Chris Hadfield and Ed are co-writing the official song for Music Monday this year (the first Monday in May), that celebrates music education.
Jimi Hendrix never kissed the sky, let alone make it to the Third Stone from the Sun. Pink Floyd did not know from Astronomy Domine. Chris Hadfield, on the other hand, is in orbit right now. He's aboard the International Space Station, where he found time between Tang breaks and experiments to co-write and record a new song with Barenaked Ladies frontman Ed Robertson. I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing), which launches across CBC platforms on Feb. 8, is a poignant celebration of country and a champion of music education.
The softly-rocking duet in the key of G was recorded this week with Toronto's Wexford Gleeks, the type of high school choir encouraged by the floating spaceman. "Sing your song, I'm listening," the jangled chorus goes, "out where the stars are glistening I can hear your voices bouncing off the moon." Hadfield, an amateur musician turned zero-gravity guitarist, warbles about a "brilliant ball of blue" and wanting to get back to it soon. Elton John may have sang about the loneliness of space, but the song from a real rocket man is much more stellar.
You can here the song here as of Feb. 8.
Brad Wheeler