Space Oddity is a song by the late-great English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released on 11 July 1969 as the opening track of his second studio album, David Bowie. It is widely considered among the finest work (and most recognisable) of Bowie’s career and appeared on numerous best-of lists and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018.
Major Tom is a fictional character created by David Bowie for this song. It was partly inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Bowie’s feelings of alienation at that point in his career and his break-up with the dancer Hermione Farthingale.
“I went stoned out of my mind to see the movie and it really freaked me out, especially the trip passage“.
– David Bowie
Rush-released as a single to capitalise on the Apollo 11 Moon landing, Space Oddity 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. Bowie did not have another hit after it until the release of Starman in 1972. Space Oddity was a mainstay during Bowie’s concerts until 1990, after which it was played sporadically until 2002.
Characterised as psychedelic folk, the song is a “lost in space” story, which generated later more songs and sequels about the character by David Bowie (Ashes to Ashes and Hallo Spaceboy).
[Intro]
Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
(Ten) Ground Control (Nine) to Major Tom (Eight, seven)
(Six) Commencing (Five) countdown, engines on
(Four, three, two)
Check ignition (One) and may God’s love (Lift off) be with you
This is Ground Control to Major Tom
You’ve really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now it’s time to leave the capsule if you dare
This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I’m stepping through the door
And I’m floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today
For here, am I sitting in a tin can
Far, above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do
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
[Bridge]
Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you-
From Wikipedia:
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.”
Nicholas Pegg and Doggett compare the song’s style, structure, lyrics and arrangement to those of the Bee Gees’ 1967 single “New York Mining Disaster 1941“, which has similar minor chords and chorus. Hutchinson later stated: “Space Oddity was a Bee Gees type song. David knew it, and he said so at the time … the way he sang it, it’s a Bee Gees thing.”
References:
1. Space Oddity – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
When you listen to this song now…you have to think…what an odd (no pun intended) song to be a hit. It’s brilliant but not a song that you would call hit material when you first hear it…I love it.
It’s not my favourite by David, but in my top 20. I love its sequel ‘Ashes to Ashes’ which I consider just as bizarre, but musically in a great way. I see what you mean about how ‘odd’ Space Oddity seems, but very timely given the Apollo landing and Kubrick’s masterpiece.
Mine is probably Life On Mars but we have talked about that before. Oh the timing of this was perfect!
Yeh. we differ on that. Not such a big fan of that one, but I can see its appeal.
Well we cancel each other out…lol because of Ashes To Ashes…you have known me for a while…it is inventive…I’ll give him that but that music is too 80s. I do recognize though that he was trying something different at that time.
Haha. That’s it! We remain at loggerheads. ‘Ashes to Ashes’ is a song that took me a long time to warm to, just like a lot of his music especially his 80’s stuff.
There is a line in it, which I can’t get enough of ‘I’m happy and I hope your happy too’. I have no idea why I like it so much.
At the time that Ashes to Ashes was released…it must have sounded so bizarre because it was before the 80s really started…I think people copied it afterward.
Those lyrics I like because the BBC had a show called Life On Mars…about a modern policeman waking up in 1973.
They had a sequel Ashes To Ashes which another policeman woke up in 1983 believe and those lyrics really fit it well.
I think Ashes to Ashes was released in 1980, but musically to me it stands up even great now.
The policeman story is great man. Thanks for sharing it.
“Space Oddity” was the first David Bowie song I ever heard many moons ago. I loved it right away. After I had picked up the guitar, I figured out the chords.
Bowie was fascinated by space, as evidenced by other subsequent songs like “Life on Mars?”, “Starman” and “Ashes to Ashes,” his continuation of the Major Tom saga.
In 1982, German new wave artist Peter Schilling released released “Major Tom (völlig losgelöst”, which essentially was a German version of Bowie’s Major Tom. Schilling subsequently also released an English version of his song, “Major Tom (Coming Home),” which became a huge international hit, topping the charts in Canada, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Bolivia, and climbing to no. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
I think Space Oddity was also one of my first I heard by him. David Bowie never grabbed me right off the bat. He was an artist who I have acquired a taste for over the years and I’m still on that slight-of tangent journey.
As I was telling Max, Space Oddity isn’t my favourite by him, but I can’t help but admire its legacy and enjoy hearing it on the odd occasion. I love ‘Ashes to Ashes’ – such a theatrically musical challenge to the senses. Another one I have liked more over time.
I didn’t know anything about Peter Schilling and will watch his version now.
Your comment Christian, as usual has given me much to ponder.