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Bowie's first bona fide hit, "Space Oddity" was rush-released to coincide with the Apollo 11 moon landing. The lyrics, with their strong ties to 2001: A Space Odyssey, tell the sad and paranoid story of poor Major Tom, lost in the void of space. They've alternately been interpreted to be about drug abuse, and the psychedelic folk backdrop certainly supports the position that Tom's experiencing the bad trip to end all bad trips. But while the themes foreshadow the symbolic sci-fi narratives in Bowie's first true taste of super-stardom-- the Ziggy Stardust era-- the song stands on its own, showcasing Bowie's gifts for building atmosphere through arrangements and thematic elements. --Cory D. Byrom |
