Star Wars may be set in a galaxy far, far away, but the in-universe music frequently heard throughout the franchise often sounds familiar. In the premiere of Ahsoka on Disney+, we get to hear the space-cassette Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) has in her space-Walkman — it’s f’ing rock and roll, baby!
The scene immediately establishes Sabine’s rebellious vibe, appropriate considering her status as one of the galaxy’s first capital “R” Rebels. She’s speeding away from Lothal’s ornate city and the celebration that’s nominally celebrating her, cranking what could be described as if early Yeah Yeah Yeahs was filtered through a bad motivator. It’s fast, raw, both a little bit alien but unmistakably punk — and it’s the latest in a long line of hot Star Wars jams.
This song is not of this Earth, meaning it didn’t exist before this episode of Ahsoka. It was created for the series, and it’s titled “Igyah Kah.” The song was written by Ahsoka composer Kevin Kiner, his daughter Deana Kiner, Mandalorian composer Ludwig Göransson, and Göransson’s frequent assistant Noah Gorelick. The song features vocals from Sarah Tudzin of the tenderpunk band Illuminati Hotties. And if The Mandalorian and Andor set a precedent with their comprehensive soundtrack releases, it’s likely that “Igyah Kah” will be available to stream or buy digitally soon.
But while we’re here talking about kick-ass Star Wars songs, we should quickly rewind through the decades and look at the franchise’s discography. First, there’s the metallic stomping pop of “Niamos” as heard in multiple remixes throughout all of Andor Season 1.
There was the frantic pop-punk mega-blast of “Galactic Dreamer” from the “Tatooine Rhapsody” episode of Star Wars Visions.
For the 1997 special edition of Return of the Jedi, the Lucasfilm team inserted an elaborate dance number in Jabba’s Palace to the song “Jedi Rocks.” It’s… fine. It’s not rock and roll so much as the kind of boilerplate lounge soul you’d hear at a Las Vegas casino — which actually makes sense for Jabba’s Palace.
But — “Jedi Rocks” replaced the OG Star Wars rock and roll anthem, as heard in ROTJ’s 1983 release. I’m talking about “Lapti Nek,” an intergalactic post-punk bop that sounds like it could have been recorded by Stop Making Sense-era Talking Heads.
The lyrics were actually written by John Williams’ son Joseph and then translated into Huttese. Come on, that’s great!
Of course all of these songs can be traced back to the one that started the trend of putting pop music in Star Wars’ lived-in sci-fi universe: Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes’ hit “Mad About Me” — better known as “Cantina Band.”
And there’s the other song heard in 1977’s Star Wars, retroactively titled “Dune Sea Special.”
Oh — and no Star Wars rock and roll retrospective would be complete without “R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” featuring the debut of rock and roll legend Jon Bon Jovi. That’s not a joke.
There’s honestly a lot of diegetic music in the Star Wars franchise — so much that I’m sure I’m forgetting a track or two. And now we can count “Igyah Kah” among the hits and hope that Disney/Lucasfilm will one day release all of these tunes together on vinyl.
New episodes of Ahsoka premiere on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Disney+.