Science Fiction--Double Feature
Richard O'Brien Lyrics

Michael Rennie was ill the day the earth stood still
The actor Michael Rennie played the character of Klaatu in the movie 'The Day the Earth Stood Still,' but he fell ill on that day. Still, his character had a vital role in revealing the Universal themes of peace and solidarity to humanity.

But he told us where we stand
Despite being sick, Michael Rennie's performance helped give insight into humanity's location in the grand scheme of things, from a position of perspective and ignorance.

And Flash Gordon was there in silver underwear
The popular space hero depicted a classic superheroic trope- his costume left little to the imagination and featured plenty of glitter.

Claude Rains was the invisible man
In the titular role of the classic horror film, Claude Rains demonstrated a strong sense of adaptability, cunning, and unpredictability.

Then something went wrong for Faye Wray and King Kong
Wray's character Ann Darrow fell in love with the titular ape and in a grand finale, tragedy struck as Kong fell to his destruction.

They got caught in a celluloid jam
Despite substantial changes to how movies are... constructed and delivered, the trials and tribulations of the early movie industry forged the way for today's carefully-assembled films.

Then at a deadly pace it came from outer space
A common plot element in sci-fi double feature films was mysterious and/or threatening alien invaders directly from space arriving at Earth at terrifying speeds.

And this is how the message ran
This is the main message conveyed by the typical science fiction double-feature- wild and fantastical events can happen throughout the vast void of space, leading to the mystery and intrigue that is the world of science fiction.

Science fiction (uh uh) double feature
Two sci-fi features, from different times and places, are screened back-to-back in a double feature arrangement.

Doctor X (uh uh) will build a creature
Dr. X's megalomaniac experiments involve creating a new life form that blends biological and physical attributes in unexpected ways.

See androids fighting (uh uh)
Visually exciting fight scenes between human-like androids are central features in the movie, referencing common motifs and themes from science fiction.

Brad and Janet
Typical everyman and everywoman characters amidst the craziness of their science fiction surroundings.

Anne Francis stars in (uh uh) Forbidden Planet
Anne Francis was the lead character of Altair IV's 'Forbidden Planet,' a science fiction movie where she and her crew attempt to recover the secrets of the Krell, an extinct alien race.

I knew Leo G. Carrol was over a barrel
Leo G. Carroll was cast in numerous roles across many genres of film and TV, with this line referring to his role in the science-fiction/horror movie Tarantula when he is forced to coexist with, and ultimately battle against, giant irradiated tarantulas in the isolated desert of the US Southwest.

When Tarantula took to the hills
The tarantula species is among many common arachnids throughout the world, but in this movie, it somehow grew to be gigantic in size, turning an otherwise typical spider into a fearsome, large monster.

And I really got hot when I saw Janette Scott
Janette Scott played the lead character of Karen Goodwin in the movie 'The Day of the Triffids,' where she struggles to survive in a world overrun by the carnivorous, mobile plants named Triffids. The artist then adds their opinion about Janette's performance.

Fight a triffid that spits poison and kills
The Triffids in the movie were genetically engineered, predatory walking plants that caused chaos and havoc across the English countryside. They are known for their wicked habit of spitting a blinding poison at prey, and were seen as an analog for the Green Revolution of the mid-20th century.

Dana Andrews said Prunes gave him the runes
Dana Andrews played the role of Dr. Benet in the science fiction movie 'Night of the Demon.' In the movie, he notes the importance of protecting oneself with magic runes made out of morning glory seeds to protect against a deadly curse.

And passing them used lots of skills
Protecting oneself from otherworldly evils requires knowledge and the craft of specialists, in this case, that knowledge being the casting of enchanted runes.

But when worlds collide said George Pal to his bride
This is a line of lyric from the song showcasing George Pal's epic science fiction disaster movie 'When Worlds Collide'. The movie deals specifically with the death of Planet Zyra, a rogue planet that's due to collide with our planet and cause widespread destruction.

'I'm gonna give you some terrible thrills'
The artist here is George Pal, again offering his opinions about the memorable alien-invasion movies he has produced, telling the listeners to expect lots of thrills and scares from his films.

I want to go oh oh
The song describes its speaker's keenness to attend such a double feature screening again.

To the late night double feature picture show
The movie experience itself, modeled after 'Rocky Horror Picture Show,' involves the screening of two different classic science fiction movies back-to-back, with some audience participation and ad-libbing.

By R.K.O oh oh
Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) was a US radio, film and television production company that played an essential part in the golden age of entertainment, associated with iconic movies across all industries.

In the back row oh oh
In this place, the back row of seats was a collective bird's nest of things like juvenile antics and hidden indiscretions, all for the sake of a good time.