Originally published on my old blog "My Brother's Keeper" on April 4, 2019
2019 marks the 50-year anniversary of one of David Bowie’s greatest hits. While some consider Bowie’s glam-rock style unique, his first hit, Space Oddity, owes much of its fame to popular culture. For musical artists, imitation may just be the mark of authentic songwriting.
Bowie wrote the 1969 single about an imaginary hero “Major Tom,” a lone astronaut launched into deep space. Some music producers turned Bowie away, feeling the song lacked originality. To them, Bowie “was a kid who […] needed a hit.”
Yet, Bowie’s reflection on current events and popular culture made Space Oddity an authentic song about testing limits.
A year prior to Space Oddity’s release, Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey debuted in theaters. The movie, also about space exploration, would serve as inspiration not only for the name but also the composition of Bowie’s song.
Space Oddity begins quietly with the strumming of a single guitar, building slowly to a climactic chorus.
2001 opens to a view of a sunrise from the perspective of space – a new day for the universe. The scene features Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra. A single horn similarly trumpets ascending crescendos.
Bowie’s crescendo and simultaneous counting backward also mimics the launching of a space rocket. Space Oddity was released just five days prior to the Apollo 11 launch, the mission that first put human beings on the moon. What could have been more pressing on many people’s minds than the untamed boundaries of space?
In the 1970s, Bowie began abusing drugs, and Major Tom would live new lives in other songs. Major Tom, described in Ashes to Ashes as a junkie, hits “an all-time low,” referring to Bowie’s cocaine addiction. He would regularly forget lyrics during performances and look to his guitarist for help.
Instead of stealing ideas outright, Bowie built upon themes in popular culture to tell a story about overcoming life’s many obstacles.
Space Oddity inspires other artists to imitate similar themes. Other songs such as Rocket Man by Elton John and Major Tom (Coming Home) by Peter Schilling owe their existence to Bowie. For these artists inspired by Bowie’s creativity, Major Tom is not hopelessly lost in the space of music history. He remains a living testament to the creative limits of music.
Tyler Grudi
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