article

"Space Oddity"
Single by David Bowie
From the album Space Oddity
Released 1969
1975 (reissue)
Single Format Vinyl record
Recorded Trident Studios, 20 June, 1969
Genre Folk/Rock
Song Length 4:33
Record label Philips (UK)
Mercury (USA)
Producer Gus Dudgeon
Chart positions #5 (UK, 1969)
#15 (US, 1973)
#1 (UK, 1975)
David Bowie single chronology
"Love You Till Tuesday"
1967 		"Space Oddity"
1969 		"The Prettiest Star"
1970
"Space Oddity" (often incorrectly referred to as Ground Control or Ground Control to Major Tom) was David Bowie's first hit single. It is about the launch of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut who mysteriously becomes lost in Outer Space. Released in 1969 (see 1969 in music) to coincide with the Apollo 11 moon landing, it appears on the album of the same title. The BBC featured the song in its television coverage of the lunar landing.

Narrative and content

"Space Oddity" is also a powerful narrative, echoing Arthur C. Clarke's book, and Stanley Kubrick's movie, A Space Odyssey (film), both released in 1968. The similarity in titles suggests that film was on Bowie's mind when he wrote it. The main character in that novel (and in the movie) is called "David Bowman".

The song is often interpreted to be about self-destruction and estrangement from humanity. Major Tom's cryptic last message, "Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles / I'm feeling very still / And I think my spaceship knows which way to go / Tell my wife I love her very much (She knows!)", suggests that he is still alive and well and chooses to kill his circuit to ground control.

Bowie seems to confirm this interpretation with his 1980 follow up to "Space Oddity", "Ashes to Ashes", where Ground control eventually receives a message from Major Tom: "I'm happy, hope you're happy too". Drug users, specifically those who experiment with hallucinogens, find the song took on new meaning following Bowie's battle with drugs in the 1970s. In "Ashes to Ashes", Major Tom's communication failure could be reinterpreted as losing human contact due to drugs.

In an interview on VH1 Legends in 1997, the narrator and Bowie himself stated that the inspiration was his relationship with Hermione Farthingale, a woman who Bowie had deep feelings toward.

This narrative continues in rock music throughout the late 20th century, both in Bowie's own work and that of others. As well as the aforementioned "Ashes to Ashes", Elton John's "Rocket Man" seems to allude to Major Tom, though not by name. It tells of an unnamed astronaut who is lonely in space, who's "not the man they think I am at home". Bowie alludes to this analogy in a live performance of "Space Oddity" released on the David Bowie BBC Sessions 1969-1972, in which he sings, "I'm just a rocketman!" In 1983, the German pop singer Peter Schilling released his own take on the story, entitled "Major Tom", although he denied for several years after the song's release that his Tom was the same as Bowie's, and even went so far as to claim he had never even heard Space Oddity.

Bowie himself returned to the subject on 1995's Outside album with the song "Hallo Spaceboy", and a hit single remixed by The Pet Shop Boys even included disjointed lyrics from the original "Space Oddity".

Recording and release

Following Bowie's split from record label Deram, his manager Kenneth Pitt managed to negotiate a one-album deal (with options for a further one or two albums) with Mercury Records, and their UK subsidiary Phillips in 1969. Next he tried to find a producer. George Martin turned the project down, while Tony Visconti liked the album demo-tracks, but considered the planned lead-off single, "Space Oddity", a gimmick track, and delegated its production to Gus Dudgeon. An early version of the song had appeared in Bowie's promotional film Love You Till Tuesday.

Following recording of a fresh version, the single was rush-released on July 11, 1969 to coincide with the Apollo 11 moon landings. In the UK, it was used in conjunction with the BBC's coverage of the landing, and also promoted via adverts for the Stylophone, which featured on the record. This exposure finally gave Bowie a hit, reaching #5 in the chart. It failed to chart in the U.S., however.

Ivan Mogol wrote Italian lyrics, and Bowie recorded a new vocal, releasing the single "Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola" ("Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl") in Italy, reportedly to take attention away from covers by the Italian bands Equipe 84 and The Computers.

The song was awarded the 1969 Ivor Novello Award, together with Peter Sarstedt's "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)".

The song became so well-known that Bowie's second album, originally released as David Bowie in the UK (like his first album), was renamed after the track for its 1972 reissue by RCA, and has since become known by this name.

In December 1972, Mick Rock shot a film clip of Bowie performing the song during the sessions for Aladdin Sane, which was used to promote the January 1973 US reissue on RCA, which reached #15 in the Billboard Chart. This was then used to support RCA's 1975 UK reissue, which gave Bowie his first #1 single in November.

A stripped down version, originally performed on Kenny Everett's New Year's Eve Show was issued in February 1980 as the B-side of "Alabama Song".

Track listing

  1. "Space Oddity" (Bowie) – 4:33
  2. "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" (Bowie) – 4:52

1975 reissue

  1. "Space Oddity" (Bowie) – 4:33
  2. "Changes" (Bowie) – 3:33
  3. "Velvet Goldmine" (Bowie) – 3:09

Production credits

Credits apply to 1969 release:

Live versions

  • Bowie performed the song on the Ziggy Stardust tour, and two recordings have been released. A recording from Ziggy Stardust's farewell concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, July 3 1973 was released on Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture in 1983. Another version recorded 6 months earlier at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 20 October 1972 was released on Santa Monica '72 in 1995.

Cover versions

References

  • The song is widely referenced due to its classic nature. In the 2002 movie Mr. Deeds, there is a moment in which Adam Sandler and a group of men on a helicopter break out into singing "Space Oddity". After the success of Space Ship One in 2004, it was agreed that the song should be played onboard the ship when giving space tours to wealthy sightseers.

  • In the British comic TV-Show The Young Ones, the song is mentioned in a tacky outer-space scene where a bunch of aliens are sitting on the moon where one of the aliens happens to say "This is just like that David Bowie song!", to which the other says "Hey, look! The planet Earth is blue and there's nothing we can do!", parodying a particularly unusual line in the song.

  • The 2004 video game Snake Eater references "Space Oddity" when a character named Major Zero changes his codename to Major Tom; he is even asked "Can you hear me, Major Tom?" (one of the song's lyrics). However, since Metal Gear Solid 3 is set in 1964, before the song existed, the reference couldn't be mentioned without being anachronistic. Instead, Zero explains that the codename is a reference to the "Tom" escape tunnel in the 1963 film The Great Escape.

  • On Jackson Publick's Adult Swim program The Venture Bros. the song's story, along with that of 'Ashes to Ashes' was played out in the opening of 'Ghosts of the Sarragaso' using its lyrics as dialogue, and the character of Major Tom and Action Man were recreated as actual characters.

  • In the U.S. sitcom Friends, there have been two references to this song. In season 5 episode 19, Chandler Bing and his friends accidentally see a tape of him singing the first few lyrics of the song. Chandler then scrambles to shut off the VCR. In season 6 episode 1, Joey Tribianni sings a few lyrics of the song as he tries to get his friend Phoebe Buffay to forgive him for ruining their road trip.

  • Spanish Rock singer Enrique Bunbury makes multiple allusions to "Space Oddity" in his song "Lady Blue". Though the song is in Spanish it begins with the countdown "10,9,8,7..." which can also be heard in "Space Oddity". The song is about an astronaut who is lost in space but says that "everything is ok". The video for the song also uses an outer space theme.

  • In the British comedy show Red Dwarf, an exchange via radio is made between Lister and a hangar bay controller (named Ground Control), as he is requesting clearance to takeoff (illegally), thereby escaping the ship.

  • In the Canadian movie C.R.A.Z.Y. there is a long scene where the main character Zac "performs" "Space Oddity" in his room, unaware that several people are watching him through the window.

External links

1969 singles | 1975 singles | David Bowie songs | David Bowie songs | UK number one singles

Space Oddity | Space Oddity | Space Oddity | Space Oddity | Space Oddity

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Space Oddity".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world