Fear of a Blank Planet (song)

"Fear of a Blank Planet" is a Porcupine Tree song released in 2007. It appears as the first track on the album of the same name.

"Fear of a Blank Planet"
Cover of the Roadrunner Records promo single.
Promotional single by Porcupine Tree
from the album Fear of a Blank Planet
Released	2007
Recorded	October–December 2006
Genre	Progressive rock progressive metal
Length	7:28 (album version) 4:18 (single version)
Label	Roadrunner Records
Songwriter(s)	Steven Wilson
Porcupine Tree singles chronology
"Lazarus" (2005) "Fear of a Blank Planet" (2007) "Way Out of Here" (2007)

A promotional single of the song was released in Europe and the United States, by respective record labels. Both promos contain an edited version of "Fear of a Blank Planet" with the swearing removed.^[1] The lyrics deal with two common neurobehavioural developmental disorders for teenagers in the 21st century: bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder.

Music video

On 16 April 2007, the same day as the European release date, the music video for the title track was released on MySpace, though it was temporarily removed a day later in the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech. On 25 April 2007, the video was released on a dedicated Fear of a Blank Planet website to view in high resolution and was replaced several months later by the live projection for "Sleep Together". The video is now included as a bonus along with the 17-minute film for "Anesthetize" on the DVD-A version of Fear of a Blank Planet.^{[citation needed]}

Appearances

The song appears during the end credits of the video game Control.

Track listing

US promotional CD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Fear of a Blank Planet" (amended edit)	4:18
2.	"Fear of a Blank Planet" (explicit edit)	4:18
3.	"Fear of a Blank Planet" (album version)	7:28

EU promotional CD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Fear of a Blank Planet" (clean edit)	4:18
2.	"Fear of a Blank Planet" (dirty edit)	4:18

Personnel

Porcupine Tree

• Steven Wilson – vocals, guitar
• Richard Barbieri – keyboards
• Colin Edwin – bass
• Gavin Harrison – drums

Additional musicians

• John Wesley – backing vocals

Live version

"Fear of a Blank Planet"
Single by Porcupine Tree
from the album Closure/Continuation.Live
Released	1 December 2023
Recorded	7 November 2022
Venue	Ziggo Dome (Amsterdam)
Genre	Progressive rock progressive metal
Length	9:08
Label	Music for Nations
Songwriter(s)	Wilson

On 1 December 2023, a live version of the track would be released as the second and final single in promotion of the band's live album Closure/Continuation.Live, the first single being "Harridan". The live version of the track was recorded on 7 November 2022 at the Ziggo Dome arena in Amsterdam, Netherlands by Music for Nations. The single was released alongside a live video.^[2][3]

In honor of Richard Barbieri, who was formerly in a band called Japan. The lyric "he's in a band, they sound like Pearl Jam" was changed to "he's in a band, they sound like Japan".^[4]

Personnel

Porcupine Tree

• Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars
• Richard Barbieri – keyboards
• Gavin Harrison – drums

Touring

• Randy McStine – guitars, backing vocals
• Nate Navarro – bass