Does the song "Intergalactic" by the Beastie Boys exist in Star Trek?

[USS Triumphant]

I've always assumed that songs that reference Star Trek in our "real world" timeline just don't exist - or at least don't exist as-is, in the in-show history for Star Trek. Songs like "Star Trekkin'" by The Firm just wouldn't exist. "High-Tech Redneck" by George Jones says something other than "Mayberry meets Star Trek", and "99 Red Balloons" by Nena says something other than "every one's a Captain Kirk". Information Society would have found other shows to sample from for "Pure Energy" and "Walking Away", or their songs might be completely different. And bands like Star Pilot On Channel K (S.P.O.C.K.) and T'Pau would either not exist or would have found something else to call themselves (and in the case of S.P.O.C.K., something else to base much of their music on.)

But given the prominent featuring of the song "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys in Star Trek 2009, I feel the question in the thread title is begged - and several questions that branch off from there:

1. Does it exist at all? If not, is that a "natural feature" of the Trek universe(s), or the result of tampering?
2. If it does exist, what line does it have instead of "Like a pinch on the neck of Mr. Spock"?
3. If it exists and actually contains that line, then how the heck did that happen? (Seems like there might be a short side story in that, possibly connected to Star Trek IV?)

Just something that's come to mind whenever I've heard the song, but I kept forgetting to bring up here - until now. And these questions can be applied (with a little modification) to any other Trek references in popular music, too. "Sabotage" is just the first instance I'm aware of where the existence of a group that made such references has been confirmed *in canon*.

 

[F. King Daniel]

In the Star Trek universe, I like to think all reference to Trek are swapped out fot references to a 60's sci-fi show called Galaxy Quest. Or perhaps a 90's show called Wormhole X-Treme.

 

[DeepSpaceYorks]

We can bring it even closer. In Into Darkness Kirk is listening to Body Movin' by the Beastie Boys which is from the same album as Intergalactic, namely Hello Nasty.

 

[David cgc]

3. If it exists and actually contains that line, then how the heck did that happen? (Seems like there might be a short side story in that, possibly connected to Star Trek IV?)

That's the theory I go with. It depends pretty strongly on the original interpretation that the Kelvin Timeline is identical to the Prime Timeline up to 2233 (with events like those in "City on the Edge of Forever" or "The Voyage Home" still happening as we saw them, much like how "Firstborn" or "Endgame" involved people traveling back from futures that didn't end up happening in the Prime Timeline).

I can't find the original person who proposed it, just other people referencing it, but the idea is that the Enterprise crew made some waves with their visit to San Francisco in the '80s. Nothing major, but enough to seed some urban legends and conspiracy theories that circulated through the turn of the century, such as the silent mystery man in the bathrobe, known only as "Mr. Spock," who lived in the woods, could talk to the animals, and once knocked out a punk with one move on a city bus.

(The other theory I like is that in the Trek universe, they were talking about Dr. Spock, and neck-pinching is an obscure technique for calming fussy babies, but that has a few holes in it).

 

[johnjm22]

You're asking if Star Trek exists in Star Trek.

I bet Tom Paris is a big fan of TOS. Probably watches it all the time.

 

[USS Triumphant]

You're asking if Star Trek exists in Star Trek.

I bet Tom Paris is a big fan of TOS. Probably watches it all the time.

Now that you mention it, he just might - if TOS was a dramatization of the actual adventures of Captain Kirk and crew, like Roddenberry said when TMP was coming out. Made sometime in the early 2300s. I can dig it.

But no, that's not really quite what I'm asking. Though... I did have an idea for a series based partially on the premise that Roddenberry was actually from the future and was just recounting history he knew to make Trek. If you allow that idea plus the idea that some sort of cataclysm happened in the meantime that wiped out a lot of cultural material - including "Star Trek" - then yeah, maybe.

 

[OpenMaw]

I think it's "The Final Reflection" that refers to the Klingon equivalent of a TV show. Semi-meta.

This reminds me of the long conversation that came about because of the shot of orbiter Enterprise being depicted in Enterprise.

 

[FormerLurker]

You do realize that in the Star Trek universe, regardless of timeline, the orbiter (we call it a Space Shuttle most of the time) Enterprise actually made it into orbit at least once, or it wouldn't be there.

 

[Jedi_Master]

In the Star Trek universe, I like to think all reference to Trek are swapped out fot references to a 60's sci-fi show called Galaxy Quest. Or perhaps a 90's show called Wormhole X-Treme.

So do they cut out the line about Mr. Spock and redub it with the alien miners calling "Rock, Rock"?

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Maybe Gene Roddenberry liked Benny Russell's space station story so much he "borrowed" ideas from the story which eventually became the Star Trek universe Star Trek series. And George and Winona Kirk loved that Benny Russell/Roddenberry series so much they named their son after the series (as well as being fans of 99 Red Balloons ) as did the parents of every character from every Star Trek series.

 

[USS Triumphant]

So do they cut out the line about Mr. Spock and redub it with the alien miners calling "Rock, Rock"?

"Like the Gorignak was a giant rock."

 

[fireproof78]

Given how much time travel happens within Star Trek, can we just assume that it is a predestination paradox? When they move back to their time all the music gets updated, a'la "Back to the Future" style.

 

[OpenMaw]

You do realize that in the Star Trek universe, regardless of timeline, the orbiter (we call it a Space Shuttle most of the time) Enterprise actually made it into orbit at least once, or it wouldn't be there.

It wouldn't be called Enterprise if not for Star Trek fan petition, that's the point.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Then we might assume that Benny Russell did exist and his writings became popular in the Trek timelines. Leading to some pretty awesome WTF moments later. Imagine the Kelvinverse crew reading about Star Trek V...
"Okay, which one of you thought it was a good idea for me to dance around naked?" Kirk and Spock point at each other and hilarity ensues....

 

[C.E. Evans]

"Intergalactic" definitely exists, but the Beastie Boys aren't talking about a Vulcan named Spock, but a Human named Leonard Spock from the Canopus Planet in 1998. It was second in popularity there only to "Nightingale Woman," the sonnet written by Phineas Tarbolde just two years earlier...

 

[WB2]

I don't know. I always viewed Star Trek sort of like the Fallout franchise. The future of Star Trek is how it was imagined in the 60s, not from today. So the popculture of Star Treks 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s was probably much different from the real world.

 

[FormerLurker]

You do realize that in the Star Trek universe, regardless of timeline, the orbiter (we call it a Space Shuttle most of the time) Enterprise actually made it into orbit at least once, or it wouldn't be there.

It wouldn't be called Enterprise if not for Star Trek fan petition, that's the point.

That's actually irrelevent to my post. Your point is that it would (possibly, even probably, but not definitely) have had a different name. My point is that due to things like the Eugenics War, it got pressed into service as an orbiter instead of flying the front hallway at the Smithsonian.

 

[OpenMaw]

That's actually irrelevent to my post. Your point is that it would (possibly, even probably, but not definitely) have had a different name. My point is that due to things like the Eugenics War, it got pressed into service as an orbiter instead of flying the front hallway at the Smithsonian.

Ah, but it's not irrelevant to my initial post. The meta nature of the Enterprise shuttle being depicted in the opening credits was the source of a very long discussion of the meta-aspects of Trek because the only reason it was named Enterprise was because of Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek fans doing a mail writing campaign. It would have been called Constitution. We even wondered if TPTB actually knew that and just decided to use it anyway, or if they just didn't care, or what?

 

[USS Triumphant]

My assumption would be that in the Trek timeline, the testbed was Constitution, OV-100, and Enterprise was the first functional shuttle, OV-101, followed by Columbia and so on. The whole naming convention for the NX Class was in honor of the shuttles.

 

[Tuskin38]

Though, IIRC, Columbia in ENT was named in honour of the Shuttle because it was destroyed, the writers didn't plan on having it called that.