JimK writesTop Five (Make That Seven) Songs About Math

Clearly there need to be seven entries into this list, seven being the number reached after six, without proceeding to eight.  Because if you bump the table too hard, eight may tip over onto its side, and become infinity…ain’t nobody got time for that.∞

1. "Never Ending Math Equation" by Modest Mouse

So good.  “The plants and the animals eat each other,” which is kind of a math story problem.  You want Mandelbrot?  “…infinity spirals out of creation…”  OH.  The main creative force in this band, Isaac Brock, has had his share of getting a little out of balance, but man he writes some good lyrics.  If you don’t care for his noisy musical palette, check out Sun Kil Moon’s cover of the song.

2. "Carry the Zero" by Built to Spill

Theoretical math from Doug M. in Boise, Idaho.  This is what happens when you lay up in the basement too long layering guitars: “Didn’t add up, forgot to carry a zero.”

3. "God Bows to Math" by The Minutemen

Wow, first of all, this is track #18 out of 43 on the album, so that’s 41.86% of the way through the thing, which may mean something.  If it doesn’t, so what because Mike Watt is on bass, and if it’s not your cup of tea, its only 76 seconds long so you can just yawn or blink a few times & it’s over.

4. "Music Is Math" by Boards of Canada

Mainly instrumental glitch groove, it has 2 well-hidden hints at unlocking the mathematical origins of our beloved (obviously…I mean you found this blog on CHIRP, amiright?) art form:

“yellow ball”   and

“be careful”

Check. √

5. "Math" by The Mallard

This band from San Francisco doesn’t exist anymore, but when I was assigned the in-house review of their last album a while back, this song struck me hard.  I haven’t really figured out the math references yet, just enjoying the mood & guitars is enough.  Made the list sheerly on quality and song title.  Good luck finding a version on the web, tho.

6. "Less Than Zero" by Elvis Costello

Declan MacManus is a much better name for a rock mathematician than his composite stage name, but ol’ Dec flashes his true brainy colours here by taking us into theoretical land by claiming that everything actually adds up to less than zero.

7. “Don’t Tell Me To Do The Math(s)” by Los Campesinos

Punk from Wales with an anti-mathematical theme.  I think they were overstating their case a bit though… it’s hard to not read some affection for numbers in the line, “drown in Dewey decimal but leave our shoes off at the door.”  And what about that “s” at the end of math that U.K. folks stick on there?  Someone needs to teach them how to do English properly.

Appendix:  This issue of “Songs About Math” will clearly need to be followed up, perhaps you’d like to consider joining up with CHIRP and doing it yourself?  Our next new Volunteer Meeting is how you’ll begin to correct my omissions. 

I DON’T HAVE A SINGLE MATHROCK SONG ON HERE, SOMEBODY HELP ME OUT!

comments powered by Disqus