Mixtape Mondays: Songs for Scientists

Hey guys! Welcome to another Mixtape Monday, where I come up with a list of songs for any mood, for any occasion. If you missed the last one, you can find it here.

This week's playlist is an attempt at getting my mind out of the gutter and concentrating more on my studies. Nope, I'm not going to hit you with a study playlist - I'll save that for another day. Instead, I'll bombard you guys with some songs I hold quite close to my scientifically-oriented heart:

Songs for Scientists and the Scientifically-Minded

The doctor would be so proud.

To skip the banter and go directly to this week's playlist, click here.

This songs on this playlist aren't strictly nerdy-know-it-all songs that only people in the field of science. Rather, they're songs probably anybody can enjoy but seem to have enough of that wonderful tinge of thought. Here at Mixtape Mondays, each post is dedicated to exposing the readers to songs they wouldn't have cared to listen to in the first place. It may seem a little bit hipster, but it's true. These songs are basically the songs I often find myself listening to whilst racing for the deadline of one of my formal lab reports, or probably just browsing my cell culture textbook and wondering what the hell I'm doing with my life. After all, science isn't exactly the first choice of many where making a living is concerned. This playlist is dedicated to all the aspiring scientists out there who have no idea what they're doing and all those people who've made the world how it is now. You guys don't get enough love.

Let's kick this playlist off with a song that brings back a few memories of why I even chose to pursue a career in science in the first place. Rogue Wave's Good Morning (The Future) has that fresh beat and the  familiar tone of any cynical scientist in the making.

Good Morning (The Future) - Rogue Wave

I don't know about you guys, but when I was a kid, I always associate science to the future. Being the young optimist that I was, I wanted to be part of that future. Fast forward to now and like the words of this song echo, "The future isn't what it used to be." Heck, I'd thought we'd have flying cars by now, or at least cured cancer, but such advancements are much too far off as I've come to learn in my studies, but that isn't really stopping me, is it?

The indie rockband Rogue Wave isn't letting anything stop them either. They always seem to have the brunt of all the worst of the music industry, their songs being plagiarized and used commercially without consent on many occasions, but aren't we all glad they keep making music? I know I am.

That aside, the next song is one that seems to have a more direct relation to our theme, the title in itself screaming "stay away from me, I might hurt your brain". Chemistry by Semisonic was one of those songs I'd hear on the car radio and instantly scream to my parents to turn the volume up higher.

Chemistry - Semisonic

I'll be honest - this was one of the songs that I'd pretend I understood when I was a kid, but really didn't, and only upon rediscovery of this song in my second year of high school in a school dedicated primarily to sciences did I come to appreciate it to the fullest. I think anyone who's fond of chemistry can probably relate to this song. The lyrics pertaining to getting burned and "memorizing everything" "so I can teach it when it comes my turn" struck a particular chord within me and I was practically sold. While this song is about someone who pursues science for the sole sake of getting the girl, to me it's a song about pursuing something you really love and learning to love something else in the process. That is my life story as an aspiring scientist right there.


Fast forward to the modern day. This particular song, To Modern Science by The Black and White Years is definitely one of my favorites of this playlist as it is one of the songs that seems to glorify my chosen profession where all others fail. Call it the theme song of my kind if you will.

To Modern Science - The Black andWhite Years

I think the lyrics of this song are as pertinent as the topic it speaks about itself. It speaks of science as a means of progress - "nothing is impossible" while acknowledging its limitations as well. It presents both sides of the story so well - that some think that science is the solution to all your problems (it isn't), and that some dismiss science as a hindrance to cultural and human advancement (it definitely isn't). The song so affectionately calls scientists the "glorious sons of Cain", putting science in the opposite spectrum of religion, and while that might not be entirely correct, historically, yes, science has often been portrayed as contrary to most religious beliefs, but meh, you wouldn't be here on your computer sharing thoughts on the internet without us, would you? Hah.

And now after that nose-bleed chunk of a paragraph, a song that really isn't related to science at all, except by the Physical Science-oriented nature of its name. When you guys listen to Muse's Supermassive Black Hole, you really don't have to think much. Just listen to the song and enjoy.

Supermassive Black Hole - Muse

I think the only downfall of this song is that it had to fall to the hands of the mainstream train wreck that is the Twilight Saga. I was perfectly comfortable with this song being relatively popular in the U.K. and the U.S. but now whenever I listen to the song with family the topic of Twilight always seems to come to play. Thanks for ruining a perfectly good song, Summit.

Hipster rants aside, this particular song, I have no qualms about being mainstream, overused and sold out. This is the second time I'm featuring a song of Barenaked Ladies in Mixtape Mondays and I have no problem with that. That's just how awesome they are. Add to that the fact that The History of Everything is the main theme of one of the most awesome shows out there right now, The Big Bang Theory and you can pretty much see where all my bias comes from.

The History of Everything - Barenaked Ladies 

The song in itself is pretty self-explanatory. This is as simple a retelling of the history of everything as it gets, all packaged in a catchy, wonderful tune very characteristic of the tone of many of Barnaked Ladies' songs. Anyone who doesn't enjoy this song is either a grumpy batch of sourdough or one of those anti-science extremists.


Let's end this playlist with something solemn and slow. Arguably the most celebrated song in this playlist, Coldplay's The Scientist isn't as strictly a song about science as it is about experimenting, asking questions and living life by the same process a scientist would approach any problem. Same goes for relationships as well, apparently, as the video so graphically portrays.

 Coldplay The Scientist

As cliche as it sounds, sometimes we all get caught up in the science of things, trying to put things in logic and perspective when really all we need to do is look at something and take it as it comes. For all those scientists out there, don't forget you're human once in awhile, okay? And I'll try to remember not everybody's as taken with science as I am :P

That was rather abrupt, but what can I say? That's the end of this week's Mixtape Monday.  If there are any songs you guys deem fit for this playlist, leave a comment below. I'd love to hear about you guys' awesome taste in music.

To view this week's full Mixtape Monday on playlist mode, feel free to visit my YouTube page or go directly to the playlist here.

Stay tuned for more Mixtape Mondays and comment below for next week's theme suggestions!