Time dilation & rock 'n' roll

Michael Hartl — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:39:00 -0700

By now many of you have no doubt heard that Brian May, best known as the lead guitarist of Queen, has received his Ph.D. in Astrophysics. Now that you know this, give a(nother) listen to ‘39 from Queen’s album A Night at the Opera. Written (and ably sung) by Dr. May, ‘39 tells the story of a group spacefarers who sail out to the stars “In the year of ‘39…in the days when lands were few”. They return to Earth, according to the crew, that same year—but arrive many years later according to those they left behind:

In the year of '39 came a ship in from the blue
The Volunteers came home that day
And they bring good news of a world so newly born
Though their hearts so heavily weigh
For the earth is old and grey, to a new home we'll away
But my love this cannot be
For so many years have gone though I'm older but a year
Your mother's eyes from your eyes cry to me

That’s right—Queen wrote a song about time dilation. I’ve always liked Queen, but this takes them to a whole new level.

Eikonoklastes by Michael Hartl: Time dilation & rock 'n' roll

Time dilation & rock 'n' roll