The ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Theme Song Is A Lyric-Less Throwback To The Original Series

It’s been a long road, getting from there to here.

It’s been a long time, but my time is finally near.

And I will see my dream come alive at last.

I will touch the sky.

And they’re not gonna hold me down no more.

No, they’re not gonna change my mind.

Those words are enough to make any Star Trek fan tremble in fear. They’re the lyrics (!) to the theme song for Star Trek: Enterprise, as written by Diane Warren (!!) and performed by Russell Watson (). I say this as someone who has willingly watched “Spock’s Brain” multiple times and paid good money to see Star Trek: Nemesis: it is the worst thing to ever happen to Star Trek.

Fortunately, Star Trek: Discovery, which premieres on CBS All Access on September 24, has broken up with ballads and is going back to an orchestral piece. In fact, it’s going way back to 1966 — composer Jeff Russo’s new theme begins and ends with nods to Alexander Courage’s original score.

Discovery, which is in the Prime universe and takes place 10 years before the original series, stars The Walking Dead‘s Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham, a Starfleet First Officer who’s the first human to attend the Vulcan Science Academy. She’s joined by Jason Isaacs, Michelle Yeoh, Anthony Rapp (as Trek‘s first openly gay character), and Rainn Wilson as fan favorite Mudd.