Starman (1972) – David Bowie

I went on a David Bowie bender yesterday, listening to and sharing some of my favourite songs. Then today’s featured track came on at the end of one of them, and I found myself wondering – how on earth is this not already in my collection? So I’m making amends and adding Starman to my music library project. Better late than never.

If you had asked me as a young adult whether I would ever immerse myself in the music of David Bowie, I would have told you – ‘you were dreaming’. But as I was telling Steve (@ Song of the Day for Today) only yesterday, I’m a real latecomer to Bowie. It’s only over the last decade or so that I’ve come to appreciate his music more and more. Now I finally understand what all the fuss was about (slaps head).

Steve, on the other hand, knew exactly what the fuss was about from the beginning. He even saw Bowie at the height of his Ziggy Stardust fame in 1973 while visiting family in Liverpool. You can read more about Steve’s experience in the comments section of this post which leads us nicely onto Starman.

Today’s song is a good example of how my musical tastes have changed, especially when it comes to Bowie. I had probably heard Starman countless times growing up, but it never really grabbed me. It has always been all over the radio and deeply rooted in pop culture, yet only now do I find myself genuinely fond of it.

When I listen to Bowie’s music, I see him more as a theatrical entertainer than a proto singer-songwriter. He played characters, and that is nowhere more evident than in his Ziggy Stardust persona.

I saw an interview documentary about him on the Film and Arts channel a few years back (twice!), and I found him to be an eloquent and articulate speaker. There are few singer-songwriters I enjoy listening to interpret their own music, but David Bowie is definitely one of the exceptions. I’ll never forget how he said, in no uncertain terms, that he didn’t consider himself much of a singer. Instead, he shaped his voice to suit the character he was portraying on stage, bringing each persona to life.

His career was defined by constant reinvention, along with a strong focus on visual style and presentation. Both his music and stagecraft have had a lasting and powerful impact on popular music in Western culture.

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The following was abridged from the Wikipedia article below:

Starman was the lead single from David Bowie’s fifth studio album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The song was a late addition to the album, written as a direct response to RCA’s request for a single. The lyrics describe Ziggy Stardust bringing a message of hope to Earth’s youth through the radio, salvation by an alien “Starman“. The chorus is inspired by “Over the Rainbow“, sung by Judy Garland.

Following Bowie’s performance of the song on the BBC television programme Top of the Pops, the song reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart and helped propel the album to number five. It was his first major hit since Space Oddity three years earlier. The performance made Bowie a star and was watched by a large audience, including many future musicians, who were all affected by it; these included Siouxsie Sioux, Bono, Robert Smith, Boy George and Morrissey. Retrospectively, the song is considered by music critics as one of Bowie’s finest.

[Intro]
Hey now, now
Goodbye, love

[Verse 1]
Didn’t know what time it was; the lights were low
I leaned back on my radio
Some cat was layin’ down some rock ‘n’ roll, “Lotta soul,” he said
Then the loud sound did seem to fade
Came back like a slow voice on a wave of phase
That weren’t no DJ, that was hazy cosmic jive

[Chorus]
There’s a starman waitin’ in the sky
He’d like to come and meet us
But he thinks he’d blow our minds
There’s a starman waitin’ in the sky
He’s told us not to blow it
‘Cause he knows it’s all worthwhile

[Post-Chorus]
He told me
“Let the children lose it
Let the children use it
Let all the children boogie”

[Verse 2]
I had to phone someone, so I picked on you
Hey, that’s far out, so you heard him too
Switch on the TV, we may pick him up on Channel Two
Look out your window, I can see his light
If we can sparkle, he may land tonight
Don’t tell your poppa, or he’ll get us locked up in fright

[Chorus]
There’s a starman waitin’ in the sky
He’d like to come and meet us
But he thinks he’d blow our minds
There’s a starman waitin’ in the sky
He’s told us not to blow it
‘Cause he knows it’s all worthwhile

[Post-Chorus]
He told me
“Let the children lose it
Let the children use it
Let all the children boogie”

[Chorus]
Starman waitin’ in the sky
He’d like to come and meet us
But he thinks he’d blow our minds
There’s a starman waitin’ in the sky
He’s told us not to blow it
‘Cause he knows it’s all worthwhile

[Post-Chorus]
He told me
“Let the children lose it
Let the children use it
Let all the children boogie”

[Outro]
La, la, la, la-la
La, la, la-la, la, la, la-la

1. Starman (song) – Wikipedia