| "Under the Milky Way" | ||||
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 Australian region version | ||||
| Single bythe Church | ||||
| from the albumStarfish | ||||
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| Released | 15 February 1988 (1988-02-15)[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1987 | |||
| Studio | The Complex (Los Angeles) | |||
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| "Under the Milky Way" onYouTube | ||||
"Under the Milky Way" is a single by Australianalternative rock bandThe Church, released on 15 February 1988,[1] and appears on their fifth studio albumStarfish. The song was written by bass guitarist and lead vocalistSteve Kilbey and his then-girlfriend Karin Jansson ofCurious (Yellow). It peaked at No. 22 on the AustralianKent Music Report Singles Chart, No. 24 on the United StatesBillboard Hot 100 and No. 25 on the New ZealandSingles Chart; it also appeared in the DutchSingle Top 100. At theARIA Music Awards of 1989, the song won 'Single of the Year'. It was issued simultaneously in both7" vinyl and12" vinyl formats byArista Records (internationally) andMushroom Records (Australian region).
In 2006, the song was remixed and released asCraig Obey vs the Church. It peaked at number 91 on the ARIA charts.[5]
In January 2018, as part ofTriple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Under the Milky Way" was ranked number 33.[6] In 2025, the song placed 29 in theTriple J Hottest 100 of Australian Songs.[7]
In 1987, the Church travelled to Los Angeles to record their fifth studio album,Starfish, and worked with producersWaddy Wachtel andGreg Ladanyi.[8][9]
The Church's line-up for the album wasSteve Kilbey on bass guitar and lead vocals,Peter Koppes on guitars,Marty Willson-Piper on guitars, andRichard Ploog on drums and percussion.[8][9] However, while recording "Under the Milky Way", the band were unable to get a drum track which sounded right with Ploog, so they played to aclick track and later session musicianRuss Kunkel was brought in to add drums and percussion.[10]
"Under the Milky Way" was written by Kilbey and Karin Jansson ofCurious (Yellow).[11][12] Kilbey and Jansson had become friends in 1983 and lived together in Australia from 1986.[13] Kilbey said, "I smoked ajoint and started playing the piano and she came in the room and we just made it up."[14] According to a press release issued withStarfish, the title is from anAmsterdam music and cultural venue,Melkweg (Dutch for "Milky Way"), which Kilbey used to frequent.[15]
I just stumbled upon it and for some reason it has struck this wonderful sense of universality with people that most of my songs don't.
"Under the Milky Way" features a12-string acoustic guitar melody, along with a solo composed with anEBow on aFender Jazzmaster and recorded on aSynclavier, leading to a sound reminiscent of bagpipes.[10] In October 1990, Jansson told John Tingwell ofDrum Media about songwriting with Kilbey, "it's a very spontaneous thing. It's not as if someone has put us together to write a hit song. It's more like sometimes when we write together, a song comes knocking on the door".[13] While in September 2008, Kilbey discussed the track with Iain Shedden ofThe Australian.[12]
Willson-Piper said,"'Milky Way' is perfect really, in the way that it crosses over from our past records. It's still this very beautiful, textured song, which is what we write, but it doesn't challenge people to find out its deepest hidden meaning the way our other songs have in the past."[16]
"Under the Milky Way" was released on 15 February 1988 in both7" vinyl and12" vinyl formats byArista Records (internationally) andMushroom Records (Australian region).[1][17] The Church's fifth studio album,Starfish, was issued simultaneously with the single. In April the single was released in several formats worldwide including 7", double 7", 12", CD single, and compact cassette, using at least five different cover art designs.[18] The 12"B-sides were "Musk" and "Warm Spell", whereas the 7" B-side was "Musk".[18] Different Spanish versions added either "Anna Miranda" or "Perfect Child". The music video for the song featured on the Church's video compilationGoldfish (Jokes, Magic & Souvenirs).
An acoustic version was initially released as a single in multiple formats including7" vinyl,CD single, and others. It also appears on the "Sum of the Parts" promotional release and the 2 CD re-issue of theStarfish album.
On the AustralianKent Music Report Singles Chart "Under the Milky Way" peaked at No. 22.[19] However, it was not the band's highest-charting single: "Almost with You" (1982) and "Metropolis" (1990) charted at No. 21 and No. 19, respectively, on the Australian charts.[19] In the United States it reached No. 24 on theBillboard Hot 100[20] and No. 2 on theMainstream Rock chart.[21] Other charting peaks include No. 25 on the New ZealandSingles Chart,[22] No. 69 on the CanadianRPM 100,[23] No. 70 on the DutchSingle Top 100,[24] and No. 90 in the United Kingdom.[25]
At theARIA Music Awards of 1989 "Under the Milky Way" won 'Single of the Year',[26] though Kilbey refused to attend the award ceremony. He said, "You will note that I didn't collect the award. I don't give a fuck about winning that award. I've been a big critic of the Australian music industry. I think the whole thing is utterly embarrassing and repulsive."[14]
In 2006, Kilbey said of the recording, "It's actually flat lifeless 'n' and sterile. Great song, sure, but the performance, the sounds are ordinary. We coulda got that in Australia in a week or two for a 20th of the money we spent. Hey, it's sold almost a million in the US alone, but we'll never see any money 'cause it cost so much to make".[27] Kilbey's assessment ignored its second life as a much-licensed track. In December 2011, he toldNews Limited reporter Cameron Adams:
In 2001, the song was featured on the soundtrack for the filmDonnie Darko. In 2006, it was performed with theMelbourne Symphony Orchestra at theopening ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Kilbey said after the performance that it was as if the song had been made for the occasion, though in his blog he was critical of the Commonwealth Games as an event.[29] In September 2008, readers ofThe Weekend Australian Magazine voted it as the best Australian song of the last 20 years.[12] Sheet music for "Under the Milky Way" was published byHal Leonard.
In October 2010, the Church'sStarfish was listed in the top 40 in the book,100 Best Australian Albums.[30] The authors,John O'Donnell,Toby Creswell andCraig Mathieson, described "Under the Milky Way" as "[The Church's] signature track ... [which] caught them at their peak of guitar-fuelled creativity ... [it is] the elegiac centrepiece of the record ... sounded like an induction, with its soft, monkish keyboard washes and ringing guitar chords, but it never reaches the point of transition where one world gives way to the next ... possibly concerned with drugs, but it transcends any single setting or worldview".[30]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Under the Milky Way" | Steve Kilbey, Karin Jansson[11] | 4:57 |
| 2. | "Warm Spell" | Kilbey,Marty Willson-Piper,Peter Koppes[31] | 4:35 |
| 3. | "Musk" | Willson-Piper, Richard Ploog, Kilbey, Koppes[32] | 3:55 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Under the Milky Way" | Steve Kilbey, Karin Jansson | 4:05 |
| 2. | "Musk" | Willson-Piper, Richard Ploog, Kilbey, Koppes | 3:55 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Under the Milky Way" | Steve Kilbey, Karin Jansson | 4:57 |
| 2. | "Anna Miranda" | Marty Willson-Piper, Richard Ploog, Kilbey,Peter Koppes, Jansson[33] | 2:57 |
| 3. | "Antenna" | Koppes, Kilbey, Willson-Piper, Ploog[34] | 3:51 |
| 4. | "Destination" | Willson-Piper, Ploog, Kilbey, Koppes[35] | 5:51 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Under the Milky Way" | Steve Kilbey, Karin Jansson | 4:57 |
| 2. | "Perfect Child" | Kilbey, Richard Ploog,Marty Willson-Piper,Peter Koppes[36] | 2:53 |
| 3. | "Musk" | Willson-Piper, Ploog, Kilbey, Koppes | 3:55 |
| 4. | "Warm Spell" | Kilbey, Willson-Piper, Koppes | 4:35 |
| Chart (1988) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[37] | 22 |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM)[23] | 69 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[24] | 70 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[22] | 25 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[25] | 90 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[38] | 24 |
| USAlbum Rock Tracks (Billboard)[20] | 2 |
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[5] Craig Obey vs. the Church | 91 |
| "Under the Milky Way" | ||||
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| Single bySia | ||||
| Released | 26 January 2010 (2010-01-26) | |||
| Recorded | 2009 | |||
| Length | 3:34 | |||
| Label | Rhino Records (Warner Music Group) | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Sia singles chronology | ||||
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Sia recorded "Under the Milky Way" as a non-album single.[39] It was released on 26 January 2010.
In 2016,Metric released a cover of "Under the Milky Way" for theAmfAR AIDS charity's benefit albumThe Time Is Now!.[40]
Strawpeople recorded a cover for the albumBroadcast (1994). It was released as a single and peaked at number 113 on theAustralian singles chart in November 1995.[41][42]
