“Space Song” by Beach House

The lyrics of “Space Song” can be deemed artsy in that they are relatively terse and in a way leave more to the imagination than what’s being stated overtly. 

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Beach House's Space Song at Lyrics.org.

Verse 1

The song commences with the vocalist coming off as if she and the addressee are separated. The nature of their relationship is not directly revealed herein, but it has been concluded by other listeners/analysts that it is romantic.

As the first verse proceeds, the wording then starts to read like maybe they have already broken up. Or if not, it appears as if their relationship may be on a path to such transpiring. For instance, Victoria implies that she is currently challenged in terms of getting the addressee to smile.

Verse 2

So relatedly, from the end of the first verse leading into the second, the vocalist seems to shift her focus to how it feels to have your heart broken. It is not clear if her understanding of this phenomenon is based on what she’s gone through in the past, is going through in the present or a composite of both. 

But Victoria seems to recognize that in the realm of romance, the naiveté of “wide-eyed girls” can end up working against them. Or as relayed in the second verse, once a heart is broken, it isn’t such that there will be anyone there to “dry your eyes” afterwards. 

So going a bit out on a limb, perhaps we can speculate that what she’s speaking to is a reality such as since (as romantically-involved adults) it is usually our lovers we go to for relief, then obviously there’s going to be some type of vacuum if the selfsame individual proves the source of one’s grief.

Takeaway

These lyrics are specifically female-centric, giving the impression that Victoria is indeed speaking from her own experience. And even though the verses are a bit melancholic, she does conclusively idealize that girls like herself who go through similar ordeals “fall back into place”.

So if anything, this isn’t the type of song where a vocalist is depicting herself as being eternally devastated due to a romance gone awry. Instead, the vocalist is clearly looking forward to her emotional wounds being healed and once again being whole, in a manner of speaking, as she was before her relationship with the addressee began.

Beach House's "Space Song" Lyrics

When was “Space Song” released?

Beach House officially released this via Sub Pop on August 28th, 2015 as a single (a promotional one) from “Depression Cherry”.

Credits

“Space Song” was composed entirely by Beach House. As of the writing of this article, Beach House is made up of :

  • Victoria Legrand (lead vocals and keyboard)
  • Alex Scally (backup vocals, guitar and keyboards)

Achievements of “Space Song”

Upon release in 2015, this song didn’t meet with success. It wasn’t until somewhere in 2021 that the song became a global hit. By virtue of this, it is safe to refer to this track as a sleeper hit. But what made this song famous? The simple answer is TikTok.

Thanks to TikTok, “Space Song” was able to enjoy massive virality in the early parts of 2021. This piece became so popular that by the latter parts of 2022, it was used in almost a quarter of a million TikTok videos. The song’s fantastic success was also replicated on the Spotify platform, where it has so far been streamed more than half a billion times.

During an interview with American online music magazine, Pitchfork, Victoria said she was grateful for the song’s success and for the fact that the younger generation keep on discovering Beach House’s music.

Feelings/Emotions “Space Song” tends to Evoke Amongst Fans

“Space Song” has given fans many different feelings, from getting lost in their childhood memories and wishing they could go back into time to realizing they’ve missed out on certain experiences and hoping to go through them one day.

One fan shared the sadness of having lost his grandpa this year. They had a strong bond filled with love. And hearing “Space Song” brings back memories they both once shared, bringing him to tears.

Popular Usage of “Space Song” in TV Shows and Films

Season 1, episode 3 of comedy-horror “Wednesday”. The track plays as Wednesday (Jenny Ortega) heads to the town square.

Credits of Season 1, episode 4 of science fiction drama “Paper Girls”.

Season 1, episode 5 of teen drama “Surviving Summer”.

Season 1, episode 5 of drama “WeCrashed”. While the Neumann family are at the beach, “Space Song” was played.

Season 1, episode 2 of post-apocalyptic fantasy miniseries “The Stand”. It is heard as Larry (Jovan Adepo) and Rita (Heather Graham) head north.

Romantic science fiction movie “Zoe”. “Space Song” is featured as Zoe (Léa Seydoux) explains how the pharmaceutical experiment works to Ash (Theo James).

Comedy slasher movie “Tragedy Girls”.

Season 1, episode 4 of comedy-drama “Atlanta”. The song is played on Earn’s (Donald Glover) headphones while he’s on the couch, staring at a gun.

Space Song

The “Depression Cherry” Album

American dream pop collective Beach House released “Depression Cherry” as their 5th studio project/album on August 28 of 2015.

The album, which was made available via record label Sub Pop, was promoted by two singles. The first, being “Sparks”, was put out on July 1 of 2015.  “PPP”, the project’s second single, officially hit the airways on August 6, the same year.

In addition to the above-mentioned singles, the album also contained other popular songs. One of which is “Space Song”. This track achieved viral online popularity, especially on platforms like Spotify and TikTok.

“Depression Cherry” was produced by the members of Beach House as well as renowned US record producer, Chris Coady. The latter was also involved with the production of the group’s previous projects “Bloom” and “Teen Dream”.

This record enjoyed significant success on a number of official albums charts around the globe. In the US, “Depression Cherry” landed at No.8 on the Billboard 200. And on the UK’s official albums chart, this record peaked at No.17.  

On top of its considerable chart success, the album has been highly-ranked by a host of notable music and entertainment publications. An example of this is its ranking at No.16 on “The 50 Best Albums of 2015” compiled by music magazine Spin.

Rolling Stone and Pitchfork placed “Depression Cherry” at No. 33 and No. 28, respectively on their list of “50 Best Albums” of 2015.

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