Let’s Go Space Truckin’

Written for Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday
where our theme this week is
“One Light Day Away From Earth”

Welcome back to Jim Adam’s Song Lyric Sunday. The theme this week is “One Light Day Away From Earth” and our challenge is to write about a song that references light or space. Like last week, I’m featuring a couple of new songs/artists …. new in the sense that I haven’t previously written about them on SLS. One is more of a pop/rockabilly style while the other is alternative/indie-rock …. genres I don’t feature often ….. but that doesn’t matter because I really like both songs and the artists. I hope you enjoy them, too. OK, kids …. let’s go space truckin’!

My first featured act this week is Train, a San Francisco pop-rock band formed in 1993 when singer Pat Monahan left Erie, Pennsylvania, and moved to California, where he met guitarist Rob Hotchkiss. They expanded into a full band with Jimmy Stafford (guitar), Charlie Colin (bass), and Scott Underwood (drums). The name of the band comes from two ideas: the romantic, horizon-expanding symbol of American locomotives, and the disciplined act of “training” or doing the musical work. Success has been a slow but steady climb for the group. It took more than two years for momentum to build behind the group’s self-titled debut and its first single, the melancholy “Meet Virginia,” but the story surrounding the group’s second effort, “Drops of Jupiter”, is much different.

Released on January 29, 2001, “Drops of Jupiter” is the lead single from Train’s second studio album of the same name. Pat Monahan wrote the song as a tribute to his late mother; he woke up from a vivid dream with the line “back in the atmosphere”. In the dream, he saw his mother swimming through planets and visiting the cosmos, coming back to talk to him with drops of Jupiter in her hair. While it honors his mother, Monahan described the song as also being about his own voyage of self-discovery and coping with grief. When the song began getting radio air time in the spring of 2001, it instantly garnered attention from music fans which catapulted the album to #6 on the Billboard 200 chart within the first week of its release. The single peaked at #5 on the US Billboard Hot 100, reached the top 10 in multiple countries, and won the Grammy for Best Rock Song in 2002, saving Train from potential one-hit-wonder status after their earlier hit “Meet Virginia”.

This is “Drops of Jupiter” by Train

Up next is an Australian alternative rock band formed in Sydney in March 1980 called The Church, shortened from the original The Church of Man. Founded by singer-songwriter-bassist Steve Kilbey, guitarist Peter Koppes, and original drummer Nick Ward, they are known for their jangly, ethereal guitar work, atmospheric melodies, and deep, soothing vocals. Soon after forming, they were joined by guitarist Marty Wilson-Piper. According to their web site, their music is a mix of “indie rock, post-punk, dream pop, neo-psychedelia, and psychedelic post-rock”. In 1981, they released their debut album, Of Skins and Heart, which featured their early Australian hit “The Unguarded Moment”. International mainstream success was achieved with their 1988 album Starfish, which featured their signature US Top 40 hit “Under the Milky Way”. The Church was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame (Australian Recording Industry Association) in 2010 and they continue to record and tour extensively.

Co-written in 1988 by frontman Kilbey and his then-girlfriend Karin Jansson [of the band Curious (Yellow)], “Under the Milky Way” is a signature song for The Church. The title was inspired by Melkweg (Dutch for “Milky Way”), a popular music and cultural venue in Amsterdam that Kilbey frequently visited. The band initially doubted the song and resisted recording it, moving forward only at the insistence of management and Arista executive, Clive Davis, who immediately recognized it as a hit. Intentionally ambiguous and atmospheric, the song features lines like “loveless fascination” and “something shimmering and white” to evoke “urban isolation and primal urges”. “Under the Milky Way” became the band’s biggest international hit, peaking at #24 on the US Billboard Hot 100, #22 on the Australian Kent Music Report, and winning Single of the Year at the 1989 ARIA Music Awards.

This is “Under the Milky Way” by The Church

Bonus Track: “Space Truckin’” is the closing track on Deep Purple’s iconic 1972 album, Machine Head. Written by the classic lineup of Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice, the song evolved from Blackmore’s legendary riff into a high-energy road-trip anthem. It was recorded at the Grand Hotel in Montreux, Switzerland, using the Rolling Stones’ mobile studio after the original venue (the Montreux Casino) burned down which was memorialized in Deep Purple’s epic song, “Smoke On the Water”. Lead singer Ian Gillan noted that the sci-fi lyrics are a playful, non-literal pastiche inspired by 1950s science fiction books and films he devoured while touring. The track paints a whimsical picture of space travel and retro-futuristic truckers cruising the Milky Way.

This is “Space Truckin’” by Deep Purple

One Light Day Away From Earth

Big thanks to Jim Adams for hosting another great Song Lyric Sunday this week and every week. Be sure to follow his link and check out his site.

Thanks for stopping by and listening to some great music. I hope you enjoyed the theme for this week as well as the information and music I featured.

That’s all she wrote, kids. See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2026

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