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Nick Fuerst
Miss Christine Olding
College Writing II
15 March 2016
Space Oddity David Bowie
The song Space Oddity by David Bowie was one of the first song that became
popular in America and took Bowie to the top charts, however this is also one of Bowies
most misinterpreted songs. Many believe that this song was about the exploration of
drugs, getting high, or even about space travel. However to assume these things would be
missing the bigger picture that Bowie is trying to express which is this idea of selfexploration.
David Bowie was one of the most influential Glam artists of all time; his ability to
change character and his sound on stage gave him the nickname chameleon. However the
English rock star did not become famous in America until his song Space Oddity that was
released in 1972 and made it to the top 15 on the charts. For this reason I decided to use
this song for my lyrical analysis.
Reading the lyrics of this song for the very first time my initial impression was
that this song was about the exploration of drugs. I thought that Bowie was singing about
being so high that he felt he was in outer space however after listening to the song my
whole perception of the lyrics had changed. This song may have its references to drugs
but that was not the point that I feel Bowie was trying to make. The first lyric that really
made me think differently about the meaning was the line And the papers want to know
whose shirts you wear (Bowie). This line made me think that maybe Bowie was

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focusing more on the exploration of himself not his experiences with drugs. As I
continued to read the lyrics I came to the conclusion that David Bowie was separating
himself from the world and talking about it from his point of view. His comment about
whose shirt he is wearing is Bowie explaining how the world is so obsessed with such a
small detail like what brand he wears rather then the actual problems that are going on in
the world. I pieced this together after reading the lyrics Planet earth is blue and theres
nothing I can do (Bowie). Bowie is not only talking about the fact that the Earth has
more water then land but the fact that it is sad and that he feels as if he can not do
anything about it. He keeps referring to his tin can (Bowie) in which he feels trapped
and in which he is viewing the world. This tin can is Bowies mind as he continues to
explore himself and what he sees around him. This line is the perfect example of why I
feel that Bowie is demonstrating this theme of self-exploration, Bowie is sharing what he
is thinking about in his own mind as he grows older and sees more of this planet. Saying
that the stars look very different today (Bowie) shows that as he continues to explore
his mind and his thoughts and 5that his perceptions on things change overtime. These
themes of self-exploration and exploration of drugs are also seen when listening to the
instrumentation and melody throughout the song.
The song starts of very slow and peaceful with a slow strumming of an acoustic
guitar. Bowie starts off singing very softly and quietly for the first few verses. As the
countdown for blastoff gets closer the tension in the music builds and as the spaceship
sets off into outer space all instruments stop and a sort of eerie psychedelic music plays
that references him using drugs and ascending into his high. Listening to just this first
part of the song it is easy to see the reference to exploration of drugs but to assume that

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the whole song is about drugs would be missing the bigger picture that Bowie is trying to
explain. When the song continues and the instruments begin to play again they sound
more intense then before, the guitar strums louder and Bowie begins to sing with more
enthusiasm. This change in sound is done on purpose to emphasis the different mindset
that Bowie is in during this high and to emphasize more of what he is saying during this
part of the song. The music has a very relaxing and southing sound to it, the pace is
slower but does not feel monotone or boring. As Bowie starts to sing about being in his
tin can the strumming of the guitar stops and you can hear nothing but the drums and a
peaceful background sound begins to play. As Bowie finishes the last of the verse the
music changes once again. The strumming of the guitar begins to pick up and then all of a
sudden a synthetic jazz like music begins to play. This plays as the astronaut, Major Tom,
starts to loose contact with ground control. Even though the music changes it still remains
consistently peaceful. As Bowie sings the next part of the song the music goes back to the
guitar and drums for the next few verses only to change once again at the very end of the
song. The music slows as Bowie finishes up his last few words and the jazz music starts
to play again only to slowly turn into a sound that I can only describe as a futuristic outer
space melody. This song has a lot of strange sounds that are hard to describe but when
played together throughout the song the overall feeling and tone of the music stays the
same. These weird little changes in music separates the song into three main parts, before
liftoff, while in outer space, and then finally drifting away from the Earth into space.
Categorizing the song into different parts almost forced me to look at each part
differently in order to better interpret the meaning. It also helped me to put the whole

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song together in all of its different parts and helped me see the bigger picture of the
message that Bowie was trying to convey, his inner thoughts of self-exploration.
When watching David Bowie singing this song I was slightly surprised by how he
acted while singing and the facial expressions that he made or lack there of. While
singing this song David Bowie looked as if he was acting more serious then some of his
other performances. This could be due to the fact that this song was very early in his
singing career but I was very surprised at the almost normalness that he sang this song to.
The only action he performed besides playing the guitar was pointing and looking to the
sky during the liftoff part of the song. However although Bowie was not all over the place
like he normally is the simple image of Bowie playing his guitar gives you a more
personal vibe when listening to it. It was easy to understand that Bowie was trying to tell
the audience to listen to what he is saying and not to be watching what he was doing.
When thinking about the concept of self-exploration in the Glam movement it makes
sense that Bowie would want to emphasis the words more then the performance. A lot of
people who hear this song for the first time assume it is about drugs but when you watch
Bowie sing it you start to see that maybe he is trying to express something else.
Listening to this song just once would make it very hard to understand the
meaning and themes that Bowie is trying to portray. In order to fully understand what
Bowie is saying it look me time to pick apart the song and listen to it dozens of times,
However the more I listened to the song and read the lyrics the clearer the meaning
became. Although Bowie may hint toward drug use in the beginning of this song that it
only a small factor of the glam themes that Bowie is trying to explain. This idea of selfexploration becomes clear as Bowie takes us through this space travel. Bowie shares his

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own thoughts and his own interpretation of this world through his own mind, his tin can.
When looking at the song from this angle it is easy to see the overlapping themes of glam
and the deeper meaning that Bowie is trying to tell his audience.

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Works Cited

Bowie, David. Space Oddity. Space Oddity, 1969.