Astronaut

Album: Get Your Heart On! (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song uses a stranded astronaut as a metaphor for feeling lost and alone, even if you're surrounded by other people. "It's a song about wanting to connect with other people who feel the same way that you do, who are like you," Simple Plan drummer Chuck Comeau explained. "I think that's a very universal desire of people to find people who share the same life vision that we do."
  • Simple Plan's fans became known as "astronauts" in the same way Mariah Carey's fans are "lambs" and Lady Gaga's are "monsters." It's an apt title, as Simple Plan has always fostered a community to connect with fans and let them know there are others like them who often feel misunderstood.
  • This was the third single from Simple Plan's fourth album, Get Your Heart On. Their first two album were released when their pop-punk sound was trending, and both sold over a million copies. On their third album in 2008, they brought in outside writers and tweaked their sound to lean more EDM, which was big. This felt a bit disingenuous, so they leaned into their original sound on Get Your Heart On. Though it all, they retained the same five members.
  • The Simple Plan songwriting team of Chuck Comeau and lead singer Pierre Bouvier got help writing this track from the British songwriters Jim Irvin and Julian Emery.
  • The music video was directed by Mark Staubach, who also did Travie McCoy's "Billionaire" and a few other Simple Plan videos, including "Summer Paradise" and "Perfectly Perfect." In "Astronaut," the space traveler is stranded on a barren planet, but finally finds another human when he comes across a girl astronaut. They kiss, and then the scene shifts to Earth, where they are simple a couple who has found each other.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Top American Idol Moments: Songs And Scandals

Top American Idol Moments: Songs And ScandalsSong Writing

Surprise exits, a catfight and some very memorable performances make our list of the most memorable Idol moments.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys

Mike Scott of The WaterboysSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Whole Of The Moon" and "Red Army Blues," and why rock music has "outlived its era of innovation."

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."

Lip-Synch Rebels

Lip-Synch RebelsSong Writing

What happens when Kurt Cobain, Iron Maiden and Johnny Lydon are told to lip-synch? Some hilarious "performances."

Michael Bolton

Michael BoltonSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete BlondeSongwriter Interviews

The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."