In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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."
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."
Lyrics submitted by Novartza, edited by m33rkat, milomojo330
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Blows my mind how many of you aren't seeing the big picture of what songs like these are about. Get out of your senses.
This song is about alienation and distancing yourself away from people by getting so lost in your mind that you're high up above everyone else. It's about becoming cynical and seeing the world as a sad place but being unable to communicate with anyone about it. "Planet earth is blue and there's nothing I can do" - he realizes there's nothing he can do about all of the problems he sees in the world. "Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you hear me Major Tom? - He's lost communication with those on the ground (i.e. in reality). "The papers want to know who's shirts you wear" - something small and insignificant normal people would worry about seems so small and unimportant to this man metaphorically up in space looking down on the world. "The stars look very different today" - the more you spend time in your mind thinking about things, the more your perception of everything will change.
Start to understand this principle of intuition, this is what a majority of the greatest songs are about. It's not about literal interpretation. This is what poetry is, the soul.
Your explanation makes sense and it made even more sense after watching the movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, there is a scene where the protagonist zones out of reality and imagines his crush singing this song Space Oddity, The protagonist is the one who always became distant from others because of his ADHD
@jmsn2393 To start the meaning out by complaining about people not understanding the song was really stupid. The whole point of the site is because NOT EVERYONE understands EVERY song to its full extent. The rest was a very thoughtful piece on the meaning though. (Yeah, I know this was written in 2012.)
@jmsn2393 <br /> <br /> Yep, exactly what you said. It's a huge metaphor for experiencing a profound mystical experience. Like the old saying goes, "As above, so below." Exploring the macrocosm (outer space and beyond) can tend to get you lost, if you stray too far. In the same way, delving into the microcosm (one's innermost self) can be an enormous journey, capable of disconnecting you from others just as much as a trek into deep space can.<br /> <br /> The people that have dived far enough into expanding their consciousness through meditation or various --ahem-- OTHER methods know: Sometimes you go so far, that you start to wonder if you'll ever make it back. Or maybe you do come back, but things are never quite the same again.
@jmsn2393 i agree with your your really thoughtfull answer
@jmsn2393 Only 3+ years late on this but damn.... lol. He wrote this song when he was high and saw 2001:A Space Odyssey, dude was just inspired by the movie. He said that himself ages ago.
@jmsn2393 Exactly; Same metaphor as Bernie Taupin's "Rocket Man"-(Elton John)
@jmsn2393 no you stork it's not a stupid metaphor for anything, it's a song about a guy in space so just... Don't treat everyone like your above them by being the guy who sees the "deeper meaning" when there is none.
@jmsn2393 Wow I'm amazed at you were able to even hear the song with your head so far up your ass!
@jmsn2393 "The stars look very different today" has a double entendre. Yes it could be a reference to his now warped perception of the world and reality, but it could also be how now that he has lifted himself to their level, other famous people (stars) don't seem the same as they did before.
@jmsn2393 I agree with your analysis. This song has always struck me as being incredibly sad because you’re right, it is about alienation. I also see it as an analogy for a drug overdose. In fact, it many ways it reminds me of Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb.’ However, this song is much more visceral and devastating than ‘Comfortably Numb’ because at the end he is lost. He just floats away in his tin can in the cold dark vacuum of space, gazing back at the faraway, planet Earth, which of course we know is the most beautiful thing out there, and there’s nothing he can do.
@jmsn2393 This is a very good interpretation. I can't deny it. The way you put it is also a pretty damn good example of exactly what you interpreted from the song meaning....<br /> <br /> I was really thinking this was a song about a drug overdose, but I have to admit that I think you're right. It's about alienation from others.
@eric951305<br /> <br /> I just wanted to say, I never understood that phrase that way, and I'm glad I read your comment, I don't really know what else to say but, thank you.
@jmsn2393 I've always hated poetry, and even more than that, the hyper-arrogant people who think they understand poetry the same way a person can understand hard science. The problem with poetry is that no two people can ever seem to agree what a written line means. There are always multiple ways to interpret it, and this song is no exception.<br /> <br /> However, and first of all, Major Tom was a persona of David Bowie. This is not up for debate in any way.<br /> <br /> Bowie went on to clearly state that he was on drugs when he saw the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey", and that his drug use inspired the lyrics to "Space Oddity". Losing communication with Ground Control is about drug use, as is the entire reference to being in space.<br /> <br /> And in Bowie's later song, "Ashes to Ashes", Major Tom re-establishes communication with Ground Control, and they call him a "junkie" in the line that says, "We know Major Tom's a junkie".<br /> <br /> The parts about "made the grade" and the papers wanting to know "whose shirts you wear" can easily be taken to be a reference to Bowie's commercial success.<br /> <br /> Have some humility. Especially when you're wrong.
Major Tom finds himself floating in space, and all of a sudden, he knows that he was never meant for life on earth. "Planet earth is blue" in both the literal sense and the figurative: it's a sad place. There's nothing he can do about it. He marvels at the "tin can" that was his means of escape from the sad blue marble. He's "feeling very still," or calm and serene, floating in space. At that moment, he knows he's a space traveler. His "space ship knows which way to go." He leaves. He's finally free. He leaves a farewell for his wife, and sets out to start living his life where he belongs: floating round in his tin can.
Either that, or it's about drugs.
Yeah, probably the drugs.
WoW! Poetry sure does bend people's minds! However Bowie is a Hero and Im sure he knows what his lyrics are about. Bit of a stupidly wacky song I must say....But hey thats why he is a legend! Doubt it is contrived though ?? Mmmm Or is it ??
@SirLadyDanger Ha! I love your comment! Whatever the song is about it's a great song. I'm glad i discovered this site, it's fun to see everyone's interpretation of his songs.
@SirLadyDanger You can never discount drugs in a 1970s rock song.
on a tangent this song, written during the height of the space race, is more about bowie's looming alienation than space travel. this is a romanticized conception of casting out from the normal crowd and becoming something new and different. something bowie still succeeds in doing.
Actually, you're right. Major Tom is a fictional, autobiographical character written by bowie about bowie. Bowie was young and idealistic when he wrote space oddity and like most idealistic and creative individuals he saw the world as selfish and materialistic and just wanted to leave.<br /> <br /> While this song isn't about drugs, ashes to ashes is. Once again revisiting his psudo-persona, major tom, bowie tells the story of his battle with addiction and recovery (the entire album is about withdraw suffering).<br /> <br /> Hallo Spaceboy sems to be about either major tom or ziggy or both. it seems like he is laying them to rest. but who the fuck can figure out his concept work anyway!??!
idiot mistake by me. Ziggy was an early rockabilly singer. The song was an homage to him. hello spaceboy must be about major tom.
It's also really cool how other artist's incorporate major tom into their songs.<br /> <br /> major tom (coming home) seems to be an unofficial sequel.and a damn good one.
@crashinghero Exactly; Same metaphor as Bernie Taupin's "Rocket Man"-(Elton John)
Given what all I know about the english, I'd have to say that, obviously, David Bowie- back in 1969- hopped into the TARDIS with Patrick Troughton, travelled to the year 1995, and saved Tom Hanks from being assassinated by Meg Ryan who was actually being mind-controlled by some new Dalek superweapon.
Anyway, in thanks, Tom showed them the finished bits of Apollo 13, and Bowie was so impressed that he both made out with Tom, and wrote Space Oddity when the two went to get bananas from some mall or other. The Doctor told him that that would mess with all sorts of time causalities and such, but Bowie pointed out a record shop nearby, in which there were copies of Space Oddity, and The Doctor admitted that if it happened, Bowie should make sure that it still happens.
So, Bowie gets partway through the song and gets writer's block. He's got no idea what to write. The Doctor decides that something has to be done about that, or there's no way the timeline will be preserved, so he grabs Bowie and takes them five minutes into the future to find out how The Doctor fixes Bowie's writer's block.
Witnessing himself fixing Bowie's writer's block, he then takes Bowie one minute into the past, and does what he saw himself do. Bowie and The Doctor share a kiss, travel back to 1969, and Bowie releases the song and becomes a major star.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HA HA HA haaa.... apart from the shrek comment, that's the funniest thing I've heard all day. david Bowie made out with Tom Hanks?! HA HA! What a stupid theory!
@JudeccaGunner IT ALL MAKES SENSE
@JudeccaGunner clearly.
@JudeccaGunner I applaud your imagination. XD
@JudeccaGunner I'd watch this.
@JudeccaGunner... Love this interpretation !
how can you not love bowie?
@archmastermind Exactly, you can not!
This song used to make me cry when I was little.
Me too. Long before I even knew what all the words were, I got the distinct impression of melancholy and isolation.
It still does
It still does
i cried today!
@nietzsche_66 it makes me well up now after his passing. Such a prolific man and artist. He was one of those once in a generation icons. THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER BOWIE. often imitated never duplicated.
I really hope MajorTom6669 is kidding. Wow. Anyway, I've always heard it was about a drug overdose, and it makes perfect sense to me. He takes his pills, he's ready for liftoff, he goes into orbit, but something goes wrong and he can't find his way back to Earth. I don't know about any actual evidence to that effect, but I've always thought it was a great way to look at it. It's also a really unique song (despite the fact that it's about drugs) because most drug-related songs of the time were about good trips and opening your mind, while "Oddity" highlights the darker, deadlier side of drugs while still managing to make it seem romantic and even heroic to lift off and never come back. I'm not going to try to say I know Bowie personally and he told me, or anything stupid like that. It just always seemed to fit. I guess I'll cast my vote with the heroin people above. Either way, it's a great, classic song.
it could also be about the use of disassociatives, such as ketamine, i've never used them, but i've heard the feeling is similar to being separated from the body, which i'd imagine would feel sort of like floating in space
Go back and listen to the song again with this in mind: The man is a junky. he blasts off, gets high and over doses. "your circuits dead... there's something wrong, can you hear me major Tom?" Brilliant in it's simplicity really, but that is all. He even re-visits the theme and admits it in "Ashes To Ashes".
I have nothing to add, but hell, I feel like I must leave a comment on this song. Bowie is a genius.
@aphekqs Can't argue with that
Everyone says this is about a drug trip (and yeah, that's probably true) or a "doomed" space mission. The way I interpreted it when I first heard it and how I still like to interpret it is that Major Tom goes into space. While there, he is fascinated by the beauty, and has some sort of revelation. He says, "My rocket knows the way, tell my wife I love her." And then he intentionally cuts communication/circuit power. Thus, predetermining his suicide. I find it most beautiful that way. And, regardless if it's the correct meaning, I like it best.
So, I don't think it was a "doomed" space mission as much as it is someone deciding to end it in the most beautiful way possible (really - what a way to go... floating forever in space).
It doesn't matter what I or anyone else thinks the song means, the interpretation you like the best is what counts. Bowie would want it that way.
@TasteIt... That sh!t's even more morbid than the junkie theories