🧪 About the Song
“Science Fiction / Double Feature” is the opening curtain call for The Rocky Horror Picture Show — a love letter to cheesy 1950s B-movies and the joy of bad sci-fi.
Richard O’Brien wrote it as a gentle, tongue-in-cheek ballad — part nostalgia, part invitation to weirdness.
It name-drops cult icons like The Day the Earth Stood Still and Flash Gordon, but it’s not parody — it’s affection.
And with the lips filling the screen while that slow groove rolls? Instant atmosphere.
On ukulele, it becomes a strangely beautiful song: still camp, still odd, but now tender — like a lullaby for monsters and misfits.
It’s perfect for a late-night strum when the room’s gone quiet and the last candle’s guttering.
🎸 Ukulele Playing Tips
We’ll use G major, a comfortable key that keeps it smooth and singable.
You’ll need G, Em, C, D, Am, and Bm.
Verse progression: [G] – [Em] – [C] – [D]
Bridge (“Michael Rennie was ill…”): [Am] – [Bm] – [C] – [D]
Tempo: 70 bpm – slow, dreamy, with a gentle swing.
Strumming pattern: down–down–up–up–down–up or soft down–down–(pause)–up for that cinematic float.
Alternatively, fingerpick 4–3–2–1 slowly — it gives that drifting, echoing feel.
Let each chord ring — the song lives in its pauses.
Add a cheeky little slide into the final G after each verse for that vintage flair.
Singing tip: Keep it languid.
Half-whisper, half-smile — like you’re narrating from a velvet sofa in a smoke-filled cinema.
Lean into the camp, but keep it affectionate.
💡 Trivia You Can Drop Casually
- The lips in the film belong to Patricia Quinn, but the vocals were by Richard O’Brien.
- The lyrics reference Flash Gordon, King Kong, Day of the Triffids, Forbidden Planet, and more — it’s basically a geek’s mixtape.
- O’Brien wrote the song alone with a cheap acoustic guitar while obsessed with 1950s sci-fi marathons on TV.
- The stage version used the song to open the show, but in the film, it became the now-iconic title sequence.
- It’s been covered everywhere from jazz lounges to goth cabaret acts — and it somehow works every time.
🌈 Final Word
“Science Fiction / Double Feature” is camp perfection disguised as sincerity.
On ukulele, it turns into something intimate and charming — a bedtime story for space invaders.
It’s not about showing off; it’s about winking at the audience and meaning it at the same time.
Play it softly. Let it hang in the air like smoke.
And remember: the first rule of Rocky Horror is don’t dream it, be it!
