When Music Imagines Futures: A Sonic Journey Through Science Fiction
Written by Carlos Traginer and Xia Vélora
Introduction
Music in science fiction doesn’t merely accompany stories—it often transforms them in significant ways. From a speculative perspective, we can consider that music, even in imagined worlds, fulfills essential human functions. This idea is supported by Daniel J. Levitin(2008) in The World in Six Songs, where he identifies six core motivations: to bond, to comfort, to transmit knowledge, to connect spiritually, to resist, and to express love or desire.
Through possible futures and invented worlds, music emerges as a universal language, a tool for communication between species, and an act of resistance against oppressive systems .It is not merely a sonic backdrop—it acts as a driving force for identity, memory, and emotion.
This journey explores literary, cinematic, and theatrical works where music doesn’t just sound—it becomes a protagonist of civilizations, technologies, and modes of feeling. Because imagining the music of tomorrow is, in the end, also a way of asking who we might become.
1. Music to Create Bonds
Music as a bridge between cultures and species features prominently in science fiction. In The Songs of Distant Earth (Arthur C. Clarke, 1986), music serves as an emotional bond between space colonists and the last refugees from a dying Earth. In Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977), a simple five-note motif becomes a contact language between humans and aliens. In Star Wars: A New Hope (George Lucas, 1977), the alien band Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes perform jizz—a form of space jazz—in the Mos Eisley cantina. In 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968), HAL 9000 sings “Daisy Bell” while being deactivated. Even in parody, Mars Attacks! (Tim Burton, 1996) turns the country song “Indian Love Call” into an unexpected weapon against an alien invasion, reminding us that music can also be a tool for survival.
2. Music to Comfort
In post-apocalyptic landscapes or situations of extreme isolation, music reappears as an emotional refuge. In Borealis (Juan Carlos Garay, 2023), musical performance becomes an act of intimate resistance and comfort amid cultural collapse. In Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future (Andrew R. Butler, 2018), folk and rock preserve the dignity of genetically modified and marginalized humans. In Hospital Station (James
White, 1962), human and alien doctors collaborate in a clinical space where music acts as therapy and an intercultural bridge. In WALL·E (Andrew Stanton, 2008), an old musical—Hello, Dolly!—teaches the robot protagonist gestures of human affection. The song “It Only Takes a Moment” becomes the catalyst for his longing to connect. In
Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, 2013), the stranded astronaut hears a lullaby broadcast from Earth. She doesn’t understand the language, but the melody offers comfort in the vast void.
3. Music as Cultural Transmission and Knowledge
In many stories, music becomes oral memory, encoded knowledge, or a form of collective legacy. In The Dragonriders of Pern (Anne McCaffrey, 1967–1989), the Harpers are musicians who preserve history through song. The GENNEU Project (Hallerjack, 2013) uses transmedia storytelling and soundscapes to expand sci-fi narratives. In La música imaginaria (Marcelo Cohen), societies are organized around unique musical systems that structure time and emotion. Ceres (Various Authors, 2021) fuses space colonization tales with original music compositions. In The Ballad of Beta-2 (Samuel R. Delany, 1965), an interstellar ballad contains clues to an accident aboard generational ships. In “The Inner Light” (Star Trek: The Next Generation, 1992), an alien probe transmits the history of an extinct civilization to Jean-Luc Picard, condensed into a melody.
4. Music to Channel the Spiritual and Mystical
Music also connects with the invisible, the transcendent, the ritualistic.In Dune (Frank Herbert, 1965), the sand organ is both instrument and mystical symbol. In The Singing Bell (Isaac Asimov, 1955), a smuggler collects singing bells that only sound under low gravity and lunar silence. These stones possess an alien sonic beauty that requires sensitivity and respect. This vision anticipates the explorations of the Hypate Project by the Traginer Music Research Lab, focused on instruments made froml unar and Martian regolith. In The Fifth Element (Luc Besson ,1997), Diva Plavalaguna stirs emotion with a lyrical aria that transforms into a rhythmic vocal sequence. Her singing becomes ritual, encoded message, and salvific gesture. A Canticle for Leibowitz (Walter M. Miller, 1959) shows how religious and musical traditions preserve technological knowledge after catastrophe.
5. Musicas Resistance
In science fiction, music not only comforts—it also awakens memory, sparks rebellion, or becomes a symbolic weapon. In Songmaster (Orson Scott Card, 1980), Ansset wields his voice as a tool of power. In We Will Rock You (Ben Elton and Queen, 2002), protagonists rediscover legendary songs as acts of rebellion. In A Song for a New Day (Sarah Pinsker, 2019), underground music persists after a pandemic. In Tokyo Madness (DJ Nano, 2024), electronic music provides emotional refuge in a dystopian metropolis. In Interstella 5555 (Daft Punk and Leiji Matsumoto, 2003), an alien band is kidnapped by Earth’s music industry. In Synners (Pat Cadigan, 1991), music is transmitted directly from the mind. This aligns with Brandon LaBelle (2018) and his ideas about sound as agency and resistance. In The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Suzanne Collins, 2010), the song “The Hanging Tree” becomes a revolutionary anthem.
6. Music to Express Love and Desire
In future scenarios, music remains a vehicle for affection, attraction, and intimacy. In Space Opera (Catherynne M. Valente, 2018), the fate of entire planets is decided in an intergalactic music contest. In Idoru (William Gibson, 1996), a rock star falls in love with a virtual idol. In Neuromancer (William Gibson, 1984), music fused with AI and virtual environments alters states of consciousness and desire.
Other Notable Examples
➜ El legado del bardo (Ana Calatayud, 2024): Music and magic as sources of cultural resistance
➜ The Preserving Machine (Philip K. Dick, 1953): Sonic art within absurd technological bureaucracy
➜ Phonogram (Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, 2006–2010): Urban magic based on songs
➜ Transmetropolitan (Warren Ellis, 1997–2002): A society where music has lost its transformative power
➜ Samuel R. Delany, especially The Ballad of Beta-2: Music as an identity core in posthuman civilizations
Conclusion
Science fiction has long envisioned speculative scenarios that expand our understanding of the future of music. Each story acts as a seed—an imaginative exploration that invites us to reconsider how we live, feel, and relate. Imagining sonic futures is not just about new instruments or musical styles—it is about rehearsing alternative ways of being and experiencing music.
As Daniel J. Levitin (2008) notes: to bond, to comfort, to transmit knowledge, to connect spiritually, to resist, and to express desire. Science fiction reclaims these functions and projects them into radically new settings, expanding what music can be and what we might become. At the crossroads of speculation and sound, music becomes a motor for change, a language of resistance, and a tool for identity exploration. These imagined futures enrich the musical narrative and open new paths to redraw the relationship between music, technology, and humanity.
References Cited
➜ LaBelle, Brandon. 2018. Sonic Agency: Sound and Emergent Forms of Resistance.
London: Goldsmiths Press.
➜ Levitin, Daniel J. 2008. The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature. New York: Dutton.
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