KEVIN McCORRY, HOST: I’m Kevin McCorry and this is ‘Jukebox Journey.’
[MUSIC MONTAGE: “Mercury Blues” by Alan Jackson, “Venus” by Shocking Blue, “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra, “Life on Mars” by David Bowie]
KM: We’re unstuck in time, jumping through decades and genres, meditating on a theme.
This week: Astronomy under the summer sky.
[MUSIC: “All the Stars,” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA]
KM: It’s a perfect stargazing summer night. The telescope is out. Blankets on the grass. And the great expanse of stars stretch above you in a wrap of speckled lights.
They’ve been there all day. They’re always there. But now you see anew.
[MUSIC SWELL]
KM: From 2018, Kendrick Lamar and SZA.
Looking up at the galaxy, things focus into perspective. Your six year old curls up and shoots right into the big questions: ‘But, why, like, are there people on earth? Do you think there’s life somewhere out there?’
Those questions are always there. But coming from a fresh perspective, you consider them anew.
[MUSIC: “Starman” by Bowie]
KM: From 1972, David Bowie.
Our backyard astronomy leans on a few favorites. First find Polaris — the North Star — then the Big Dipper so we can arc to Arcturus and spike to Spica, the brightest star in Virgo.
[MUSIC: “When You Wish Upon a Star” by Stevie Wonder]
KM: From 1963, a 13 year old Stevie Wonder.
Evidence of humans finding shapes in the stars dates back to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia. Our modern understanding of star mapping and constellations emerged in Babylonia and was refined in Greece more than 2000 years ago.
[MUSIC: “Would You Like to Swing on a Star” by Bing Crosby]
KM: From 1944, Papa Bing Crosby.
For centuries, constellations have been there as guides — dots connected to mythologize the history of the world or to navigate the dark seas.
[MUSIC: “We Are All Made of Stars” by Moby]
KM: From 2002, Moby.
The Milky Way contains more than 100 billion stars, each trillions of miles away from each other. You can draw lines everywhere, but where to start? It’s our perspective, our stories, passed down through generations that provide the shape.
[MUSIC: “Constellations” by Jack Johnson]
KM: From 2005, Jack Johnson.
The inverse image of the white hot light of the stars on the black sky is the bright white background of the empty page and the black marks of keyboard strokes.
Writing, like constellation finding, is a quest to make meaning. You have 26 letters, but unlimited potential. Instead of looking up, you look in. You write, revise until you find your shape.
[MUSIC: “Woodstock” by Joni Mitchell]
KM: Joni Mitchell from 1970.
Maybe your blank page is a canvas, or a garden bed or a dinner plate or a wood shop.
Whatever vision is kicking around your head, the dots don’t connect by themselves.
It’s in you. But you have to find it. You have to draw the lines, a constellation of order amid the chaos.
And when it works, it touches something familiar. Something that was always there. But, with a fresh perspective, allows others to see anew.
[MUSIC: “What Light?” by Wilco]
KM: From 2006, Wilco.
I’m Kevin McCorry and this has been a Jukebox Journey on WHYY.
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