 | Life on Mars?David Bowie |
Writer(s): David Bowie (see lyrics here) Released: December 17, 1971 (as album cut on Hunky Dory) Released: June 22, 1973 (as a single) First Charted: June 30, 1973 Peak: 2 CL, 2 CO, 3 UK, 67 AU, 5 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.6 UK, 0.7 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 62.6 video, 305.22 streaming |
Awards:Click on award for more details. 
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About the Song:David Bowie’s “savvy self-promotion combined with his great gift for melody and lyrical imagery” LW made him rock music’s most celebrated chameleon. He demonstrated a “fascination with space figures frequently in his early career,” LW most famously with the alien persona of Ziggy Stardust in 1972. Leading up to that, however, were the #1 hit “Space Oddity,” which was released in 1969 to coincide with the historic moon landing, and “Life on Mars?,” a song originally featured on Bowie’s 1971 Hunky Dory album. He wrote the glam rock ballad as a parody of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” WK The lyrics are “about a girl who goes to a cinema to escape reality.” WK “Sailors fighting in the dance hall; Mickey Mouse’s grown-up cow; a god-awful small affair – all make their appearances to render this one of Bowie’s most enigmatic set of lyrics. No matter, though, because he chose to bless such nonsense verse with one of his greatest tunes.” XFM “The tenderness of the piano playing on ‘Life on Mars?,’ with its big build towards the chorus, is testament to his all round musical abilities.” LW It is an example of the “real substance behind his many styles.” LW “Its cinematic sweep and the vignettes of action that play across the screen give it a Hollywood glamour regardless.” DT Resources:
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First posted 2/14/2024. |
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