# Are there any songs that reference time travel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314 "2006-06-03T21:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/21 "2006-06-04T02:17:30Z")
Led Zep’s _Kashmir_: _I’m a traveller of both time and space, to be where I have been_. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/22 "2006-06-04T02:31:58Z")
Don’t forget Morris Day, Jerome Benton, Jimmy Jam, and Terry Lewis! Somebody bring me a mirror. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/23 "2006-06-04T02:40:22Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] \ Jim Croce. [/QUOTE] :smack: I get Croce and Chapin mixed up; my parents were big fans of both, and I didn’t really make a distinction between the two until I was in my teens. Still, I’m embarrassed. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/24 "2006-06-04T03:12:20Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] _Time Warp_ [/QUOTE] And how do I get that _out_ of my head, now? Also, anybody remember [this](http://lyrics.duble.com/lyrics/A/arsonists-lyrics/arsonists-rhyme-time-travel-lyrics.htm) from The Arsonists? _crickets_ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/25 "2006-06-04T03:27:07Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur Catta] Looked in this thread just to see if someone had mentioned it. It’s one of my favorites, and I usually get all misty listening too it. _blush_ [/QUOTE] Don’t blush – it is a tremendously sad and emotional song. It’s also an obvious theme that has not been used to often in science fiction – I can only think of William Nolan’s “One Love Have I” and John Varley’s “The Pusher” as songs that dealt with it. Hmmn. To the word processor . . . . ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/26 "2006-06-04T03:28:31Z")
Stories, not songs. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/27 "2006-06-04T04:38:26Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] And how do I get that _out_ of my head, now? [/QUOTE] Well, obviously, you just have to jump to the left, and then step to the right. Put your hands on your hips, and bring your knees in tight. And then, the pelvic thrust will really drive you insaaaaaaaaane. Oh, wait…that’s just doing the Time Warp again… ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/28 "2006-06-04T04:39:53Z")
You are pure fucking evil, **jayjay.** ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/29 "2006-06-04T04:40:56Z")
:d \<----- ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/30 "2006-06-04T04:41:58Z")
Interesting. I meant, 😃 \<------ ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/31 "2006-06-04T04:53:09Z")
[QUOTE=Askia] You are pure fucking evil, **jayjay.** [/QUOTE] HA! I see you shiver with anticip ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/32 "2006-06-04T04:56:00Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] HA! I see you shiver with anticip [/QUOTE] SAY IT!! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/33 "2006-06-04T04:56:43Z")
ation! ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/34 "2006-06-04T05:03:36Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] Don’t blush – it is a tremendously sad and emotional song. It’s also an obvious theme that has not been used to often in science fiction – I can only think of William Nolan’s “One Love Have I” and John Varley’s “The Pusher” as [stories] that dealt with it. Hmmn. To the word processor . . . . [/QUOTE] In Joe Haldeman’s _The Forever War_, it becomes as big a concern for the soldiers as the war itself. Because each battle takes place light-years away, once two soldiers ship out on different missions, that’s the last they ever see of each other. But as to the OP, **39** is far and away my favorite. Until that last line, the song could just as easily be about explorers on Earth sailing the oceans. _For so many years have gone, though I’m older but a year Your mother’s eyes, from your eyes, cry to me_ ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/35 "2006-06-04T05:38:20Z")
“Angel” by **Concrete Blonde** What if I said I saw the future And the future was as picture in your head What if I said to you to paint another picture And you’d wake up in the future that you’d painted And you did. Okay, its pretty metaphorical time travel, but it’s the best I got. ---
**Author:** ![Flipstrip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f6c823/32.png) [@Flipstrip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flipstrip)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/36 "2006-06-04T05:43:05Z")
“It’s All Been Done” by the Barenaked Ladies is about two people who keep meeting up throughout history. ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/37 "2006-06-04T05:56:19Z")
The first song that came to mind is Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Oh Comely”. In it, Jeff Mangum sings about going back in time 50 years to save someone, presumably Anne Frank. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/38 "2006-06-04T05:59:23Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight] In Joe Haldeman’s _The Forever War_, it becomes as big a concern for the soldiers as the war itself. Because each battle takes place light-years away, once two soldiers ship out on different missions, that’s the last they ever see of each other. [/QUOTE] There was some Heinlein novel that also used time dilation as a major plot point (don’t recall the title), and _To the Stars_ by our old friend L. Ron Hubbard had time dilation as the theme of the whole book. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/39 "2006-06-04T07:25:11Z")
Busted - year 3000 “He said I’ve been to the year 3000 Not much has changed but they lived underwater and your great great great granddaughter is pretty fine (is pretty fine)” As for '39 it is a great song. But there is one thing I don’t get. The singer is obviously surprised and depressed to find that the earth has aged so fast. But how can he not know that? Are the people smart enough to make amazingly fast spaceships, but not smart enough to understand the theory of relativity? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314/40 "2006-06-04T08:03:27Z")
Laurie Anderson - _The Dream Before_: > [@](#): > > She said: What is history > And he said: History is an angel being blown backwards into the future > He said: History is a pile of debris > And the angel wants to go back and fix things > To repair the things that have been broken > But there is a storm blowing from Paradise > And the storm keeps blowing the angel > Backwards into the future > And this storm, this storm > Is called > Progress [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-songs-that-reference-time-travel/359314.md?page=3)