Monday, November 23, 2009 | Reason : In the News | print version

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Richard Dawkins' singing debut! Symphony of Science - 'Our Place in the Cosmos' (ft. Sagan, Dawkins, Kaku, Jastrow)

melodysheep

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vioZf4TjoUI

"Our Place in the Cosmos", the third video from the Symphony of Science, was crafted using samples from Carl Sagan's Cosmos, Richard Dawkins' Genius of Charles Darwin series, Dawkins' TED Talk, Stephen Hawking's Universe series, Michio Kaku's interview on Physics and aliens, plus added visuals from Baraka, Koyaanisqatsi, History Channel's Universe series, and IMAX Cosmic Voyage. The themes present in this song are intended to explore our understanding of our origins within the universe, and to challenge the commonplace notion that humans have a superior or privleged position, both on our home planet and in the universe itself.

RIP Dr. Sagan and Dr. Jastrow!

For more science remixes, check out http://symphonyofscience.com

As always, view in HQ mode for better sound and visuals.

Enjoy!

John
john@symphonyofscience.com

Lyrics:

[Narrator]
With every century
Our eyes on the universe have been opened anew
We are witness
To the very brink of time and space

[Robert Jastrow]
We must ask ourselves
We who are so proud of our accomplishments
What is our place in the cosmic perspective of life?

[Carl Sagan]
The exploration of the cosmos
Is a voyage of self discovery
As long as there have been humans
We have searched for our place in the cosmos

[Richard Dawkins]
Are there things about the universe
That will be forever beyond our grasp?
Are there things about the universe that are
Ungraspable?

[Sagan]
One of the great revelations of space exploration
Is the image of the earth, finite and lonely
Bearing the entire human species
Through the oceans of space and time

[Dawkins]
Matter flows from place to place
And momentarily comes together to be you
Some people find that thought disturbing
I find the reality thrilling

[Sagan]
As the ancient mythmakers knew
We're children equally of the earth and the sky
In our tenure on this planet, we've accumulated
Dangerous evolutionary baggage

We've also acquired compassion for others,
Love for our children,
And a great soaring passionate intelligence
The clear tools for our continued survival

[Michio Kaku]
We could be in the middle
Of an inter-galactic conversation
And we wouldn't even know

[Sagan]
We've begun at last
To wonder about our origins
Star stuff contemplating the stars
Tracing that long path

Our obligation to survive and flourish
Is owed not just to ourselves
But also to that cosmos
Ancient and vast, from which we spring

Posted: Monday, November 23, 2009 | Permalink

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1. Comment #434264 by Marcussen on November 23, 2009 at 8:12 pm

Wow... That is the most awesome, and at the same time pretty freaky thing I have seen in a while.

Nice.

Other Comments by Marcussen

2. Comment #434265 by briankelly321 on November 23, 2009 at 8:12 pm

Tuneful! :oD

Other Comments by briankelly321

3. Comment #434270 by TIKI AL on November 23, 2009 at 8:20 pm

My personal favorite, I love the echo:

"[Dawkins]
Matter flows from place to place
And momentarily comes together to be you
Some people find that thought disturbing
I find the reality thrilling"

Who knew Richard was a younger, thinner, better looking, albeit much less Italian version of Tony Bennet?

Other Comments by TIKI AL

4. Comment #434272 by D_mendes on November 23, 2009 at 8:26 pm

I've really enjoyed all 3, very cool.

Other Comments by D_mendes

5. Comment #434280 by The Science Pundit on November 23, 2009 at 8:37 pm

I'm really digging this Symphony Of Science autotuned compositions!

Other Comments by The Science Pundit

6. Comment #434285 by caraz84 on November 23, 2009 at 8:47 pm

Xmas number 1 i say:-)

Other Comments by caraz84

7. Comment #434288 by carbonman on November 23, 2009 at 8:55 pm

Nah, this is all wrong. Science is test tubes, facts, numbers and boring stuff. This breathtaking son-et-lumiere belongs to the soul, the spiritual inner core, about which science has nothing to say. And don't argue or I'll tell my mum you're too strident.

Other Comments by carbonman

8. Comment #434294 by j.mills on November 23, 2009 at 9:06 pm

Tuned up like that, Richard sounds a bit shrill... :)

Other Comments by j.mills

9. Comment #434297 by PositiveAtheist on November 23, 2009 at 9:12 pm

I don't care for this at all.

Other Comments by PositiveAtheist

10. Comment #434302 by Marcussen on November 23, 2009 at 9:18 pm

So much for a positive athesist ;)

Other Comments by Marcussen

11. Comment #434303 by Peacebeuponme on November 23, 2009 at 9:21 pm

PositiveAtheist

The one with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Feynman etc works a lot better I think.

Other Comments by Peacebeuponme

12. Comment #434304 by yanquetino on November 23, 2009 at 9:22 pm

Wonderful! Just in time for caroling! Richard must have really chuckled when he watched this.

Other Comments by yanquetino

13. Comment #434305 by gfxmatt on November 23, 2009 at 9:25 pm

I like it.

Other Comments by gfxmatt

14. Comment #434306 by Sally Luxmoore on November 23, 2009 at 9:25 pm

Extraordinary!

It'd be nice for this to be Christmas no 1, instead of some crass offering by Cliff Richard or similar...

Other Comments by Sally Luxmoore

15. Comment #434313 by Spinoza on November 23, 2009 at 9:34 pm

Err... it kinda has a creepy new-age vibe to it. Just strange. It's like hearing science put to a combination of Cher and Enya... yick.

Other Comments by Spinoza

16. Comment #434317 by the great teapot on November 23, 2009 at 9:38 pm

No contribution from Stephen Hawkings?

Other Comments by the great teapot

17. Comment #434318 by bendigeidfran on November 23, 2009 at 9:40 pm

I like it too.

Other Comments by bendigeidfran

18. Comment #434323 by Peacebeuponme on November 23, 2009 at 9:57 pm

Sally Luxmore

The X Factor may be a lot of things, but it does mean we will never have to listen to Cliff at Christmas time again.

Whether Joe McElderry, or whichever flash-in-the-pan wins, is any improvement is another matter.

Other Comments by Peacebeuponme

19. Comment #434325 by The Hogfather on November 23, 2009 at 10:05 pm

Comment #434294 by j.mills- I'll take your shrill and raise you a "strident".

Seriously though- nice stuff. Carl Sagan just seems to get more brilliant every time I hear him.

Other Comments by The Hogfather

20. Comment #434327 by NewEnglandBob on November 23, 2009 at 10:07 pm

I enjoyed this.

Other Comments by NewEnglandBob

21. Comment #434329 by bendigeidfran on November 23, 2009 at 10:11 pm

Comment #434323 by Peacebeuponme

Pbum - This Christmas like all the others, you won't shut Cliff up moaning about losing royalties on his 50 year old records. That's the true spirit of Cliffmas.

Other Comments by bendigeidfran

22. Comment #434330 by Stafford Gordon on November 23, 2009 at 10:14 pm

Very clever.

Other Comments by Stafford Gordon

23. Comment #434331 by Jiten on November 23, 2009 at 10:15 pm

Excellent! I loved the music and the images, beautiful. I'd love to that IMAX film!

Other Comments by Jiten

24. Comment #434333 by Corylus on November 23, 2009 at 10:31 pm

Comment #434318 by bendigeidfran:

I like it too.

You're an Elvis fan.

Srsly though, I haven't a clue what to make out of this one.

Other Comments by Corylus

25. Comment #434337 by InYourFaceNewYorker on November 23, 2009 at 10:48 pm

Were they actually singing, or were the voices tinkered with electronically to make it sound like they were?

Other Comments by InYourFaceNewYorker

26. Comment #434339 by Follow Peter Egan on November 23, 2009 at 10:55 pm

Well that's lovely. Reminds me of the Pet Shop Boys in their pomp.

They'll be whistling it in Tokyo this time tomorrow.

Will there be an album?

Other Comments by Follow Peter Egan

27. Comment #434342 by bendigeidfran on November 23, 2009 at 10:57 pm

Comment #434333 by Corylus

It reminds me a bit of Billy Shatner's Lucy in the sky with diamonds but at the same time it is clear Sagan is a future time-traveller from the past and has knowledge unknown of the unknowable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-yy2URAYqU

Other Comments by bendigeidfran

28. Comment #434343 by Squigit on November 23, 2009 at 11:00 pm

Well, now! After reading some of the comments I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but I rather enjoyed it! And so did my spawn.

Other Comments by Squigit

29. Comment #434344 by Fuzzy Duck on November 23, 2009 at 11:05 pm

I was looking forward to one with Dawkins contributing. Thanks for posting this!

Kevin

Other Comments by Fuzzy Duck

30. Comment #434347 by Corylus on November 23, 2009 at 11:12 pm

Comment #434342 by bendigeidfran:

It reminds me a bit of Billy Shatner's Lucy in the sky with diamonds...

Strange... and also strangely disturbing... Oh dear, I must have a very conventional mind!

Oh well, if people are enjoying that's good. It must have taken some time to produce and the pictures are purdy.

Other Comments by Corylus

31. Comment #434348 by bendigeidfran on November 23, 2009 at 11:13 pm

That Sagan's quite the poet if you can get over his supernovateeth and the way he says Kozzmowsse. I think he's American.

Other Comments by bendigeidfran

32. Comment #434356 by the great teapot on November 23, 2009 at 11:55 pm

I love the way he (carl) says Human.
Actually it was carl who completely clinched atheism for me, in his book cosmos he points out the fact that whatever religion people follow is an accident of their place of birth. To a wide eyed 15 year old (who had just spent all his pocket money for the month) nothing more needed to be said.

Other Comments by the great teapot

33. Comment #434357 by ggab7768 on November 23, 2009 at 11:57 pm

"I think he's American."

Damn right! And don't you forget it.

Other Comments by ggab7768

34. Comment #434358 by Skydromakk on November 23, 2009 at 11:58 pm

Oh my Lord, Richard Dawkins sounds awesome auto-tuned!

Other Comments by Skydromakk

35. Comment #434360 by ggab7768 on November 23, 2009 at 11:59 pm

I'm thrilled to see Richard get a shot at the bigtime and all, but the first song with Sagan and Hawking is still my favorite.

Other Comments by ggab7768

36. Comment #434361 by ggab7768 on November 24, 2009 at 12:02 am

Just in case anyone here hasn't seen it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc&feature=channel

Other Comments by ggab7768

37. Comment #434363 by root2squared on November 24, 2009 at 12:12 am

25. Comment #434337 by InYourFaceNewYorker

It's digitally altered stuff.

I believe using this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-Tune

Other Comments by root2squared

38. Comment #434365 by the great teapot on November 24, 2009 at 12:15 am

thanks for the link ggab,I loved it.

Other Comments by the great teapot

39. Comment #434366 by PositiveAtheist on November 24, 2009 at 12:24 am

Yeah I'm not very good at choosing usernames. This was all I could think of all those years ago. It was an approach that I thought I would try out, but it didn't last very long, as you can probably tell. ;)

Other Comments by PositiveAtheist

40. Comment #434367 by merchickety on November 24, 2009 at 12:27 am

This song seems sexier than the others... I don't know why... it's kind of creepy...

Other Comments by merchickety

41. Comment #434368 by cherryteresa on November 24, 2009 at 12:34 am

zOMGGGGGGGG! So good!

Other Comments by cherryteresa

42. Comment #434373 by j.mills on November 24, 2009 at 1:13 am

bendigeidfran invokes:

It reminds me a bit of Billy Shatner's Lucy in the sky with diamonds

That was of course so execrable as to be fascinating, like time-lapse of a decaying kitten. However, his more recent album, Has Been, is a work of unalloyed brilliance. You think I'm being ironic, but I'm not. Check it out:

http://www.amazon.com/Has-Been-William-Shatner/dp/B0002RUPH4

Other Comments by j.mills

43. Comment #434375 by The Truth, the light on November 24, 2009 at 1:27 am

The great teapot said:

No contribution from Stephen Hawkings?

Indeed there is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc

Other Comments by The Truth, the light

44. Comment #434377 by SyDaemon on November 24, 2009 at 1:44 am

I get emotional listening to these. So beautiful.

Other Comments by SyDaemon

45. Comment #434391 by A-Farr on November 24, 2009 at 3:39 am

That was magnificent! Great visuals, great quotes and very enjoyable tuning. I love that it is inspiring and enjoyable and totally superstition free.

Other Comments by A-Farr

46. Comment #434395 by SaintStephen on November 24, 2009 at 3:53 am

I think Symphony of Science's next project should be to autotune this fine lead vocal from Richard covering Alun Anderson, and hopefully back it up with an early Rolling Stones tune like Get Off of My Cloud:

Other Comments by SaintStephen

47. Comment #434396 by Frankus1122 on November 24, 2009 at 4:08 am

Me like.

I actually got a little bit goosebumpily at one point.

Other Comments by Frankus1122

48. Comment #434419 by weavehole on November 24, 2009 at 6:48 am

Did somebody mention Mr Shatner?

(I'm so sorry).

Other Comments by weavehole

49. Comment #434426 by cherryteresa on November 24, 2009 at 7:47 am

I like when Dawkins goes, "Matter flowwwwwws...." haha. It's just a nice touch. Good job, Symphony of Science people. :)

Other Comments by cherryteresa

50. Comment #434429 by Rawhard Dickins on November 24, 2009 at 8:16 am