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" Space Oddity" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was first released on 11 July 1969 by Philips Records and Mercury Records as a 7-inch single, then as the opening track of his second studio album, David Bowie. Produced by Gus Dudgeon and recorded at Trident Studios in London, it is a tale about a fictional astronaut named Major Tom; its title and subject matter were partly inspired by (1968) and Bowie's feelings of alienation at that point in his career. Its sound departed from the music hall of his debut album to psychedelic folk inspired by the Bee Gees; it was one of the most musically complex compositions he had written up to that point.
Rush-released as a single to capitalise on the Apollo 11 Moon landing, it received critical praise and was used by the BBC as background music during its coverage of the event. It initially sold poorly but soon reached number five in the UK, becoming Bowie's first and only chart hit for another three years. Reissues by RCA Records became Bowie's first US hit in 1972, and his first UK number-one in 1975. He re-recorded an acoustic version in 1979. Several Music video were produced for the song, including a 1972 one filmed by Mick Rock. It was a mainstay during Bowie's concerts until 1990, after which it was played sporadically until 2002. Bowie revisited the Major Tom character in later singles, notably the sequel song "Ashes to Ashes" (1980).
A range of artists have covered "Space Oddity" and others have released songs that reference Major Tom. A 2013 cover by the astronaut Chris Hadfield gained widespread attention; its music video was the first filmed in space. The song has appeared in numerous films and television series, including The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013). In 2019, Tony Visconti remixed Bowie's original recording to mark its 50th anniversary, with a new music video directed by Tim Pope. In later decades, "Space Oddity" is considered one of Bowie's finest recordings and remains one of his most popular songs. It has appeared in numerous "best-of" lists, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".
By the end of 1968, Bowie had begun to feel alienation from his career. Knowing Love You till Tuesday did not have a guaranteed audience and would not feature any new material, Pitt asked Bowie to write something new to "demonstrate David's remarkable inventiveness". Bowie wrote "Space Oddity", a tale about a fictional astronaut named Major Tom. Its title and subject matter were influenced by Stanley Kubrick's film , which premiered in May 1968. Bowie said, "I went stoned out of my mind to see the movie and it really freaked me out, especially the trip passage". Other events in Bowie's life influenced the writing of "Space Oddity", including seeing the Apollo 8 Earthrise photograph in January 1969 and his break-up with the dancer Hermione Farthingale the following month. He later said, "It was Hermione who got me writing for and on a specific person". The biographer Marc Spitz stated Bowie's feelings of loneliness and heartache following the break-up inspired "Space Oddity".
One of the first people to hear "Space Oddity" was Calvin Mark Lee, the head of A&R at Mercury Records in London. Lee considered the song "otherworldly" and knew it was Bowie's ticket to be signed by the label. The head of Mercury, Lou Reizner, was unimpressed with Bowie's output and was unwilling to sign him. Eager to sign Bowie, Lee, without Reizner's knowledge, financed a demo session for "Space Oddity". Lee later told Spitz: "We had to do it all behind Lou's back. But it was such a good record."
Bowie's biographers have provided different interpretations of the lyrics. According to Doggett, the lyrics authentically reflect Bowie's mind and thoughts at the time. He writes that Bowie shone a light on the way advertisers and the media seek to own a stake in a lonely man in space while he himself is exiled from Earth. Chris O'Leary said the song is a "moonshot-year prophecy" that humans are not fit for space evolution and the sky is the limit. Similarly, James E. Perone views Major Tom acting as a "literal character" and a "metaphor" for individuals who are unaware of, or do not make an effort to learn, what the world is. In 2004, the American feminist critic Camille Paglia identified the lyrics as representing the counterculture of the 1960s, stating, "As his psychedelic astronaut, Major Tom, floats helplessly into outer space, we sense that the '60s counterculture has transmuted into a hopelessness about political reform ('Planet Earth is blue / And there's nothing I can do')".
"Space Oddity" is one of the most complex songs Bowie had written up to that point. He each section, all leading into the next until completion. According to O'Leary, in a little over five minutes, the song includes "a faded-in intro, a 12-bar solo verse, a 'liftoff' sequence, a duet verse, a bridge, a two-bar acoustic guitar break, a six-bar guitar solo, a third verse, another bridge, break and solo, and a 'Day in the Life'-style outro to the fade". Bowie stated in 2002 he was "keen on ... writing in such a way that it would lead me into leading some kind of rock musical".
Although primarily in the key of C major, the song has a variety of chord changes and resonances that aid in telling the story. The intro has a pairing of F major7/E and E minor, while the first verse alternates between C major and E minor. The guitar harmonises E and B while on Stylophone, Bowie "drones" C and B. A D major chord plays on the line "God's love be with you" during the pre-liftoff countdown sequence. In the second verse, an E7 chord on the line "really made the grade" counteracts the overall key of C major. O'Leary said this change "brightens" the song. The bridge's "planet Earth is blue" has a standard folk-style descending progression; (B-flat major 9th/A minor add9/G major add9/F). According to O'Leary, the B major9 chord "ratifies Major Tom's choice (or doom) to stay out in space". The acoustic-guitar break has a C–F–G–A–A note sequence with the two A notes emphasised.
The demo's instrumentation uses only acoustic guitar and Stylophone, which were played by John Christopher 'Hutch' Hutchinson and Bowie, respectively. Bowie had used the Stylophone, a recently released electronic instrument that was mainly marketed to children, to compose the song's melody. Both Bowie and Hutchinson sang vocals.
Bowie and Hutchinson recorded further acoustic demos of "Space Oddity", including a performance of the song on a promotional demo tape recorded for Mercury executives in March or April 1969.
The first full studio version of "Space Oddity", which was for Love You till Tuesday, was recorded on 2 February 1969 at Morgan Studios, London. At this point, the lyrics were finalised. The session was produced by Jonathan Weston; Bowie and Hutchinson were joined by Colin Wood on Hammond organ, Mellotron and flute; Dave Clague on bass and Tat Meager on drums. As in the early demos, Bowie and Hutchinson shared lead vocals, with Bowie voicing Major Tom's dialogue and Hutchinson singing Ground Control's lines. Bowie also played an ocarina solo. Pegg calls this version significantly inferior to the David Bowie recording.
Work on the album version of "Space Oddity" and its B-side, "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud", began at Trident Studios in London on 20 June 1969. Mercury insisted the single was released the following month, ahead of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. The guitarist Mick Wayne of the British band Junior's Eyes and the keyboardist Rick Wakeman were brought on at Visconti's suggestion, while the composer Paul Buckmaster was hired to arrange the orchestra, which consisted of eight violins, two violas, two cellos, two , two flutes and an organ. Buckmaster advised Bowie to focus on creating the overall sound rather than the narrative. Dudgeon hired the bassist Herbie Flowers and the drummer Terry Cox of the folk band Pentangle, while Bowie played acoustic guitar and Stylophone. Bowie later said he added the Stylophone at Marc Bolan's suggestion; "Bolan said, you like this kind of stuff, do something with it. And I put it on 'Space Oddity', so it served me well." Bowie fell ill with conjunctivitis and were completed a few days later.
Dudgeon outlined a plan for the Stylophone and Mellotron parts by scribbling notes on paper, later telling the biographer Paul Trynka: "When we hit that studio we knew exactly what we wanted – no other sound would do." At one point, Wayne thought he had finished his guitar take early so he began retuning one of the strings. Dudgeon liked the warped effect of the retuning and asked Wayne to repeat it on the next take. Wakeman recorded his part in two takes after hearing the demo once; he later said; "it was one of half a dozen occasions where it made the hair stand up on your neck and you know you're involved in something special. 'Space Oddity' was the first time it ever happened to me". Cox also felt a sense of excitement after the session finished.
The session cost £500. Dudgeon was paid £100 for his work on the two songs; in June 2002, he instigated a lawsuit against Bowie claiming he did not receive the agreed two per cent of royalties for "Space Oddity". Dudgeon intended to sue for a settlement of £1 million; the suit, however, was halted after Dudgeon's death in a car accident the following month. Dudgeon had told Buckley he felt "Space Oddity" was among the finest work of Bowie's career.
Shortly after its release, "Space Oddity" received some glowing reviews. Penny Valentine of Disc and Music Echo predicted the record was "going to knock back everyone senseless", and named "Space Oddity" the magazine's record of the year. In Melody Maker, Chris Welch wrote: "This Bee Geeian piece of music and poetry is beautifully written, sung and performed. Strangely, it could be a hit and escalate Bowie to the top." Record World said it's "a blastoff set to music, and it's haunting and eerie and right on the dot." Despite the positive reviews and Pitt's attempts at chart rigging, the single initially failed to sell. In September 1969, it debuted at number 48 on the UK Singles Chart. Mercury's publicist Ron Oberman wrote a letter to American journalists describing "Space Oddity" as "one of the greatest recordings I've ever heard. If this already controversial single gets the airplay, it's going to be a huge hit". In the US, it peaked at 124 on the Billboard Hot 100. Pitt attributed its poor performance to Oberman's use of the word "controversial" in his statement, which caused it to be banned by US radio stations.
The single's chart placement in the UK earned Bowie a number of television appearances in the latter half of 1969, starting with a performance on Dutch television show Doebidoe on 25 August 1969 (broadcast on 30 August). For his first appearance on the BBC's Top of the Pops on 2 October, Bowie was filmed in a separate studio so his image could be interspersed with NASA space footage. He played Stylophone and guitar over backing tracks prepared by Dudgeon, who was in charge of synchronising the BBC Orchestra to the backing track. Dudgeon said in 1991 that it was a "nightmare", having only been given enough time for only two takes, the second of which had a tighter orchestra but sloppy cohesion between the space footage and Bowie. The performance, broadcast on 9 October, helped "Space Oddity" reach a new chart placement of number five by early November. Bowie gave additional performances on Germany's 4-3-2-1 Musik Für Junge Leute on 22 October (broadcast on 22 November) and Switzerland's Hits A-Go-Go on 3 November. Bowie was named 1969's Best Newcomer in a readers' poll for Music Now! On 10 May 1970, Bowie performed "Space Oddity" at the Ivor Novello Awards, where he was awarded with Most Original Song.
Philips released David Bowie in the UK on 14 November 1969, with "Space Oddity" as the opening track. According to the biographer Christopher Sandford, despite the commercial success of "Space Oddity", the remainder of the album bears little resemblance to it, resulting in its commercial failure on its initial release, selling just over 5,000 copies by March 1970. In mid-December 1969, Philips requested a new version of "Space Oddity" with Italian lyrics after learning that one had already been recorded in Italy. Pitt thought the idea was "ridiculous" and said, "it was explained to us that 'Space Oddity' could not be translated into Italian in a way that the Italians could understand". The Italian version was recorded on 20 December at Morgan Studios with the Dialect coach and producer Claudio Fabi producing and lyrics translated by the Italian lyricist Mogol. This version, titled "Ragazzo solo, ragazza sola" (), was released as a single in Italy in 1970 and failed to chart.
Bowie did not have another hit after "Space Oddity" until the release of "Starman" in 1972. In his book The Complete David Bowie, Pegg opines that "Space Oddity" was destined to be remembered only as a novelty hit, as the year 1969 was full of similar tunes, from the Scaffold's "Lily the Pink" to Rolf Harris's "Two Little Boys". Additionally, numerous space-themed songs had already charted by 1969, including Zager and Evans's "In the Year 2525", which was a UK number one in the three weeks immediately before "Space Oddity" entry into the top 40. Pegg argues that only later did Bowie's song "transcend" the novelty hit to be regarded as a "genuine classic".
In September 1979, Bowie re-recorded "Space Oddity" for the ITV New Year special Will Kenny Everett Ever Make It to 1980? Show. The idea came from the show's director, David Mallet. Bowie recalled:
Visconti produced this new version, which solely featured acoustic guitar, bass, drums and piano. The new recording has a number of differences from the original; the liftoff sequence was replaced with 12 seconds of silence and a snare drum fade-out ends the song. O'Leary said while the original "Space Oddity" ends "unresolved", the 1979 version leaves empty space. This version was issued on 15 February 1980 as the B-side of the single "Alabama Song", which Visconti later said was "never meant" to occur. The 1979 recording was released in a remixed form in 1992 on the Rykodisc reissue of Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and in 2017 on Re:Call 3, part of the compilation A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982).
In July 2009, EMI issued the digital-only extended play (EP) "Space Oddity 40th Anniversary EP" to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original single. The EP includes the original UK and US mono single edits, the 1979 re-recording and eight stem tracks that isolate the lead vocal, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, string, bass and drums, flute and cellos, Mellotron and Stylophone. These stem tracks are accompanied with a mobile app that allows users to create their own remixes. Pegg said the EP "provides a fascinating insight into the component sounds of a classic recording". In 2015, the original UK mono single edit was included on Re:Call 1, as part of the box set Five Years (1969–1973). The song's 50th anniversary was marked on 12 July 2019 by the release of Digital single and vinyl singles of a new remix of the song by Tony Visconti. The vinyl version was issued in a box set that also includes the original UK mono single edit.
A live rendition of "Space Oddity", recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on 20 October 1972 during the Ziggy Stardust Tour, was first released on the bootleg Santa Monica '72 (1994) before becoming officially available in 2008 on Live Santa Monica '72. Another performance, recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, on 3 July 1973, was released on (1983). During the 1974 Diamond Dogs Tour, Bowie sang "Space Oddity" while being raised and lowered above the stage by a cherry picker and used a radio microphone that was disguised as a telephone. A July 1974 performance of the song was released on the 2005 reissue of David Live while a September performance from the same tour was released in 2017 on Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74).
A concert performance that was recorded on 12 September 1983 was included on the live album Serious Moonlight (Live '83), released as part of the 2018 box set Loving the Alien (1983–1988) and separately the following year. The same performance appears on the concert video Serious Moonlight (1984). Bowie effectively retired the song from live performances during his 1990 Sound+Vision Tour, after which he sang it on a few occasions, most notably closing his 50th birthday party concert in January 1997 with a solo performance on acoustic guitar; this version was released on a limited edition CD-ROM that was issued with Variety magazine in March 1999. He then performed it at the Tibet House US benefit concert at Carnegie Hall in February 2002; this new version includes an orchestra conducted by Visconti, with string arrangements played by Scorchio and Kronos Quartet. Bowie's final performance of "Space Oddity" was at Denmark's Horsens Festival during the 2002 Heathen Tour.
To promote the December 1972 US reissue, a new promotional video was created at RCA's New York studios by the photographer Mick Rock. In this video, Bowie mimes to the song with a guitar. Bowie later said:
I really hadn't much clue why we were doing this, as I had moved on in my mind from the song, but I suppose the record company were re-releasing it again or something like that. Anyway, I know I was disinterested in the proceedings and it shows in my performance. Mick's video is good, though.
Another video, for the 1979 version, debuted in the UK in December 1979 on the Will Kenny Everett Ever Make It to 1980? Show, and in the US on Dick Clark's Salute to the Seventies. A fourth video, directed by Tim Pope, was created for the 2019 remix of the song to promote the box set Conversation Piece. It combines footage from Bowie's 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden with backdrop footage the choreographer Édouard Lock filmed for the 1990 Sound+Vision Tour. The video premiered at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and at Times Square in New York City on 20 July, and uploaded to YouTube hours later.
Major Tom was revisited again in the 1996 Pet Shop Boys remix of the single "Hallo Spaceboy", from Outside (1995). The idea for the song came from Pet Shop Boys member Neil Tennant, who informed Bowie he would be adding "Space Oddity"-related lines to the remix. Although Bowie was hesitant at first, he accepted. The lines in the remix read: "Ground to Major, bye-bye Tom / Dead the circuit, countdown's wrong".
Major Tom may have influenced the music video for Bowie's 2015 single "Blackstar", the title track from his final album Blackstar (2016). The video, a surreal, ten-minute short film directed by Johan Renck, depicts a woman with a tail (Elisa Lasowski), who discovers a dead astronaut and takes his jewel-encrusted skull to an ancient, otherworldly town. While the astronaut's bones float towards a solar eclipse, a circle of women perform a ritual with the skull in the town's centre. Renck initially refused to confirm or deny that the astronaut in the video is Major Tom but later said on a BBC documentary it was "100% Major Tom" to him. That cites an interview which was only available in the UK on the date of access.
The Guardian Alexis Petridis voted "Space Oddity" number 25 in his list of Bowie's 50 greatest songs, writing: "Bowie perfectly inhabits its mood of blank-eyed, space-age alienation". In 2020, Tom Eames of Smooth Radio listed "Space Oddity" as Bowie's fifth-greatest song. Ultimate Classic Rock listed it as Bowie's greatest song in 2016. Spencer Kaufman wrote: "The song was revolutionary for its time, musically and lyrically, and helped introduce the masses to one of the most dynamic and creative music acts we will ever know." In a list ranking every Bowie single from worst to best, the publication placed "Space Oddity" at number four.
"Space Oddity" has appeared on numerous best-of lists. In a 2000 list compiling the 100 greatest rock songs, VH1 placed "Space Oddity" at number 60. In 2012, Consequence of Sound included it in their list of the 100 greatest top songs of all time, ranking it number 43. In lists ranking the greatest songs of the 1960s, NME ranked "Space Oddity" at number 20, Pitchfork at number 48, Paste at number three and Treble at number two. In 2021, Rolling Stone placed "Space Oddity" at number 189 in their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The magazine stated that as Bowie's first hit, it "offered just a glimpse of the ever-evolving star he would become". Several publications, including Mojo (39), NME (67), and Sounds (41), have also listed "Space Oddity" as one of the greatest singles of all time. Channel 4 and The Guardian similarly ranked it the 27th-greatest British number-one single in 1997 while NME ranked it number 26 in their 2012 list of the greatest number-one singles in history.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included "Space Oddity" in their list of "The 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Production
1979 version
Production
"Space Oddity" has been heard and referenced in numerous films and television series, including the American sitcom Friends, the British series EastEnders and Shooting Stars, and the films Mr. Deeds (2002), The Mother (2003) and C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005). The original single version is heard on the soundtrack of the 2004 film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and a 2015 episode of the American drama series Mad Men. It was also featured in a 2011 Renault Clio commercial and played on the radio of Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster during its launch aboard the Falcon Heavy's maiden flight in February 2018.
"Space Oddity" plays a pivotal role in the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, in which Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is frequently referred to as "Major Tom" for daydreaming while at work. The song is featured in a scene in which Mitty decides to leap onto a helicopter after imagining his coworker Cheryl (Kristen Wiig) singing the song. For the scene, Wiig's vocal was mixed into Bowie's original track. Stiller said about the importance of "Space Oddity" in the scene:
I felt like the way it fits into the story, we got to this point and this scene which was sort of how the fantasy and reality come together for Walter, and that was what that came out of. That song, and what he mentioned in his head, and what he imagines and what he does, it all just seemed to come together over that song.
"Space Oddity" was played throughout the opening montage for the 2017 film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, which showed humans making contact with extraterrestrial life. The director Luc Besson timed the sequences of the scene to the song's guitar chords, which took many hours, and the bass riff was used to signify humanity's first contact with aliens. The opening sequence had originally been storyboarded with the intention of 'Space Oddity' being played in the background, with Besson saying "It's almost a music video; I matched the song to the image." Besson previously worked with Bowie on Arthur and the Invisibles (2006), and the singer agreed to allow Besson to use "Space Oddity" in Valerian, although Bowie died before the film was released.
The lyrics were somewhat altered; rather than losing communication with Ground Control and being lost in space as a result, Major Tom receives his orders to land and does so safely, reflecting Hadfield's imminent return from his final mission to the ISS. The song also mentions the Soyuz spacecraft that Hadfield travelled in. Hadfield announced the video on his Twitter account: "With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World." Bowie's social media team responded to the video, tweeting back to Hadfield, "Hallo Spaceboy ...", and later called the cover "possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created".
Hadfield's performance was the subject of a piece by Glenn Fleishman in The Economist on 22 May 2013 analyzing the legal implications of publicly performing a copyrighted work of music while in Earth orbit. "Space Oddity" is the only song of Bowie's for which he did not own the copyright; his publisher granted Hadfield a one-year licence to the song. When the one-year licence expired on 13 May 2014, the official video was taken offline despite Bowie's explicit wishes for the publisher to grant Hadfield a licence at no charge to record the song and produce the video. Following negotiations, the video was restored to YouTube on 2 November 2014 with a two-year licence agreement. Pegg calls Hadfield's video is "Breathtakingly beautiful and extraordinarily moving, and offers a rare opportunity to deploy that overused adjective 'awesome' with complete justification".
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