Listening to the Planets: Planetary Archetypes and the Billboard Top 100 Songs of All Time

Using various Billboard rankings, I’ve cobbled together a short list of recognizable songs that I believe correspond quite nicely to planetary archetypes, both in obvious and subtle ways. Music has been a profound source of human storytelling since time immemorial. The planets are like characters, each coming forth with a different set of motives and messages. Songs therefore become narrative. We can not only find our stories reflected back to us in the most pervasive of pop hits but can also learn of and relate to the stories of others. What does it sound like when Mars is singing versus when Neptune is? What do these songs say about our collective experience with these archetypes? I invite you to tune into the messages of the planets by listening to some or all the songs below. You probably already know them. Of course, this is in no way exhaustive. If you are a music fan, I’d encourage closer listens of all your favorite songs, or even a playlist of your own! Who knows, maybe a planetary archetype is lurking.

Sun

Staylin Alive by the Bee Gees. The Sun is the source of all life. This song is a celebration of ego and existence but not because of vanity, rather, because of challenge and circumstance. The proverbial Hero’s Journey, and how, despite obstacle, we all…