The lyrics that changed the credit
The familiar Star Trek theme is instrumental, but its creation involved words that audiences never heard. Creator Gene Roddenberry supplied lyrics for composer Alexander Courage’s melody, including a line about brave men exploring space while women waited at home. The lyrics were not used in the broadcast version.
Their significance was not musical. In the conventional songwriting arrangement, a composer and a lyricist can share authorship of a song. By adding lyrics and taking a lyricist credit, Roddenberry could claim a share of the theme’s royalties alongside Courage—even though the words did not appear on screen or in the recording viewers heard.
A credit with a lasting financial effect
That distinction mattered because royalties can follow a work’s registered authorship, not just the version that becomes famous. The theme continued to be used as part of Star Trek, while Roddenberry’s lyricist credit remained attached to it. Courage, who had written the music, therefore shared the financial credit for a theme whose public identity was almost entirely instrumental.
The episode became a pointed example of how a small behind-the-scenes decision can outlast the production itself. The lyrics did not shape what viewers heard, but putting them on paper helped determine who could benefit whenever the theme earned royalties.
