Space Oddity

About

"Space Oddity" is a song written and performed by David Bowie and released as a single in July 1969. Since its initial release, the song, which is a musical tribute to the launch of fictional astronaut Major Tom into space, has inspired covers and tributes by musicians over the several following decades.^[2] In 2013, the song resurged into popularity after Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield performed an acoustic cover^[3] while aboard the International Space Station.^[3][4]

Origin

The song was released amidst the growing public interest in spaceflight and exploration, not long after the box office release of Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey and only five days prior to the launch of the United States' Apollo 11 mission. "Space Oddity" was extremely well received by the fans and critics alike, with the song becoming Bowie's first UK Top 5 hit single and eventually his first UK No. 1 single upon its re-release in 1973.^[1]

Spread

Due to its mainstream popularity, a number of well-known musicians and bands have recorded or live-performed their own covers of the song, including Def Leppard, Steel Train and Smashing Pumpkins, among others. In December 2004, an acoustic cover of "Space Oddity" by Brazilian musician Seu Jorge was featured in the official soundtrack of Wes Anderson's adventure drama film Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. In July 2007, New Zealand's comedy band Flight of the Conchords parodied the song, as well as several scenes from the original music video, in their eighth episode of the eponymous HBO comedy series.^[15] In September 2008, Cat Power's cover of the song was featured in a TV commercial for the Lincoln MKS sedan.^[14] On October 6th, 2015, ClickHole ran a parody quiz article titled "How Well Do You Know The Lyrics To ‘Space Oddity’?"^[7] featuring a series of "fill-in-the-blank"-style excerpts of the song's lyrics with multiple-choice answers.

Examples

Andrew Kolb's Illustrated Book

In August 2011, Canadian illustrator Andrew Kolb^[13] released a free-downloadable children's book inspired by "Space Oddity" via his website.^[6]

Later that year in October, Boston-based animator Andrew Ruttan uploaded an animated music video tribute to the song based on the original illustrations by Kolb.

Chris Hadfield's Tribute

On May 12th, 2013, Chris Hadfield,^[11] Canadian astronaut and commander of Expedition 35 to the International Space Station, shared a music video of himself covering “Space Oddity” aboard the ISS the day before his trip back to Earth (shown below). Within the first year of its YouTube premiere, the music video garnered more than 22 million views.^[5]

Dom Tower Church Bell Tribute

On January 11th, 2016, the day after the death of David Bowie, Dutch Facebook user Marchal Molenaar^[9] uploaded a video recording of the Dom Tower, a 14th-century church tower in the town of Utrecht, Netherlands, ringing its bell to the tune of "Space Oddity" in homage to the artist. The video subsequently went viral on the social networking site, garnering almost a million views and over 24,300 shares within the first 24 hours.^[10]

Search Interest

External References