Space Oddity - 2009 Remastered Version

Bowie wrote this after seeing the 1968 Stanley Kubrick movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. "Space Oddity" is a play on the phrase "Space Odyssey," although the title does not appear in the lyrics. The song tells the story of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut who cuts off communication with Earth and floats into space.

In a 2003 interview with Performing Songwriter magazine, Bowie explained: "In England, it was always presumed that it was written about the space landing, because it kind of came to prominence around the same time. But it actually wasn't. It was written because of going to see the film 2001, which I found amazing. I was out of my gourd anyway, I was very stoned when I went to see it, several times, and it was really a revelation to me. It got the song flowing. It was picked up by the British television, and used as the background music for the landing itself. I'm sure they really weren't listening to the lyric at all (laughs). It wasn't a pleasant thing to juxtapose against a moon landing. Of course, I was overjoyed that they did. Obviously, some BBC official said, 'Oh, right then, that space song, Major Tom, blah blah blah, that'll be great.' 'Um, but he gets stranded in space, sir.' Nobody had the heart to tell the producer that."

This was originally released in 1969 on Bowie's self-titled album and timed to coincide with the moon landing. Released as a single, the song made #5 in the UK, becoming his first chart hit in that territory. In America, the single found a very small audience and bubbled under at #124 in August 1969. In 1972, the album was re-titled Space Oddity and re-issued in the US after Bowie achieved modest success in America with the singles "Changes" (#66) and "The Jean Genie" (#71). The newly released "Space Oddity" single made #15, becoming Bowie's first US Top 40. In 1975, back in the UK, the song was once again released, this time on a single which also contained the songs "Changes" and "Velvet Goldmine." Promoted as "3 Tracks for the Price of 2," the single leapt to the top of the charts, earning Bowie his first #1 in the UK.