Over 50 years later, questioning everything about David Bowie's "Space Oddity"

[littletommy]

Well, at least now I have a good song running around my head.

I hear ya! I had to put it on in the car on my way home from work.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I hear ya! I had to put it on in the car on my way home from work.

I'm pretty sure I had it on 45 when it came out.

 

[chocktaw2]

Wrong thread.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Wrong thread.

For what?

 

[Chewie]

I'm pretty sure I had it on 45 when it came out.

And 8track, and cassette, and LP. But never on a cd.

 

[chocktaw2]

For what?

I posted I spotted a pair of Baltimore Orioles.

 

[Snapdragon]

I posted I spotted a pair of Baltimore Orioles.

Good to see you anyway, Choc.

Sent from my Z3351S using Tapatalk

 

[BugI02]

Well, at least now I have a good song running around my head.

You mean Suffragette City?

 

[DoggyDaddy]

And 8track, and cassette, and LP. But never on a cd.

I never had the album (in any form). Just the single. I think I do have Ziggy Stardust on CD though.

 

[chocktaw2]

Good to see you anyway, Choc.

Sent from my Z3351S using Tapatalk

Hiya Snap!

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I posted I spotted a pair of Baltimore Orioles.

Oh! I saw it in the OSUT I think.

 

[chocktaw2]

Oh! I saw it in the OSUT I think.

I forgot where I was at.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I forgot where I was at.

Been there, done that. Forgot about it.

 

[Chewie]

Been there, done that. Forgot about it.

Forgot about what?

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Forgot about what?

I don't remember now. What were we talking about?

 

[snapping turtle]

I had an old friend (middle school neighbor) who major tom’ed about 20 years ago.

He left on a trip and no one has seen him since. He had a few issues (started in high school) mentality. His sister said no one of the family has heard from him since.

I think he saw his life here as a waist and just left everything and everyone for his outer space. She has traced his taxes and benefits (SSI) to a small town in Utah.

 

[mbkintner]

Let's ask Captain Kirk

 

[Leadeye]

I liked David Bowie's original, but I liked Peter Shilling's follow up song better.

 

[BigRed]

One of my favorite pastimes is watching reaction videos on YouTube. It's a way to revisit some of my favorite songs and get the perspective of someone listening for the first time.

I have watched several reaction videos on David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and I was shocked to find that my interpretation of the song was different from everyone else's.

Here are the lyrics.

Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
Ground Control to Major Tom (ten, nine, eight, seven, six)
Commencing countdown, engines on (five, four, three)
Check ignition and may God's love be with you (two, one, liftoff)
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
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 "Here am I floating 'round my tin can
Far above the moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do"

The reactors and all of the people in the comments talk about how something went wrong with the spaceship and Major Tom got lost in outer space, and what a tragic accident it was.

Am I the only person in the world who thinks that Major Tom found comfort in the stillness and simply disconnected? It seems very clear to me that he made a deliberate decision to stay in space forever. "Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do" sounds like he meant Earth was full of sadness and hopelessness, so he simply chose not to go back.

Am I nuts? I know there is not a right or wrong interpretation, but I can't picture it any other way.

I think you nailed it.

 

[jamil]

Did she nail it or was she just being more like BigRed?