David Bowie: Space Oddity Meaning

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Space Oddity 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
Commencing countdown, engines on
Check ignition and may gods love be with you

Ten, nine, eight, seven,...

1.  

   anonymous

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   May 12th, 17:51 report

   
   

   I think it's about Apollo 13, The ' tin can' repesenting the lunar module they had to use to get home and the pills repsent the asprin one of the astronauts took ( in the film ), If you don't know what happened on Appllo 13 watch the film and the song fits right in with it. ' the circuits dead, there is something wrong ' repesents when the explosion happend and the Oxygen tanks leaked. When the lyrics ' Can tou hear meMajor Tom ' are repeated after this repesnt either when they take there heart rate trackers off or when the communication went off for 4 minutes when re-entering the earths atmosphere. - Chloe Allen

   
   
   
   

2.  

   anonymous

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   Jan 20th 2012, 11:40 report

   
   

   I think the song might be a metaphor for success. After all Major Tom is doing something thats very respected and rare by going into space and everyone is swept up in his accomplishments, thats why newspapers want to know irrelevent things about him like what shirts he wears. When he asks ground control to tell hius wife he loves her it just means that he accepts that he risks failure in order to try to do something great. It also might mean that people spend too much of their time worrying about being successful when he says "here and Im sitting on my tin can... and theres nothing I can do" meaning he has accomplished something that only a handful of humans have with space travel but the world will still carry on without him. I just think this is such a powerful metaphor, actually staring at the world beneath you and not being able to do anything about it

   
   
   
   

3.  

   madogmgd

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   Oct 26th 2011, 17:27 report

   
   

   Ground Control to Major Tom
   Ground Control to Major Tom
   Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
   
   Interpretation: A man preparing for sex with another man
   
   Ground Control to Major Tom
   Commencing countdown, engines on
   Check ignition and may God's love be with you
   
   Interpretation: Insertion, Engines on as in start the "magic,"
   
   
   Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five,
   Four, Three, Two, One, Liftoff
   
   Interpretation: Intercourse and going to the height of it. Lift off as in the climax.
   
   
   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
   
   Interpretation: Ground control is the man under the other man having sex with him. He is telling his partner how great it was. Time to leave the capsule which means to uninsert. Probably because his wife is coming home.
   
   "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
   
   The gay man's partner leaving the home. He is ecstatic about the sex. Everything looks better to him. Life is brighter
   
   For here
   Am I sitting in a tin can
   Far above the world
   Planet Earth is blue
   And there's nothing I can do
   
   Interpretation: How the world sees homosexuals. He can't change the hate.
   
   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"
   
   Interpretation: He got a wife to hide his gayness. But he couldn't hide it anymore. His spaceship as in his inner self knows what it wants to do. He's following his heart. His wife knew about his gaynesss.
   
   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....
   
   Interpretation: The man's partner no longer sees him due to possible reasons. He left him and never saw him again.
   
   "Here am I floating round my tin can
   Far above the Moon
   Planet Earth is blue
   And there's nothing I can do."
   
   Interpretation: See above.
   
   
   
   I think the
   
   "The papers want to know which shirt you wear. It's time to leave the capsule if you dare."
   
   Could also be about coming out of the closet, which is probably why the man left because he isn't ready to make that kind of exposure yet

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
   
   
   
   

4.  

   anonymous

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   Aug 6th 2011, 09:32 report

   
   

   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."
   
   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.

   
   
   
   

5.  

   anonymous

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   Jul 24th 2011, 20:57 report

   
   

   This couldn't be plainer. It's about an astronaut Major Tom. He gets launched into space revolves around the earth and his capsule loses its place in Earth's gravity. It shoots off into the vastness of space and they lose contact with him. Basically he dies. No drugs rtards

   
   
   
   

6.  

   anonymous

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   Apr 23rd 2011, 20:58 report

   
   

   I think that this song is about exactly what it means. Some guy named Major Tom goes into space and dies.

   
   
   
   

7.  

   anonymous

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   Mar 22nd 2011, 05:53 report

   
   

   I believe the song has nothing to do with either space or taking drugs, too many metaphorical meanings are in place. i believe the persona created in the song has had to conform to society doing everything told, then when he succeeds based on societies expectations the media has no care of his achievements other that the hope to get their branding on him. society mockingly comments on deviating saying leave the capsule 'if you dare'. this is met with a rebellious reply with a romanticized depiction of the freedom with which he has been granted upon making the choice to do so. unfortunately this choice leads to his demise as he is separated from earth and makes a request to his wife. in this he has realisations of his inability to evoke change saying the earth is blue and there is nothing i can do, or to change his destiny as his spaceship knows which way to go

   
   
   
   

8.  

   Spartan103

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   Feb 11th 2010, 01:00 report

   
   

   Major tom is a junkie and hit an all time high but is crash was so hard it caused him to die as he feels regret.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
   
   
   
   

9.  

   anonymous

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   Jun 7th 2009, 16:08 report

   
   

   It's written in response to a movie that came out called, "Space Oddessy" (I hope I spelled oddessy right) lol And it's about someone etting lost in space, drugs or not, the drugs later mmentioned, in Ashes to Ashes is actually mre of a reference to his own drug induced parinoia, hence his move to Berlin. . . to write, "heroes", lodger, and Low. The most influentioal albums of that time. You can thank a 10 page essay I had to do on him in English. . . it was crazy. I thought it was a good idea, my brain lied about 6 ways into the paper. . . I thought, geez there's too much to condense to 10 pages, but that's what every book and int. site gave me, so I give it to you all...

   
   
   
   

10.  

    Surfer_Coyote

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    Nov 18th 2008, 01:11 report

    
    

    Like so many Bowie songs, space travel and other planets are really parallels for fame, drugs, and sex.

    
    
    
    

11.  

    anonymous

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    Aug 19th 2008, 09:16 report

    
    

    LOLLERSKATES. I think some of you are cosmonauts! It's about heroin, friends. Hello? Bowie did a sequel...
    "Ashes to ashes, funk to funky
    WE KNOW MAJOR TOM'S A JUNKIE,
    Strung out in heavens high
    Hitting an all-time low..."
    
    The space program. OMG.

    
    
    
    

12.  

    Righteous

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    Aug 16th 2008, 04:32 report

    
    

    This song is a fictional about an astronaut(Major Tom) who is leaving into space. as he is in space he takes some drugs and does a space walk right abouve the earth and as he sees it, he is thinking so deeply he starts drifting away without even noticing. as he drifts away he finally realizes he is going to die and tells ground control to tell his wife that he loves her. groung control loses contact with him and he drifts away.
    
    in the song ashes to ashes though, ground control gets back in contact with major tom but they had given up looking for him. He tells them he has made many friends and that he is having fun(he is going insane), but ground control decide that he is a junkie and they leave him stranded to figure things out for himself.
    
    -ty

    
    
    
    

13.  

    anonymous

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    Aug 7th 2008, 07:21 report

    
    

    This song is all about the American governments oppression on the minority groups. Bowie is commenting on the injustice of this through, ground control being the voice of authority and Major Tom being the American government. The repetition of "ground control to Major Tom" is the call of authority and truth to the American government to do what is right.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
    
    
    
    

14.  

    anonymous

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    Jun 23rd 2008, 12:23 report

    
    

    Yes definitely about Heroin but also about his own journey of becoming famous I think. Much like the track "Lisa and Danny" by system of a down, I think it's just a lyrical painting showing his strange flight through fame, but all the while living in a world of drugs and half-consciousness.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
    
    
    
    

15.  

    anonymous

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    Feb 26th 2008, 23:47 report

    
    

    The song is about heroine, not about a guy who goes into space...

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
    
    
    
    

16.  

    anonymous

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    Dec 5th 2007, 15:30 report

    
    

    This song was written years before it was a hit. Everyone was writing songs about spacemen. Rocket Man etc.. A lot of people think this song is about drug use but I disagree.

    
    
    
    

17.  

    anonymous

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    Nov 14th 2007, 21:33 report

    
    

    This song from my view is about this. This song was recorded during the height of the space race. And supposedly it's about the death of a Russian cosmonaut (redundant?) possibly during a space walk, (more likely, if not solely relying on Mr. Bowie's speculation, during reentry) on the one manned Vostock space series. I'm might be incorrect about Vostock being the one manned series but who cares the other series were just modified first series. Very unsafe since they put three men into a space craft only meant for two people. And the only reason the craft is a a two man craft is because they modified the one man craft. But off topic.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
    
    
    
    

18.  

    anonymous

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    Nov 5th 2007, 01:48 report

    
    

    This is actually a song about someone getting high on drugs and then overdosing. At first he's feeling good, "floating." But then they loose him because he overdoses; which is why they are saying "Can you hear me Major Tom, Can you hear me Major Tom?" This could be his friends or paramedics.

    
    
    
    

19.  

    anonymous

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    Oct 18th 2007, 21:55 report

    
    

    This is a song about Major Tom. Who, in the future, goes on a rocket to space and, while on a space walk,is cut loose from the ship and floats away into space and dies.