The lead single from 18, Moby explained during a performance of the song at the 2003 Glastonbury festival that he wrote it in New York after the September 11 attacks to express a sense of hopefulness.
The lyrics were inspired by the scientific principle that all matter in the universe is essentially made up of stardust. During a Reddit AMA session, Moby said the song is relatively accurate, scientifically speaking. “Apart from two elements (hydrogen and helium?) everything else on the periodic table of elements (with which we’re comprised) came from the furnace of a star somewhere,” he wrote. “Just remember: there’s not a single part of you that wasn’t present in the first ½ second of the big bang. Technically, we’re all 13,600,000,000 years old.”
Inspired by the 1968 novel and film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the music video has Moby playing a spaceman who observes Hollywood celebrities. Several celebs make cameo appearances to help Moby lip-synch the song, including ‘80s stars Corey Feldman, Todd Bridges, and Gary Coleman, musicians J.C. Chasez, Dave Navarro, and Tommy Lee, and actors Sean Bean, Leelee Sobieski and Thora Birch, among others. The clip was directed by Joseph Kahn, who was also behind the singer’s “South Side” video.
Moby on why he chose this as the album’s lead single: “The reason is very simple. I know how a lot of people choose work songs, with record label bosses in meetings with a lot of people. But as I have creative control, at the end of the day I make these decisions. And I chose this song because every time I listen to this song, it makes me smile. I made the song, I’ve heard it a million times, but every time the chorus comes, it makes me smile. So there’s no marketing reason behind this, it was just my decision.”
Brad Rushing took the prize for Best Cinematography at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards for his work on the clip. The cinematographer also worked on the videos for Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and Eminem’s “Without Me” (a song that takes a jab at Moby).
Peaking at #11, this was the album’s highest-charting single in the UK, where 18 also landed at #1 on the albums chart. Moby became an international pop sensation when his previous album, Play, became a surprise hit.
Moby performed this on Saturday Night Live on May 18, 2002.