Four days and counting until Andy Dwyer and his biker-gang of velociraptors battle the clonosaurus, and we at Nerdist couldn’t be more wound up about it if we were the curly-cue tail of the loose pig in the latest trailer. We are so thrilled that we put our walnut-sized brains together and compiled a Jurassic-themed playlist that will keep you rocking like a rocasaurus clear through to Friday. So if you’re looking for a break from blasting John Williams’ epic film score, come check out our round-up of dino-friendly tracks (relax; you will find no Barney theme-song here). Hold on to your butts, if you can, but don’t be surprised if you find yourselves shaking them.
“Weird Al” Yankovic – “Jurassic Park”
Well, here’s an obvious place to start. In classic “Weird Al” fashion, the parody artist wasted no time lampooning the beastliest hit of 1993, releasing his track, “Jurassic Park” (in the style of Jimmy Webb’s maudlin “MacArthur Park“) a mere four months after the film’s release. Furthermore, his exceptional claymation music video gave the film’s revolutionary special effects a run for their money.
T.Rex – “Life’s a Gas”
Is it too far of a stretch to assume the British glam rockers were referring to foraminifera microfossils in our petroleum fields when they wrote the lyrics to “Life’s a Gas”? To quote the revered paleontologist/rapper/housekeeper Mrs. Doubtfire: “Yo yo, see me / I’m living below the soil / I’ll be back / but I’m coming as oil.”
From TV’s Dinosaurs – “I’m the Baby (Gotta Love Me)”
Backed by a mesozoic ZZ-Top, Baby Sinclair made his musical debut in a stand-alone segment of the series’ season three finale. The song was written by Stuart Pankin, the voice actor behind Earl Sinclair, and carries that distinct Muppet sound of Jim Henson musicals.
Kasabian – Velociraptor!
“Velociraptor!” is the title track from Kasabian’s fourth studio album –the cover of which shows the band’s four members covered in feathers in a nod to the “swift seizer’s” own speculated featheriness.
Dinosaur, Jr. – “Feel The Pain”
If there is one lesson we’ve learned from the Jurassic Park franchise, it’s human interaction with dinosaurs tends to become a painful affair. Side note: the above video to Dinosaur, Jr.’s 1994 track was directed by Where the Wild Things Are and Her director, Spike Jonze.
From the film We’re Back!: A Dinosaur Story – “Roll Back the Rock (to the Dawn of Time)”
Another dose of childhood nostalgia (with a not-so-subtle JP plug of it’s own). You’ll notice our tracks tend to fall into one of three categories: 1) Bands with prehistoric names, 2) Songs with prehistoric themes, and 3) musical numbers, like this one, from prehistoric TV and film.
I also reached out to the rest of the Nerdist team to see what songs they thought were compulsory additions to this Jurassic World playlist. Below you’ll find a list compiled from the suggestions of the rest of the Nerdist crew with songs from disparate genres. Let’s dive in!
Was (Not Was) – “Walk the Dinosaur”
Jurassic 5 – “In the Flesh”
The B-52’s (as the B.C.-52’s) – “(Meet) The Flintstones”
NOFX – “Dinosaurs Will Die”
HEALTH – “Triceratops”
They Might Be Giants w/ Danny Weinkauf – “I Am a Paleontologist”
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs  – “Trouble”
(Side note: T.E.E.D.’s real name is Orlando Tobias Edward Higginbottom. That is all.)
Blondie – “Rapture”
We’re making a special non-dinosaur exception for Blondie’s “Rapture” because when Kyle Anderson was a kid, he thought she was singing about raptors, and that is hilarious.
And finally…
Johnny Cash – “The Dinosaur Song”
How’d we do? Did Mastodon get the shaft? Should Ke$ha’s “Dinosaur” deserve consideration? Didn’t The Land Before Time have, like, a dozen musical numbers? What volcano-sized holes did we miss on our list? Let us know in the comments below!
Editor’s note: Nerdist Industries is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks.
