OK, following Earth, Mars, Venus and Mercury, I struggled to make a decent Top Ten with any of the other planets in our solar system. So here's the best of the rest, with two caveats...
i) There are no decent Uranus songs. For obvious reasons. And yes, I do include 'Rocket To Uranus' by The Vengaboys when I make that statement.
ii) I know Pluto isn't considered a planet anymore by those who know far better than me. But it's still better than Uranus.
10. Grandchildren - Saturn Returns
More interesting than the R.E.M. song of (almost) the same title. I know very little about this band other than they're from Philadelphia and don't appear to be any relation to Grandaddy.
9. Stevie Wonder - Saturn
Stevie's had enough of all the bad stuff - y'know, wars, murders, people nicking your trolley when you pop to the toilet in Tesco - so he's packing his bags and moving to Saturn, the planet where people live to be 205.
8. Tori Amos - Hey Jupiter
I'm not even going to attempt to tell you what this song is about. It's far too deep for a dumb-head like me.
7. The B-52s - Hallucinating Pluto
Because I have an extremely juvenile sense of humour, I love the fact that the only things written on the youtube page for this song are...
All rights and ownership go to The B-52's.
...and...
penises
6. Train - Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)
Come on, you'd almost written Train off as a one-hit wonder, hadn't you? I quite liked their new MONSTER HIT, Drive-By, until Louise asked me, "What are you listening to - is that the Jonas Brothers?"
5. The Futureheads - Jupiter
When your life fills you with despair,
You have to believe that there’s good out there
No enemies anywhere
Then you are free
If you're quick, lads, you can share a rocket with Stevie Wonder. He's going in vaguely the same direction.
4. Super Furry Animals - (Drawing) Rings Around The World
A little bit of a cheat, but worth it. A Saturn song in all but name.
3. The Divine Comedy - Neptune's Daughter
When the last course has been consumed
They withdraw to the drawing room
Where the Schubert she plays with style
Keeps her friends happy for the while
But the memories are a burden,
So she draws back both the curtains
Stepping out into the night...
Neil Hannon: the Noel Coward of indie-pop.
2. Donovan - Jennifer Jupiter
What's that, you say? "Juniper"? Don't be daft...
Dig that funky Clint Boon organ!
An Eagle lands, and a planet full of people raises its hands
All hail the men who will walk up in heaven today
So, that's the rest of my musical solar system... which would you land on? (Uranus, anybody?)