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Relatively Weird
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A semi-humorous song about Einstein's special relativity (travel near the speed of light) and general relativity (strong gravity). Written for science students but fun for all sentient beings in the cosmos!
pop rock folk universe cosmos alan marscher boston university profess cosmos ii science songs songs for science nerds songs in russian
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A mainly one-person band featuring strong vocals and guitar back-up, playing a variety of songs in a rock, folk, and pop blend. The songs range from science ner
Cosmos II is the pseudonym of Alan Marscher, a professor of astronomy at Boston University. Usually, he performs alone on guitar and vocals. The songs are all originals composed and copyrighted by Marscher. Some are "science nerd" songs that Cosmos II performs to science students at B.U. The majority, though, are just general songs about life, love, the pursuit of happiness and meaning, and various other random topics. Most of the songs are in English, while some are in Russian, the country where Marscher's wife, Svetlana hails from. The style is a mixture of rock, pop, and folk - what is often termed "adult contemporary." Many are humorous - e.g., "Medical Miracle" about how Viagra has revitalized a lot of middle-aged men or "Relatively Weird" about the wonders and perils of traveling around at near-light speeds. Others are philosophical, such as "All from Nothing?" about how the universe came to exist and "Elusive Truth" that asks whether absolute truth can exist. Some are just plain love songs - an example is "Together or Apart" - and others are love-is-difficult songs, like "Winter's Darkness." Laughs and tears for everyone! Marscher recorded all of the songs himself on a small digital recorder. He doesn't have loads of free time, so he hasn't worked hard enough to remove imperfections, add a drum pattern, etc. But most songs have harmony and are at least at the "demo" level of quality. Friends who have listened to them have neither gone mad nor rushed the CD to the local recycling center. More importantly to Cosmos II, Marscher can listen to them without wretching in horror over the slight mis-timings of the different tracks and other imperfections.
Song Info
Genre
Rock Rock General
Charts
#22 in subgenre Peak #1
Charts
Peak #5
Author
Alan Marscher
Rights
2001 by Alan Marscher
Uploaded
March 17, 2008
Track Files
MP3
MP3 3.2 MB 128 kbps 3:28
Story behind the song
The "gamma" referred to is the Lorentz factor, which measures how strong the effects of special relativity are. For example, at a speed of 98% light speed, the Lorentz factor is 5, so distances in the forward direction are 5 times shorter than if your space ship were at rest. And people/beings on planets will measure your time to pass 5 times more slowly than theirs. So, if you can go places almost as fast as light, you won't age as much as your friends on earth.
Lyrics
1. Is this high or low? It's just comparative Is it fast or slow? It's simply relative The distance to another star is not always the same Even the passage of time depends on your reference frame 2. Is it energy or mass? Well, E = mc-squared. And if it goes really fast, put a gamma in there This is the principle behind all bombs nuclear It even describes why each star shines from reactions at the core Chorus: Well, Einstein figured all this out, replaced ideas from the past At first no one else knew what it was about 'Cause they'd never gone so fast As 98% the speed of light, Lorentz factor of 5 Accelerate into the night, and if you can survive . . . Your friends on Earth will not [rot] 3. Do you want to take a trip, zip 'round the Galaxy Hop in my super spaceship, accelerate at 2g We'll travel around together, visit exotic worlds Nothing lasts forever, but we'll have time for a grand tour [Chorus] Ending: General Relativity bends my mind, just as mass does space How does a black hole slow down time as viewed from a distant place? Gravitational redshift . . . event horizon . . . infinite Doppler shift . . . I'm falling iiiiiinnnnn
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Comments 3
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AlexisPatrick
Feb 25, 2020
Magnificent lyrics, and your vocals are amazing.....Great guitar work, as well. Your songs are at the top of the charts because you deserve it, my friend!!!
lee1102
Jul 06, 2019
So what's your secret? How do you keep your songs constantly at the top of the charts, even when they are 10 years old? Do you click on them like a million times? Do you pay people to click on them? Far be it for me to say anything negative about anyone's music, but c'mon man, give us a break!
Ed Drury
Apr 22, 2009
Clever lyric writing and a fun song!