No doubt many of you have heard of the Golden Record, the gold-plated copper disc sent into space in 1977 aboard the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft. The disc contains images and sounds chosen to represent life on Earth, should either of the Voyagers encounter alien beings.
Looking at pictures of that golden disc- which, only 40 years later, already seems impossibly outdated - I think: Forget what words and sounds the disc contains. What could be a better symbol of our funny, contradictory, half-arrogant, half-naïve, human hope than the record itself, and all of the assumptions it carries? Can’t you just imagine an alien being, turning the disc over in its hands/paws/tentacles/whatever, and thinking, “How sweet! This must come from some far-off planet, and be their fumbling attempt to communicate…”
Also, did you know that the story of the Golden Record is also a love story? The record was conceived of and put together by Carl Sagan, with Annie Druyan as the creative director. As Maria Popova, the genius behind the Brain Pickings newsletter, recounts in her marvelous book, Figuring:
It was the first day of June in 1977. Carl and Annie had known each other for years, always involved with other people – he was still in the final spin of a collapsing marriage – but a warm friendship had blossomed between them. While working together on the Golden Record, they had been alone often and spoken frequently, but always as friends and colleagues. Neither of them had dared acknowledge that in the course of their many soaring conversations about music and mathematics, they had been falling in love.
That day in 1977, Annie had called Carl’s hotel room to share the news that she had found the perfect piece of music for the record – a 2,500-year-old song from China. He was out. She left a message. An hour later Carl called her back, and suddenly, out of nowhere, they found themselves agreeing to get married. Popova writes:
They had never so much as kissed. They had never had any conversation of a personal nature before. Something about the Golden Record’s serenade to immortality had thrust them against the urgency of a mortal existence, against the recognition of life, of love, as a tiny irretrievable, beautiful blip in the eternal score of the universe.
And so they married, and were wildly happy for nineteen years, until Carl’s death in 1996. Their eyes on the cosmos, they had learned not to waste one precious moment of the infinitesimal amount of universal time we are each allotted for our brief, brief lives. Wouldn’t it be a beautiful thing, if we could all live so courageously?
But I digress. Here on Earth, for the past couple of months, I have started a ritual of daily music meditations with my girls. Every day that they’re with me, we choose a piece of music to listen to from across a wide array of genres, and we all sit, eyes closed, and let the notes wash over us, losing ourselves in whatever fast or slow or joyous or tragic or sweet or salty song is playing. Afterwards, we all share our thoughts about the music, and often it leads to further exploration of an artist, a genre, or an album. Whatever the music or the outcome though, it is always a lovely, contemplative part of our day.
Watching the Perseverance rover touch down on Mars in February, the kids and I laughed, conjuring up the image of a little Martian photo-bombing the dry rock images beaming back from 130 million miles away. Which then reminded me of the Golden Record, which then became the inspiration for our daily music meditation for a few weeks. As we worked our way through the songs on the record (and wondered how Bach managed to make three appearances, and whether Mozart’s Queen of the Night aria might scare any aliens back across the galaxy), we started to develop our own Golden Record. So, without further ado, here is the Elise-Annie-Vee-Jane Golden Record, with links for your listening pleasure. We could easily have added another 25 songs, so this isn’t an exhaustive list of our favorites, but it’s a start. Enjoy!
Anthem by Leonard Cohen - When Leonard Cohen, who has been my favorite poet/singer/songwriter since my teen years, died in the same week that Donald Trump was elected President, I thought my heart would break. This song, and Cohen’s Democracy, saved me. A few months later, I got the words, “Ring the bells that still can ring” tattooed just above my ankle. I am still ringing those bells, through thick times and thin….
Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, Prélude by Johannes Sebastian Bach, as performed by Yo-Yo Ma – The exquisite beauty of grief.
Jupiter, from The Planets by Gustav Holst – The piece Vee worked on over Zoom with her sixth grade school orchestra in this crazy pandemic year. One night last fall, she performed it outside for Jupiter himself, bright in the sky.
Each of my girls has a special song I’ve been singing to them since they were in the womb:
a. Vee’s song: Baby Beluga by Raffi;
b. Annie’s song: Oh, Shenandoah, an American folk song (performed here by
Harry Belafonte) - my mom’s favorite song to sing us as kids; andc. Elise’s song: Morningtown Ride by Malvina Reynolds, with the names
changed to Vee, Annie, and Elise.Slip Slidin’ Away by Paul Simon - Annie’s favorite musical artist.
Aaron Burr, Sir from the Hamilton musical – Which Vee learned by heart at a very young age, inappropriate bits and all.
Highwomen by The Highwomen - We are not huge country music fans, but this song is haunting and powerful, and might teach the aliens a thing or two about sexism and racism on Planet Earth.
Minuet in G by Ludwig van Beethoven – As arranged in the Suzuki Violin School Book 2, which I learned as a child, and which Vee has just finished learning.
Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – This was on a playlist my sister made me when I was pregnant with Vee, and I listened to it while cradling all three of my girls as newborns. We all love it now.
The Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog - Why are there so many songs about rainbows on this list? :)
Piano Sonata No.11 in A, K.331 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – My mom was an accomplished musician and music scholar; this is the piano sonata she most loved playing, and it brings back beautiful memories. The first measures are inscribed on her headstone.
Ladies First by Queen Latifah.
Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off by George and Ira Gershwin, as performed by Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong.
Annie’s Song by John Denver.
Für Elise by Ludwig van Beethoven – Elise is learning piano, and we are all very excited for her to be able to play her namesake song.
Sweet Jane by Lou Reed, as covered by The Cowboy Junkies - “Anyone who's ever had a dream/Anyone who's ever played a part/Anyone who's ever been lonely/And anyone who's ever split apart…”
An Die Musik by Franz Schubert – The piece that reminds me most of my beloved Grandma Millie, my mom’s mom, who, among many other brilliant qualities, was a gifted violinist, a Shakespeare scholar, and a dedicated Planned Parenthood volunteer.
Killing the Blues by Rowland Salley, as covered by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - If you’re going to get your heart broken, better have this song handy.
Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, as performed by Jeff Buckley – The deep intake of breath at the start has always grabbed me. The story is that Buckley had been working on this recording for days, and couldn’t quite get it to sound the way he wanted. That breath – which came at the start of the take in which he finally got it right – was the sound of pure exhaustion, and I like to imagine that it represents the feeling of pushing yourself past all reason and sense and thought to a place of exquisite emotion and Beauty.
Consider Yourself from Oliver! (The original Broadway cast recording) - The four of us have a soft spot for musicals (for me, especially the Broadway classics). This is just one of the many musical numbers we love belting out around the house, in the car, etc.
Looking Out by Brandi Carlile.
Better When I’m Dancing by Meghan Trainor - Because this list wouldn’t truly represent my kids without at least one bubblegum pop song. Also, life really is better when we’re dancing.
Your Personal Penguin by Sandra Boynton, performed by Davy Jones.
When I Am Older from Frozen 2 - Because who hasn’t felt this way sometimes, even as a bona fide adult?
Seagulls! (Stop It Now) by Bad Lip Reading - We laugh a lot in our house. Especially when we’re listening to/watching this. And if the aliens don’t have a sense of humor, we’re going to want to know that quickly, n’est-ce pas?
So…what’s on your Golden Record?
Since I'm commenting, I should mention I just discovered this post and loved it! I listened to it with my toddler. My sister was working on a script about the satellite/record recently and I mentioned the movie Explorers from the 80s, which actually centers around it. I found your post while cleaning out my inbox a week or so later, so it was a great confluence. Not sure that I can recommend the movie since as a kid I thought the last half with the aliens was disappointing, but it might be worth a watch with your daughters. Also, my taste might not have been great in the 80s and it still may be questionable :)
The aliens will never forgive you for "Seagulls: Stop It Now"