At long last, Elon Musk — the crown prince of Silicon Valley — now has a gloomy theme song for tech fanboys to bump in their Tesla Model Xs on hazy San Francisco mornings.
The song, aptly titled “Elon Musk Is Making Me Sad,” is the brainchild of ex-Weezer bassist Matt Sharp and his band The Rentals. Sharp told TheWrap that the song is more a “fable” about two product-of-divorce kids, born around the same time, that started playing with a Commodore VIC-20 home computer.
“I used mine to make fake I.D.’s and buy beer in junior high,
While my foe studied every bit of that 8bit whore,
Are you keeping score?”
Eventually, the two end up in completely different situations, with Musk now looking to take humanity to Mars via his rocket company, SpaceX. Sharp said the song stemmed from a “desire to escape,” following the death of his father last year. “Facing that, I wanted to take a guitar and go to outer space,” he said. That pain is reflected in the song’s chorus:
“Elon! Send me away; send me away! Elon, send me away (Tell me I’m saved!)”
While the song wasn’t inspired by Musk, Sharp said the serial entrepreneur represents a modern version of “Jesus Christ Superstar” — seemingly able to do anything. The 48-year-old frontman also pointed to his dad’s “very sweet and pure” fascination with John F. Kennedy, fortified by the 35th president’s push towards the moon. Now, Sharp sees Musk and his goal of colonizing Mars as a 21st Century remix of JFK.
“Along comes this guy [Musk], doing all these things on so many different levels, across different platforms and in a similar sort of scale of ambition and grandiose dreams. It’s very impressive,” said Sharp. “He’s an endlessly fascinating guy.”
So does that mean Sharp would be down to sign up for Musk’s maiden voyage to the red planet? Not exactly.
“The people on those first caravans will have to have very specific skill sets, and I’m sure I will meet none of those requirements,” said Sharp, laughing. “Except to possibly step off that ship, take out my guitar and sing this song.”
Check out the song and lyrics below.
Lyrics:
Let me tell you a tale about a rivalry
Grab an Eagle Number Two and keep the score
There were these two young boys that came from average broken homes
With all the luxuries the middle class affords
Oh, Lord…
Elon’s making me so sad cause I calculated the math of our birthdates
And I had a head start out of the start gate, 2 years plus 86 days, but that all went to waste
Oh, Elon you’re making me so sad cause the race that I wanted to have was not much of a race
And I tried, Love! And for a moment I thrived, Love! But could not keep my stride up to keep pace
But for a second, there’s no question, I had the lead in ninety-five
I mismanaged my advantage; like a rocket ship he blasted by
To incredible heights, incredible heights
In nineteen eighty-two, on Christmas day
Santa gave us each a brand-new Commodore
I used mine to make fake I.D.’s and buy beer in junior high
While my foe studied every bit of that 8bit whore
Are you keeping score?
Cause, Elon’s making me so sad cause I calculated the math of our birthdates
And I had a head start out of the start gate, 2 years plus 86 days, but that all went to waste
Oh, Elon you’re making me so sad cause the race that I wanted to have was not much of a race
And I tried, Love! For a moment, I thrived, Love! But could not keep my stride up to keep pace
But for a second, there’s no question, I had the lead in ninety-five
But the small ambitions of a musician, I could not keep my eye on the prize
I watched him fly by, to incredible heights
When it’s time to say goodbye, what will they write on my tombstone?
Just that last little line from the Happy Days Video
Not so good, Jonze
Hey, Elon! (Hey, Elon!) I don’t know what I have become (Hey, Elon!)
I need someone to help change my fate
I think you can save me! (Can you save me? I think you can save me!)
Do you think you can save me? Do you have the power to help me escape?
Oh, Elon! Let me be the first one, of your new civilization to be saved
Yes! I’ll try, Love! I swear to you I can thrive, Love!
This time I’ll keep my stride up and keep pace
Only you can change my Q-score! Make me the first one out of that door
First boots out on the Martian Floor to proclaim…
Oh, that Elon! Sent me all the way, Son, a hundred thirty-nine million miles away!
Elon! Send me away; send me away! Elon, send me away (Tell me I’m saved!)
Elon! Tell me I’m saved; tell me I’m saved! Elon tell me I’m saved (Send me away!)
You have the power to save, you have the power to save me!
You have the power to save, you have the power to save me!
And then I will say, I went to Mars and won the race! Yeah, I will say, I took first-place!
Oh, I rode that Old Heart of Gold the whole way and in the end, hey! I won the race!
Oh, oh! Elon! Let me win the race; win the race! Oh, Elon! Let me take first place!
Elon! Tell me I am saved; I am saved! Elon tell me I am saved!
You have the power to save; you have the power to save me!
(Elon, tell me I am saved!)
You have the power to save; you have the power to save me!
(Tell me I am saved!)
You have the power to save me! You have the power to save me! (Send me away!)
You have the power to save!