Prometheus

Prometheus, a prequel to Alien, explores the origin of The Engineer from the beginning of the 1979 film. We learn The Engineers are a race of superbeings that have seeded primordial earth with their DNA. The alien as we know it, is actually a weapon of mass destruction. The Engineer at the very beginning of Alien — was a superbeing pilot that was overcome by his weaponized alien cargo. Watch the opening “seeding” sequence of Prometheus.

However, I’m fascinated by Ridley Scott’s take on The Engineers devolution. At the beginning of Prometheus, they appear — wearing robes and loin cloths — as creationists. Their spaceship is actually a saucer shape like we are accustomed to seeing (or think we see) on earth. It suggests, at this point, they are wise and philosophical. A Superbeing then sacrifices himself to create life on earth. Watch the alternate “creation” opening of Prometheus.

By the time the Prometheus expedition reaches The Engineers 15,000 years later, they are militaristic, and violent. It’s obvious by the giant Superbeing sculpture that they have begun to worship a totalitarian leader. Their spacecraft is now an ominous horseshoe shape.

The opening theme, Life, by composer Harry Gregson-Williams is one of the best science fiction themes of all time. The melody has a major tonality that gives the piece a Star Trek-like feel. The theme is bullish and adventurous.

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Alien: Covenant | fingerstyle guitar + TAB

How to play Life | fingerstyle guitar

The guitar tab for Life is beautifully written across three pages. It’s essentially one long passage payed twice through. Although, this piece is relatively sparse, I recommend it for intermediate to beginner guitar players.

You’ll notice the guitar tab is dated 1/7/15. I performed this arrangement way back in 2012, then updated it in 2015. I’ve further updated the performance for 2020. The 2015 tab was really well done, so I kept it. Enjoy, the guitar tab is available below:

**Prometheus: Life | fingerstyle guitar

This arrangement is played in standard tuning.