Whenever I see an article about the discovery of new planets, I start wondering the same things as most readers. I wonder how far away the planets are from Earth, what their climates are like, and whether they can support life. Also, however, I wonder why, of all the space-themed music that could come to mind, I start thinking of a Carpenters tune, "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft," reflexively. The song was a modest hit in 1977, and I haven't heard it on the radio in decades. I don't dislike it, but I wonder why ELO's "Twilight," Deodato's rendition of the Strauss piece, "Also Sprach Zarathustra," or any movement from Holst's "The Planets," which I'd expect to hear in the back of my mind, don't strike me first.
When it comes to go-to songs about space, who knows how the mind works?
