ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Will the messages we sent to the stars be understood?

An alien species might well find more difficulty in interpreting the audio samples, music, and images contained on the record. There are over 50 greeting messages in different languages. While the specifics of the messages are likely to be uninterpretable, they would at least convey to the listener the diversity of the creatures who created the Voyagers.

Similarly, the musical selections chosen demonstrate a wide range of human musical styles (ranging from works of Beethoven and Stravinsky to those of Chuck Berry, among others). While the lyrics of “Johnny B. Goode” are probably gibberish to an extraterrestrial, the beat and rhythm of the song would convey a tremendous amount to an alien listener.

As a psychic played by Steve Martin in a classic 1978 episode of Saturday Night Live said, predicting the next cover of Time magazine, “The four words that came to us from outer space — the FOUR words that will appear on the cover of Time Magazine next week — are: [holds up the magazine cover] ‘Send More Chuck Berry.’”