Όταν η αγάπη έχει εμπόδια, μερικές φορές ένα τραγούδι, ένα ποιήμα, ακόμα και μια πρόταση ελπίδας, μπορεί να της δείξει το δρόμο.... Η Ακουστική ΨυχοΈκφραση, είναι εδώ για να σας ακούσει, να προβληματιστεί μαζί σας και ΙΣΩΣ και να σας βοηθήσει στο να δείτε και να δρομολογήσετε Έσεις την δική σας έκφραση ψυχής.
Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English musician,
singer and songwriter. Best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of
the rock band Led Zeppelin, he has also had a successful solo career. With
a career spanning more than 40 years and possessing a powerful wide
vocal range (particularly his trademark high-pitched screams), Plant is
regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of popular music,
and has influenced contemporaries and later singers such as Freddie
Mercury, Axl Rose and Chris Cornell.In 2006, heavy metal magazine Hit
Parader named Plant the "Greatest Metal Vocalist of All Time".In 2009,
Plant was voted "the greatest voice in rock" in a poll conducted by
Planet Rock.In 2008, Rolling Stone editors ranked him number 15 on their
list of the 100 greatest singers of all time. In 2011, readers of
Rolling Stone placed Plant in first place of the magazine's list of the
best lead singers of all time.
Website : RobertPlant.com
"Big
Log" is a song from his album "The Principle of Moments", released in
1983. It was the first single from the album and became his first Top 40
solo hit, peaking at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and number 20 on
the US Billboard Hot 100. The song also reached number six on the
Billboard Top Tracks chart.
Model in video: Emily Didonato
Lyrics: Songwriters: PLANT/BLUNT/WOODROFFE
My love is in league with the freeway Its passion will ride as the cities fly by And the tail lights dissolve in the coming of night And the questions, in thousands, take flight
My love is a-miles in the waiting The eyes that just stare, and the glance at the clock And the secret that burns, and the pain that grows dark And it's you once again Leading me on (Leading me on) Leading me down the road Driving beyond (Driving beyond) Driving me down the road
My love is exceedingly vivid Red-eyed and fevered with the hum of the miles Distance and longing, my thoughts do collide Should I rest for a while at the side?
Your love is cradled in knowing Eyes in the mirror, still expecting they'll come And sensing too well when the journey is done There is no turning back, no There is no turning back On the run
Plant's
lyrics were often influenced by the books of J.R.R. Tolkien. Big Log is a
mythical, extended metaphor for a lost love: "My love is in league with
the freeway... My love is the miles and the waiting." A Big Log is
common lingo of tractor trailer drivers. It is the book in which their
road hours are logged, therefore the connection between the road and
love and the countless hours we all log on both. (thanks, Stuart -
Salem, MA)
In the video, Plant's
classic car overheats at a desolate desert gas station, which causes him
to muse upon lost love. (thanks, ErickOverveen - Amsterdam,
Netherlands)
This was Robert Plant's first hit as a solo artist after the break up of Led Zeppelin.
Some people know this song as "My Love Is In League With The Freeway." The phrase "Big Log" does not appear in the lyrics.
The name "Big Log" is likely meaningless. Plant's solo work (up until Now And Zen) and work with Led Zeppelin often featured songs with titles that had little or nothing to do with the lyrics. Also from The Principle Of Moments
are the tracks "Messin' With A Mekon," "Horizontal Departure" and
"Stranger Here... Than Over There." (thanks, Jodeo - Plymouth, MI)
Phil Collins played drums on this and 5 other tracks on the album. He also played drums on Plant's previous album Pictures At Eleven. (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for above 3)
"Memories" is the second single of the album The Silent Force of the
band Within Temptation.Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band
founded in 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert
Westerholt.Their music is described as symphonic metal,although their
earlier material, such as Enter, was gothic metal. In an interview, den
Adel said they fell into a symphonic rock genre with various
influences.In a later interview with 3VOOR12, Sharon stated that "we
consider ourselves more a symphonic rock band ... we are in my opinion
no gothic band"
Members:
Sharon den Adel Robert Westerholt Jeroen van Veen Ruud Jolie Martijn Spierenburg Mike Coolen Past members:
Michiel Papenhove Martijn Westerholt Dennis Leeflang Richard Willemse Ivar de Graaf Marius van Pyreen Ciro Palma Jelle Bakker Stephen van Haestregt
Lyrics:
In this world you tried Not leaving me alone behind There's no other way I prayed to the Gods: let him stay The memories ease the pain inside Now I know why...
All of my memories keep you near In silent moments imagine you here All of my memories keep you near Your silent whispers, silent tears
Made me promise I'd try To find my way back in this life I hope there is a way To give me a sign you're ok Reminds me again it's worth it all So I can go on
All of my memories keep you near In silent moments imagine you here All of my memories keep you near Your silent whispers, silent tears
Together in all these memories I see your smile All the memories I hold dear Darling, you know I will love you Until the end of time
All of my memories keep you near In silent moments imagine you here All of my memories keep you near Your silent whispers, silent tears All of my memories....
Giorgio Moroder (born on , 1940 in Ortisei, Italy) is a three-time Oscar
winning Italian record producer, songwriter and performer. His work
with synthesizers during the 1970s and 1980s had a significant influence
on new wave, house, techno and electronic music in general.Moroder
released singles simply as "Giorgio" as early as 1966, singing in
English, German, and Italian. Often collaborating with lyricist
Bellotte, Moroder had a number of hits in his own name including "Son of
My Father" in 1972 and From Here to Eternity in 1977, and in the
following year releasing "Chase" in 1978, the theme from the film
Midnight Express. All were hits in the UK. The full movie score for
Midnight Express won him his first Academy Award for best film score in
1978. In 1979 Moroder released his album E=MC?. Text on the album's
cover stated that it was the "first electronic live-to-digital album."
He also released three albums between 1977-1979 under the name Munich
Machine. In 1984, Moroder worked with Philip Oakey of The Human
League to make the album Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder; which was a
UK singles chart hit with "Together in Electric Dreams", title track to
the movie of the same name. In 1986, Moroder collaborated with his
protege Harold Faltermeyer (of "Axel F." fame) and lyricist Tom Whitlock
to create the score for the film Top Gun (1986), with the most
noteworthy hit being Berlin's "Take My Breath Away". "Chase" was also
used as an entrance theme for wrestling's group The Midnight Express. In
1987, Moroder produced Falco's song "Body Next to Body".On , 2004
Moroder was honored at the Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony, held in
New York, when he was inducted for his many outstanding achievements and
contributions as producer. In 2005, he was given the title of
Commendatore by the then President of the Italian Republic, Carlo
Azeglio Ciampi.
Chris Bennett (born Christine Bennett on August
2, 1948) is a Grammy-nominated singer, pianist, songwriter and jazz
performer.Bennett was born in Marshall, Illinois. She graduated from the
University of Illinois(where she was a Kappa Alpha Theta sorority
member) with honors in music and dance.She has collaborated with various
artists including Tina Turner,The Manhattan Transfer, Giorgio Moroder,
Donna Summer, The Three Degrees and Keb Mo.Bennett's Grammy nomination
was for "The Theme from Midnight Express", her contribution to the
Midnight Express movie soundtrack.Bennett's 2010 CD, Sail Away - The
Tahiti Sessions, was produced by Chris Bennett and Eric Doney and
recorded on the island of Tahiti. The CD includes a live string
ensemble.
Lyrics: As the night is leaving Silently retreating down an empty hall Suddenly a stirring Finally recurring where I let it fall Following the wanderings of a dream A dream that keeps my soul alive Believing in an open sky Believing in a love
Dancing with a stranger Careless of the danger,there within his smile While the dew was forming Breathing in the morning,like a sleeping child If the memory of the light should fade Horizons reaching cold and blue Until your heart is free to fly Then I will keep the sun for you Until you touch the open sky Then I will keep the sun for you
As the night is leaving Silently retreating down an empty hall Suddenly a stirring Finally recurring where I let it fall Following the wanderings of a dream A dream that keeps my soul alive Believing in an open sky Believing in a love
Dancing with a stranger Careless of the danger,there within his smile While the dew was forming Breathing in the morning,like a sleeping child If the memory of the light should fade Horizons reaching cold and blue Until your heart is free to fly Then I will keep the sun for you Until you touch the open sky Then I will keep the sun for you
Until we never say goodbye Then I will keep the sun for you..
Talk Talk were an English musical group, active from 1981 to 1991. The
group was part of the English New Wave movement that included bands like
Duran Duran and had a string of early hit singles including "Today",
"Talk Talk", "It's My Life", "Such a Shame", and "Dum Dum Girl". Always
uncomfortable with the requirements and pressure of the pop industry,
Talk Talk moved away from synthpop toward more experimental music in the
mid-1980s. A few more singles, including "Life's What You Make It" and
"Living in Another World", achieved success in Europe and in the UK, but
their commercial appeal receded quickly as their critical reputation
increased.
The band broke up in 1991. Singer Mark Hollis released
one solo album before retiring from the music industry. Founding bass
player and drummer Paul Webb and Lee Harris played in a couple of bands
together; de facto fourth member Tim Friese-Greene continued in the
business as a musician and producer. Their final two albums, Spirit of
Eden and Laughing Stock, were highly acclaimed and remain influential to
experimental alternative rock genres, especially post-rock.25 years
after the release of what The Guardian called their masterpiece (1988's
Spirit of Eden), Talk Talk was still praised as a classic example of a
band refusing to compromise its art to commercial pressure, and Hollis
and his bandmates are seen as some of the more interesting acts to come
out of the synthpop movement of the 1980s.
"Such a Shame" was
inspired by Luke Rhinehart's The Dice Man,one of composer Mark Hollis'
favourite books. When asked what drove him to respond to Rhinehart's
book, Hollis replied, "A good book, not a lifestyle I'd recommend." It
was released as the album's second single in 1984 (see 1984 in music),
and became a big hit in continental Europe in 1984 and 1985, reaching
the Top 10 in numerous countries, and becoming a number 1 in certain
territories (their third number 1 single after the remixed version of
their song "Talk Talk" which topped the South African charts in 1983 and
the single "It's My life" which was number 1 in the US Billboard Hot
Dance Club Play in 1984); but strangely this single was largely ignored
in the UK. In the US, the song entered the Billboard Hot 100, and was a
Top 20 hit in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play.The song was also
released in 2004. It was also featured in a European TV commercial for
the French car Peugeot 205.
Lyrics: It's a shame Such a shame Number me with rage It's a shame Such a shame Number me in haste Such a shame This eagerness to change
Such a shame to believe in escape A life on every face and that's a change Till I'm finally left with the eight Tell me to relax I just stare Maybe I don't know if I should change A feeling that we share
It's a shame Such a shame Number me with rage It's a shame Such a shame Number me in haste Such a shame This eagerness to change
It's a shame The dice beside my fate and that's a shame In these trembling hands my faith.. Tells me to react,I don't care
Maybe it's unkind if I should change.. a feeling that we share It's a shame Such a shame Number me with rage It's a shame Such a shame Number me in haste Such a shame This eagerness to change Such a shame...
Tell me to relax I just stare Maybe I don't know If I should change,a feeling that we share It's a shame Such a shame Number me with rage It's a shame Such a shame Number me in haste Such a shame This eagerness to change
Maybe I don't know again..if I should change Such a shame Number me with rage It's a shame Such a shame Number me in haste Such a shame This eagerness to change Such a shame...write across my name Such a shame,such a shame Number me with rage Such a shame This eagerness to change...
Roger Waters
wrote the lyrics. While many people thought the song was about drugs,
Waters claims it is not. The lyrics are about what he felt like as a
child when he was sick with a fever. As an adult, he got that feeling
again sometimes, entering a state of delirium, where he felt detached
from reality. He told Mojo magazine (December 2009) that the
lines, "When I was a child I had a fever/My hands felt just like two
balloons" were autobiographical. He explained: "I remember having the
flu or something, an infection with a temperature of 105 and being
delirious. It wasn't like the hands looked like balloons, but they
looked way too big, frightening. A lot of people think those lines are
about masturbation. God knows why."
In a
radio interview around 1980 with Jim Ladd from KLOS in Los Angeles,
Waters said part of the song is about the time he got hepatitis but
didn't know it. Pink Floyd had to do a show that night in Philadelphia,
and the doctor Roger saw gave him a sedative to help the pain, thinking
it was a stomach disorder. At the show, Roger's hands were numb "like
two toy balloons." He was unable to focus, but also realized the fans
didn't care because they were so busy screaming, hence "comfortably"
numb. He said most of The Wall is about alienation between the audience and band.
Exploring further, Mojo
asked Waters about the line, "That'll keep you going through the show,"
referring to getting medicated before going on-stage. He explained:
"That comes from a specific show at the Spectrum in Philadelphia (June
29, 1977). I had stomach cramps so bad that I thought I wasn't able to
go on. A doctor backstage gave me a shot of something that I swear to
God would have killed a f---ing elephant. I did the whole show hardly
able to raise my hand above my knee. He said it was a muscular relaxant.
But it rendered me almost insensible. It was so bad that at the end of
the show, the audience was baying for more. I couldn't do it. They did
the encore about me." (thanks, Cody - San Diego, CA)
Dave Gilmour wrote the music while he was working on a solo album in 1978. He brought it to The Wall sessions and Waters wrote lyrics for it.
Gilmour
believes this song can be divided into two sections: dark and light.
The light are the parts that begin "When I was a child...," which
Gilmour sings. The dark are the "Hello, is there anybody in there"
parts, which are sung by Waters.
Waters
and Gilmour had an argument over which version of this to use on the
album. They ended up editing two takes together as a compromise. Dave
Gilmour said in Guitar World February 1993: "Well, there were two
recordings of that, which me and Roger argued about. I'd written it
when I was doing my first solo album [David Gilmour, 1978]. We
changed the key of the song's opening the E to B, I think. The verse
stayed exactly the same. Then we had to add a little bit, because Roger
wanted to do the line, 'I have become comfortably numb.' Other than
that, it was very, very simple to write. But the arguments on it were
about how it should be mixed and which track we should use. We'd done
one track with Nick Mason an drums that I thought was too rough and
sloppy. We had another go at it and I thought that the second take was
better. Roger disagreed. It was more an ego thing than anything else. We
really went head to head with each other over such a minor thing. I
probably couldn't tell the difference if you put both versions on a
record today. But, anyway, it wound up with us taking a fill out of one
version and putting it into another version."
This
was the last song Waters and Gilmour wrote together. In 1986 Waters
left the band and felt there should be no Pink Floyd without him.
When they played this on The Wall
tour, a 35 foot wall was erected between the band and the audience as
part of the show. As the wall went up, Gilmour was raised above it on a
hydraulic lift to perform the guitar solo. It was his favorite part of
the show.
In the movie The Wall,
this plays in a scene where the main character, a rock star named
"Pink," loses his mind and enters a catatonic state before a show. It
was similar to what Syd Barrett, an original member of the band, went
through in 1968 when he became mentally ill and was kicked out of the
band.
This song is the final step in Pink's (Roger Water's) transformation into the Neo-Nazi, fascist character you see in the movie The Wall.
Medics and the band manager come in and give Pink a shot to pull him
out of his catatonic stupor, the manager pays protesting Meds some cash
to shut up and let him take Pink to the concert in the state he's in
(obviously a threat to his health, but the Meds, who probably don't make
enough money, accept). In the movie Pink begins to melt on the way
there, and underneath he finds that he is the cruel, fascist model of a
Nazi party representative by the time he arrives at the concert.
Supporting this, afterwards are the songs "The Show Must Go On" (Pink
realizing as he gets to the show that there isn't really any turning
back, and he's forced to go on-stage), "In the Flesh II" (the redone
version of the first song on the album, now with Nazi-Pink singing,
threatening random minorities), and "Run Like Hell"
(after the crowd, loving nazi-Pink, has been whipped into a frenzy, now
hunting minorities in the street, much like late 1930 Germany). While
it does seem that this is a song about the "joy of heroin," it has
little, if any connection to heroin even if it's condition resembles
that of somebody who's totally wasted. (thanks, Alex - Town, CT)
A
dance version by the Scissor Sisters was a #10 UK hit in 2004. It was
released as the B-side of their first single, "Electrobix," but drew
much more attention. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
David
Gilmour played this on his 2006 solo tour, where he was joined by Pink
Floyd keyboard player Rick Wright. (thanks, Dogma - Alexandria, LA)
Van
Morrison played this with Roger Waters at a 1990 concert Waters
organized in Berlin to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall. This
version was used in the movie The Departed and also appeared in an episode of The Simpsons.
Gilmour's
second guitar solo on "Comfortably Numb" regularly appears in Best
Guitar Solo of All Time polls. In an August 2006 poll by viewers of TV
music channel Planet Rock it was voted the greatest guitar solo of all
time. For the solo, the Pink Floyd guitarist used a heavy pick on his
Fender Strat with maple neck through a Big Muff and delay via a Hiwatt
amp and a Yamaha RA-200 rotating speaker cabinet. Gilmour told Guitar World
that the solo didn't take long to develop: "I just went out into the
studio and banged out 5 or 6 solos. From there I just followed my usual
procedure, which is to listen back to each solo and mark out bar lines,
saying which bits are good. In other words, I make a chart, putting
ticks and crosses on different bars as I count through: two ticks if
it's really good, one tick if it's good and cross if it's no go. Then I
just follow the chart, whipping one fader up, then another fader,
jumping from phrase to phrase and trying to make a really nice solo all
the way through. That's the way we did it on 'Comfortably Numb.' It
wasn't that difficult. But sometimes you find yourself jumping from one
note to another in an impossible way. Then you have to go to another
place and find a transition that sounds more natural."
Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone at home? Come on now I hear you're feeling down. Well I can ease your pain Get you on your feet again. Relax. I'll need some information first. Just the basic facts. Can you show me where it hurts?
There is no pain you are receding A distant ship smoke on the horizon. You are only coming through in waves. Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying. When I was a child I had a fever My hands felt just like two balloons. Now I've got that feeling once again I can't explain you would not understand This is not how I am. I have become comfortably numb.
O.K. Just a little pinprick. There'll be no more, ah! But you may feel a little sick. Can you stand up? I do believe it's working, good. That'll keep you going through the show Come on it's time to go.
There is no pain you are receding A distant ship, smoke on the horizon. You are only coming through in waves. Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying. When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse Out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look but it was gone I cannot put my finger on it now The child is grown, The dream is gone. I have become comfortably numb.Writer/s: WATERS, ROGER/GILMOUR, DAVID JON Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., IMAGEM U.S. LLC Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind
"Space Oddity" is a song written and performed by David Bowie and released as a 7-inch single on 11 July 1969. It was also the opening track of the album David Bowie.
The song is about the launch of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut, and was released during a period of great interest in space flight. The United States' Apollo 11 mission would launch five days later, and would become the first manned moon landing another five days later.[1] The lyrics have also been seen to lampoon the British space programme,[2] which had only launched rockets at that time and has never attempted a moon landing.
Besides its title, which alludes to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the introduction to the song is a barely audible instrumental build-up that is analogous to the deep bass tone in Also sprach Zarathustra that is prominently used in the film.
"Space Oddity" was David Bowie's first UK Top 5 hit, and was awarded the 1969 Ivor Novello Award, together with Peter Sarstedt's "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?". It became one of Bowie's signature songs, and his second album, originally released as David Bowie in the UK, was renamed after the track for its 1972 re-release by RCA Records, and became known by this name. In 1975, upon re-release as part of a maxi-single, the song was Bowie's first UK No. 1 single.[3]
Bowie would later revisit his Major Tom character in the songs "Ashes to Ashes", "Hallo Spaceboy" and the music video for "Blackstar". German singer Peter Schilling's 1983 hit "Major Tom (Coming Home)" is written as a retelling of the song. In 2013, the song gained renewed popularity after it was covered by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who performed the song while aboard the International Space Station, and therefore became the first music video shot in space.
In January 2016, the song gained new popularity following the death
of David Bowie, ranking as third on iTunes on January 12, 2016 and
reaching the top of the French Singles Chart. [4] The song would also rechart for one week on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at #42 shortly after his death in January 2016.
Recording and release
In addition to demo recordings and an Italian version of the song,
three primary studio versions of "Space Oddity" exist: an early version
recorded in February 1969, the album version recorded that June (edited
for release as a single), and a 1979 re-recording.
The early version of "Space Oddity" was recorded on 2 February 1969 for Bowie's promotional film Love You Till Tuesday.[5] This recording became commercially available in 1984, on a belated VHS release of the film and accompanying soundtrack album. It also appeared on the compilation album The Deram Anthology 1966–1968.
In June 1969, after Bowie's split from record label Deram, his manager, Kenneth Pitt, negotiated a one-album deal (with options for a further one or two albums) with Mercury Records and its UK subsidiary, Philips.[6]
Mercury executives had heard an audition tape that included a demo of
"Space Oddity," recorded by Bowie and his then musical partner John
Hutchinson in spring 1969. Next Bowie tried to find a producer. George Martin turned the project down,[6] while Tony Visconti liked the album demo-tracks, but considered the planned lead-off single, "Space Oddity", a 'cheap shot' at the impending Apollo 11 space mission. Visconti decided to delegate its production to Gus Dudgeon.[7]
The album version of "Space Oddity" was recorded at Trident Studios on 20 June 1969 (with overdubs a few days later) and used the in-house session playerRick Wakeman (Mellotron), who was later to achieve fame with the progressive rock band Yes, as well as Mick Wayne (guitar), Herbie Flowers (bass), and Terry Cox (drums).[8] Differing edits of the album version were released as singles in the UK and US.
The song was promoted in advertisements for the Stylophone,
played by Bowie on the record and heard in the background during the
opening verse. The single was not played by the BBC until after the Apollo 11 crew had safely returned;[9] after this slow start, the song reached No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it stalled at 124. Mogol wrote Italian lyrics, and Bowie recorded a new vocal in December 1969, releasing the single "Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola" ("Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl") in Italy, reportedly to take attention away from covers by the Italian bands Equipe 84 and The Computers.
Upon its re-release as a single in 1973, the song reached No. 15 on the Billboard Chart and became Bowie's first hit single in the United States; in Canada, it reached No. 16.[10] This was then used to support RCA's 1975 UK reissue, which gave Bowie his first No. 1 single in the UK Singles Chart in November that year. It spent two weeks at the top of that chart.[11]
Bowie recorded a stripped-down, acoustic version in late 1979, which was issued in February 1980 as the B-side of "Alabama Song". The promotional video of this version debuted in the UK on Kenny Everett's New Year's Eve Show. This video used many of the same sets of the music video for "Ashes to Ashes," solidifying the connection between the two songs. The 1979 recording was rereleased in 1992 on the Rykodisc reissue of Bowie's Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) album.
The B-side of the original single, "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud", first appeared on CD on 1989's Sound + Vision.
This compilation also included, as its opening track, the spring 1969
demo of "Space Oddity" featuring Bowie and Hutchinson. (An earlier
Bowie/Hutchinson demo appears on the 2009 2-CD special edition of the
album David Bowie.)
On 20 July 2009, the single was reissued on a digital EP that featured four previously released versions of the song and stems
that allow listeners to remix the song. This release coincided with the
40th anniversary of the song and the Apollo 11 moon landing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Oddity
"Space Oddity"
Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills
and put your helmet on
Ground Control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown,
engines on
Check ignition
and may God's love be with you
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.
Bowie wrote this after seeing the 1968 Stanley Kubrick movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
"Space Oddity" is a play on the phrase "Space Odyssey," and 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.
In 1980, Bowie released a follow-up to this called "Ashes To Ashes,"
where Major Tom once again makes contact with Earth. He says he is
happy in space, but Ground Control comes to the conclusion that he is a
junkie.
In 1983, Peter Schilling
released a sequel to this called "Major Tom (I'm Coming Home)." Set to a
techno beat, it tells the story of Major Tom in space. In 2003, K.I.A.
released another sequel called "Mrs. Major Tom," which is told from the
point of view of Major Tom's wife.
When
the BBC used this during coverage of the moon landing, there was a
great fear that if the missions in space didn't go well, this song would
suddenly become inappropriate. (thanks, Daniel - The North West,
England)
In the line, "And the papers
want to know whose shirt you wear," 'whose shirt you wear' is English
slang for 'what football team are you a fan of?'. The thinking here
being that if you can make it into space then your opinions on football
matter. (Note to Americans- in this case, by "football" we mean
"soccer.")
Bowie's birth name was David
Jones. He changed his name before the movie came out, but the name he
picked is similar to the main character in the film: Dave Bowman. There
was speculation that he got the name from the book The Sentinel, which the movie is based on, but Bowie has claimed that his moniker came from the Bowie knife.
This appears on the soundtrack of the Adam Sandler movie Mr. Deeds. (thanks, Hans - Oakdale, CA)
Nita
Benn's handclaps can be heard on this recording. She is the
daughter-in-law of the British socialist politician Tony Benn and the
mother of Emily Benn, who at the age of 17 became the youngest ever
person chosen to fight an election when she was selected in 2007 as the
Labour candidate for East Worthing and Shoreham.
This was originally written by Bowie as a guitar song. It was the producer Gus Dudgeon who turned it into an epic.
Session musician Herbie Flowers ("Walk On The Wild Side," "Diamond Dogs") played bass on this track. He recalled his experience working on this to Uncut
magazine June 2008: "The first time I played with Bowie was on the
session for 'Space Oddity.' Dear Gus (Dudgeon) was quaking in his boots.
It might have been the first thing he ever produced. 'Space Oddity' was
this strange hybrid song. (Keyboardist) Rick Wakeman went out to buy a
little Stylophone for seven shillings from a small shop on the corner
where Trident Studios was. With that and all the string arrangements,
it's like a semi-orchestral piece."
Jimmy Page told Uncut
magazine June 2008: "I played on his records, did you know that? His
very early records when he was Davy Jones & The Lower Third. The
Shel Talmy records. I can think of two individual sessions that I did
with him. He said in some interview that on one of those sessions I
showed him these chords, which he used in 'Space Oddity'-but he said,
'Don't tell Jim, he might sue me.' Ha ha!"
In
2009, a sound-a-like version was used in commercials for Lincoln
automobiles. This version was by the American singer-songwriter Cat
Power, the stage name of Charlyn "Chan" Marshall.
The
session players on the song were Rick Wakeman (mellotron), Mick Wayne
(guitar), Herbie Flowers (bass) and Terry Cox (drums), plus string
musicians. They were paid just over £9 each.
An early version of this song is performed by David Bowie in Love You Till Tuesday, a promotional film made in 1969 which was designed to showcase the talents of Bowie. You can watch it here.
The
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded this song during his stay at
the International Space Station in 2013-2014. After he returned safely
to Earth, the female singer/songwriter Emm Gryner put the song together,
adding additional tracks, and a video was compiled using footage of
Hadfield performing the song in space, complete with shots of planet
Earth, his floating acoustic guitar, and a weightless Hadfield. The
sublime compilation quickly racked up millions of views on YouTube and
got the attention of Bowie, who tweeted about it. Hadfield changed a few
of the lyrics - he left out the part where Major Tom loses contact and
drifts away.
