Sgt. Peppers. Too bad they didn’t explore psychedelic music in further albums
Wow, I’m a Stones fan and I am relatively unfamiliar with this album. It sounds a lot like the Beatles of the era, but also like the subsequent early Genesis records (especially “From Genesis to Revelations). I have always enjoyed bizarre psychedelic tracks, so thanks for the post!
Yeah, it’s been somewhat lost among the rest of their prodigious (and drastically different sounding) discography. The record was slammed by most critics for being a rip-off of The Beatles
That is not at all surprising, the similarities are pretty obvious. It’s an odd departure for the band.
This was the only song from the album which they performed in concert. It’s actually quite good!
My favorite Stones album just edging out “Let It Bleed.”
City Boy had an interesting album in 1979,”The Day The Earth Caught Fire.” It’s not the real well produced music of Hawkwind or Ayreon but fans leaning towards Pop Rock will like it.
Yeah, I’m not really a fan of The Stones — I do like a few songs on this album…. But prefer the more regularly psychedelic bands (haha, The Stones quit psychedelic music after this album) of the 70s…