Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, the franchise’s latest Disney+ show, had its two-episode premiere earlier this week, and so far, it’s gone over well with most critics and fans. It’s also a return to uncomplicated, swashbuckling Star Wars adventures full of puppets and cool costumes and all that jazz which gives the galaxy more colour and texture.
Now, we’ve also received the full in-universe song (at least I hope it’s used) that was featured in the main trailer of the series: a Huttese cover of Peter Schilling’s ‘Major Tom’ (lyrics included).
Mind you, Star Wars has never shied away from its weirder, more alien side, as it’s very much a key part of its core DNA, but with recent Star Wars shows mostly focusing on high-stakes storylines and more serious characters, Skeleton Crew’s far looser tone is sort of a golden opportunity to just have a blast inside the sandbox without having to tie into larger narratives. Think of the silliest Tatooine bits of The Phantom Menace, A New Hope, and Return of the Jedi turned into a whole show, but following Amblin kids who are lost.
This sort of energy was already fully embraced earlier this year by Star Wars Outlaws, a game that’s at its best when it’s all about running into shady individuals and soaking up the chill vibes of cantinas and locales full of everyday people and criminals. While the first episode of the show takes a while to get going and focuses on a peaceful world, episode two has all the pirates and slimy types you’d want and then some, and I hope the rest of the season keeps that up.
Anyway, you can watch/listen to the entire song, titled ‘Youngee Wim (Bunky Dunko)’ below:
As you can see, Lucasfilm and whoever worked on this song were fully committed to the bit here, with the Huttese lyrics actually telling a story which has nothing to do with ‘Major Tom’ beyond following the same structure and using the same music. It’s creative, really, and the sort of stuff that perfectly fits the ’80s vibes that series co-creators Jon Watts and Christopher Ford were going for. By the way, it appears that “Bunky Dunko” means “home” in Huttese.
“Bunky Dunko” and “Jee Jee At Attin Haspivaka” are also genuinely funny phrases whether you’re a Star Wars fan or not, the sort of really goofy stuff that makes Star Wars feel 100% like Star Wars. Like the Disney-era output of movies and shows or not, it’s hard to argue with a straight face that the franchise has lost sight of what it’s always been. We can discuss the quality of the writing and uneven production values all day long, but the vibes and the setting continue to be immaculate!
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