Songs About UFOs, Aliens

Last updated Mar 4, 2024

The 11 Best Songs About UFOs and Aliens – A ListCaboodle Playlist

The Pentagon recently confirmed the existence of photos and video of “unidentified aerial phenomena” taken in 2019. The mysterious triangle-shaped UFOs blink and move through the sky, capturing the imagination.

In the spirit of such paranormal activity, we decided to put together a playlist of our favorite songs that mention UFOs, extraterrestrial close encounters, or alien abductions.

11 best songs about UFOs, aliens, and flying saucers

Take a spin through these 11 of our favorite songs about UFOs and aliens. Then be sure to check out more selections from across the decades below.

1.) Hypnotized by Fleetwood Mac

Album: Mystery to Me
Date: 1973

In the early 1970s, guitarist/singer Bob Welch was a member of the band Fleetwood Mac. He wrote the bluesy tune “Hypnotized” with Dave Walker singing vocals.

At the time, Welch was interested in paranormal activity like UFOs and the Yaqui Indian sorcerer Don Juan. He incorporated many of these themes in the song’s lyrics.

You’ll enjoy these fun songs about robots.

2.) Starman by David Bowie

Album: Ziggy Stardust
Date: 1972

David Bowie’s “Starman” delivers a message that we are not alone and there is hope for the future. The lyrics describe Bowie’s alter ego Ziggy Stardust traveling through space, seeking to warn us of a coming apocalyptic disaster.

The spacey hit tune reached #10 in the U.K charts and #65 in the U.S.

3.) Subterranean Homesick Alien by Radiohead

Album: OK Computer
Date: 1997

Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke describes the genesis of “Subterranean Homesick Alien” this way: “The first essay I ever wrote in school was, ‘You are an alien from another planet. You have landed and you are standing in the middle of Oxford, and write an essay about what you see… how would you see these people?’ and that’s where a lot of it came from, really.”

Another inspiration for the song came from Yorke’s experience of driving down a country road when he hit a pheasant that flew in front of his vehicle. When he got out of the car to investigate, the feeling of an alien abduction overtook him.

4.) Rapture by Blondie

Album: Autoamerican
Date: 1980

Blondie’s “Rapture” is noted as being the very first #1 hit to ever feature a rap verse.

As the 1970s disco era came to a close, the band capitalized on the relatively new musical style with silly rhymes like the “man from Mars eating cars.” The novelty of inserting a rap sequence in the song helped make it a hit on both the U.S. and U.K. charts.

5.) Nobody Told Me by John Lennon

Album: Mild And Honey
Date: 1984

“Nobody Told Me” was recorded in 1980 by John Lennon and released after his death in 1984 as a single. It reached the Top 10 in both the U.S. and U.K.

In the song, Lennon mentions “a UFO over New York and I ain’t too surprised.”

Inspiration for the lyric came from an experience in 1974 when he thought he witnessed a UFO over New York’s East River. According to his girlfriend at the time, he shouted out the window “come back, take me!”

Check out this list of songs with whispering in them.

6.) E.T. by Katy Perry

Album: Teenage Dream
Date: 2010

In this dreamy electronic ballad, Katy Perry describes her lover from “a different dimension.”

The same songwriters who wrote Perry’s breakthrough hit “I Kissed a Girl” intended “E.T.” for the rap group Three Six Mafia. But when Perry heard it, she knew she had to make it hers. She explains, “…I always knew I wanted to write this futuristic, alienistic song.”

The song hit #1 in the U.S. and charted #3 in the U.K.

Check out these out-of-this-world space quotes and sayings.

7.) I Ran (So Far Away) by A Flock of Seagulls

Album: A Flock Of Seagulls
Date: 1982

The British pop band A Flock of Seagulls debut release was a concept album about aliens invading Earth.

Band members took inspiration from a 1950s sci-fi movie they saw. In the film, people ran to escape a flying saucer. The impact of the movie stuck with lead singer Mike Score, “So even though we had the basics of the music already, we went to rehearsal that night and the picture was in my head and we started to try to formulate words about that.”

The song was the band’s biggest hit, landing at number 9 in the U.S. and #43 on the U.K. charts.

8.) Come Sail Away by Styx

Album: The Grand Illusion
Date: 1977

The late 1970s heralded the introduction of Star Wars along with this intergalactic hit from the band Styx.

Written by the band’s vocalist/keyboard player Dennis DeYoung, it describes a personal journey into the unknown with the purpose of following one’s dreams.

Toward the end of the song, the traveler is visited by aliens that appear as angels. He “climbed about their starship and headed for the skies.”

The song charted at number 8 in the U.S.

9.) Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley

Released as single
Date: 1958

The novelty song “Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley reached no. 1 on the Billboard pop charts and no. 12 in the U.K. in the 1950s.

The tune describes a strange creature with one eye and one horn and able to fly. Absurdly, it descends to Earth to be in a rock ’n roll band.

According to Wooley, he wrote the song after hearing an alien monster joke told by his friend’s kid.

10.) Children of the Sun by Billy Thorpe

Album: Children of the Sun
Date: 1979

Billy Thorpe’s space-opera album “Children of the Sun” reached the top 40 on the Billboard Pop Album chart in 1979.

The 6:44 minute-long song dramatically describes people of the Earth being transported to space “on a silvery light.”

As the 70s classic rock hit describes, “They passed the limits of imagination / Through the doors—to a world—of another time / On a journey of a thousand lifetimes / With the Children of the Sun – They started to climb.”

11.) Mothership Connection (Star Child) by Parliament

Album: Mothership Connection
Date: 1975

Parliament’s “Mothership Connection” became the band’s first certified gold and later platinum album. Popular singles from the record include “Mothership Connection (Star Child),” “P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up),” and “Tear the Roof Off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk).”

The outer-space concept album broke new ground. “We had put black people in a situation nobody ever thought they would be in, like the White House. I figured another place you wouldn’t think black people would be was in outer space,” lead singer George Clinton said. “I was a big fan of Star Trek, so we did a thing with a pimp sitting in a spaceship shaped like a Cadillac, and we did all these James Brown-type grooves, but with street talk and ghetto slang.”

Songs about UFOs by the decade

1950s – Flying saucer songs

The Flying Saucer Parts 1 & 2 by Bill Buchanan and Dickie Goodman
My Flying Saucer by Woodie Guthrie (recorded later by Billy Bragg and Wilco)
Two Little Men In A Flying Saucer by Ella Fitzgerald
Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll by Billy Lee Riley and Jerry Lee Lewis

1960s – Songs about UFOs

Let There Be More Light by Pink Floyd
Mr. Spaceman by The Byrds
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun by Pink Floyd
Voices Green and Purple by The Bees
It Came Out of the Sky Creedence Clearwater Revival
After the Gold Rush by Neil Young
Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft by Klaatu (cover by The Carpenters
Childhood’s End by Pink Floyd
Here Come the Martian Martians by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
Horsell Commons and the Heat Ray by Jeff Wayne
I’ve Seen the Saucers by Elton John
Third Stone From the Sun by Jimi Hendrix
Longer Boats by Cat Stevens
It Came Out of the Sky by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Martian Boogie by Brownsville Station
Waiting for the UFOs by Graham Parker
Silver Lights Sammy Hagar

1970s – Songs about UFOs

Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Space by The Carpenters
I’ve Seen the Saucers by Elton John
Starship Trooper by Yes
Planet Claire by The B52s
A Spaceman Came Travelling by Chris de Burgh
UFO by Pink Lady
Silver Lights by Sammy Hagar
Invader by Judas Priest
Supersonic Rocket Ship by The Kinks
E.T.I (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) by Blue Oyster Cult
Arriving UFO by Yes
Praying To The Aliens by Gary Numan

1980s – Songs about aliens

Fire Of Unknown Origin by Blue Öyster Cult
Books about UFOs by Hüsker Dü
Teenagers From Mars by Misfits
Flying Saucers by Nina Hagen
Surfing With The Alien by Joe Satriani
Love Walks In by Van Halen
I Turned Into a Martian by Misfits
Watching the Sky by Saxon
Loving the Alien by David Bowie
Zero Zero UFO by the Ramones
Inca Roads by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
No Doubt About It by Hot Chocolate

1990s– Songs about UFOs

The Alien Song (For Those Who Listen) by Mila Jovovich
El Aparato (The Apparatus) by Café Tacvba
Alien (I Am) by Hawkwind
Alien Visitors by Man or Astro-man?
Another Sunday by I Mother Earth
Fell in Love with an Alien by the Kelly Family
Hangar 18 by Megadeth
Aliens Exist by Blink-182
Hat Too Flat by Walter Becker
Alien (I Am) by Hawkwind
I Made Love to a Martian by Mustard Plug
Martian Dance Invasion by Brainiac
Shades of Grey by Stuart Davis
Motorway to Roswell by Pixies
Scent of a Mule by Phish
Men In Black by Will Smith
Spaceman by Babylon Zoo
The Happening by Pixies
Who’s There? by Smash Mouth

Songs about UFOs – The 2000s and beyond

Supernatural by Kesha
A L I E N S by Coldplay
The Aliens Are Here by The Hippos
And You Thought the Doctor’s Probe Hurt by Belvedere
Jaadoo, Jaadoo by Rajesh Roshan
Concerning the UFO sighting near Highland, Illinois by Sufjan Stevens on Illinois
Aliens by Doctor Octagon
Starlight by Muse
Well, Everybody’s F**ing In A UFO by Rob Zombie
The Best Room by Modest Mouse
Hardcore UFOs by Guided By Voices
UFO by Sneaky Sound System
Outer Space by Ace Frehley
Scary Little Green Men by Ozzy Osbourne
We’re Not Alone by Nas featuring Kanye West
Zopilotes (“Black Vultures”) by Café Tacuba on El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco
Space Invader by Ace Frehley
Signal by Twice
Rosetta Stoned by Tool
Ancient Aliens by Lemon Demon on Spirit Phone
Hey Aliens by The Bouncing Souls on Simplicity
Spaceship by Kesha

Thanks for checking out this list of the best songs about UFOs and aliens. Music lovers will also enjoy these fun playlists:

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By Greg Johnson | Published 5/3/2021