The first episode of the new Star Trek series Star Fleet Academy includes a powerful moment that’s brought to life via a song recorded by Rufus Wainwright.
In a key moment of the episode the cast arrive in San Francisco, the home base of Star Fleet Academy which is being re-established after a century of not operating. The soundtrack includes Wainwright singing the 60’s song If You’re Going to San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear a Flower in the Your Hair).
The song was an sing-a-long ditty in the flower power era of the late 1960s. The song was written by John Phillips from the band The Mamas and the Papas. It was first recorded in 1967 by singer Scott McKenzie who was a member of the folk rock group The Journeymen.
The song became known as the unofficial anthem of the counterculture movement of the 1960s including the Flower Power, Hippy and Anti-Vietnam War movements. It is a defining song of 1969’s Summer of Love.
The song is credited with bringing thousands of young people to San Francisco at the end of the 1960s. Over the years many artists have covered it including New Order, U2, Led Zeppelin.
This new version from Rufus Wainwright gives the song a new gravitas, it’s a slowed down orchestral version that transforms the song into a somber but uplifting anthem.
The good news for Wainwright is people are still playing his music in the 32nd century!
