Life on Mars (song)


"Life on Mars?" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was first released on his 1971 album Hunky Dory and later released in 1973 as a single. The song has cryptic lyrics by Bowie and prominent piano by Rick Wakeman. As a single, "Life on Mars?" reached number three in the UK Singles Chart and stayed on the chart for thirteen weeks. A music video was filmed by Mick Rock to promote the single release.
In 2015 Neil McCormick, chief rock music critic of The Daily Telegraph, ranked the song as number one in his "100 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. In 2016, Pitchfork named it the best song of the 1970s.
A 2016 mix of "Life on Mars?" appeared on the compilation album Legacy and was released as a single. The mix, by its original producer Ken Scott, is 'stripped down' and has only strings, piano and Bowie's vocals. A special music video to promote the compilation was also released, the original director Mick Rock re-cutting his 1973 video, using out-takes and other documentary sources to create a new version.

Origins

In 1968, Bowie wrote the lyrics "Even a Fool Learns to Love", set to the music of a 1967 French song "Comme d'habitude", composed by Claude François and Jacques Revaux. Bowie's version was never released, but Paul Anka bought the rights to the original French version and rewrote it into "My Way", the song made famous by Frank Sinatra in a 1969 recording on his album of the same name. The success of the Anka version prompted Bowie to write "Life on Mars?" as a parody of Sinatra's recording.
Bowie noted that Rick Wakeman "embellished the piano part" of his original melody and guitarist Mick Ronson "created one of his first and best string parts" for the song. The liner notes for Hunky Dory indicate that the song was "inspired by Frankie".
One reviewer suggested the song was written after "a brief and painful affair" with actress Hermione Farthingale. While on tour in 1990, Bowie introduced the song by saying "You fall in love, you write a love song. This is a love song."

Lyrics

has described "Life on Mars?" as having "one of the strangest lyrics ever" consisting of a "slew of surreal images" like a Salvador Dalí painting. The line "Look at those cavemen go" is a reference to the song "Alley Oop", a one-off hit in 1960 for American doo-wop band The Hollywood Argyles.
Bowie, at the time of Hunky Dory's release in 1971, summed up the song as "A sensitive young girl's reaction to the media." In 1997, he added: "I think she finds herself disappointed with reality... that although she's living in the doldrums of reality, she's being told that there's a far greater life somewhere, and she's bitterly disappointed that she doesn't have access to it."

Music video

filmed and directed a promotional video backstage at Earl's Court, on 12 May 1973, to accompany the release of the song as a single. It features a heavily made-up Bowie performing the song solo against a white backdrop, in a turquoise "ice-blue" suit designed by Freddi Buretti, and it became the singer's fourth music video. In 2016, it was remastered and retouched by Rock.

Reception

When released as a single in 1973, it reached no. 3 in the UK and stayed on the chart for thirteen weeks. The song re-entered the UK charts at no. 55 over 30 years later, largely because of its use in the original British television series Life on Mars. It also belatedly became a top 10 hit in France in 2013. In June 2015, Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph ranked "Life on Mars?" as no. 1 in his "100 Greatest Songs of All Time" list, describing it thus:
According to Acclaimed Music, it is the 85th most celebrated song in popular music history.
In a 2012 poll, "Life on Mars?" was voted Bowie's best song. Digital Spy, who conducted the poll, stated it has "perhaps become David's signature song – filled with surreal cut-up lyrics inspired by William Burroughs, it married vivid imagery with a tender, heartbreaking melody".

Track listing

All songs written by David Bowie.
  1. "Life on Mars?" – 3:48
  2. "The Man Who Sold the World" – 3:55
The Portuguese release of the single had "Black Country Rock" as the B-side.

Personnel

Musicians
Producers
"Life on Mars?" has been released on a variety of Bowie compilation albums:
The song has appeared in several television series. The BBC television drama Life on Mars used both the name and the song itself as its basis. The song was used extensively throughout the programme and its spin-off, Ashes to Ashes. The song was used also in the American and South Korean version of Life on Mars. In the episode "The Waters of Mars", of the British television show Doctor Who, takes place in the first human base on Mars, named "Bowie Base One".
Jessica Lange sang a rendition with a deep German accent on the fourth-season premiere of the FX television program . Playing a character whose surname is Mars, Lange wears an ice-blue trouser suit and heavy matching eye shadow in her performance, echoing the Bowie video. Both the song and the performance are anachronistic, given that the season takes place in 1952, nearly 20 years before Bowie released the song. She performs the song again in the episode "Pink Cupcakes", and an instrumental version is played at the end of the season finale, "Curtain Call", where Mars is getting ready to sing.
In the 2019 Watchmen television episode "An Almost Religious Awe", a piano cover of "Life on Mars" is used after the reveal that Doctor Manhattan is not really on Mars as had been reported.
The song has also appeared in several film soundtracks. The original soundtrack of Lars von Trier's 1996 movie Breaking the Waves features "Life on Mars?" during the epilogue, although the song was replaced by Elton John's "Your Song" on the international DVD release for copyright reasons. "Life on Mars?" is included on the soundtrack to the 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, starring Bill Murray as Steve Zissou. The song is played as Murray walks stoned to the bow of his boat in solitude as a party continues below deck. "Life on Mars?" is included in the 2005 film Loverboy, first being played on the radio during a conversation between the 10-year-old Emily and Mrs. Harker, and later being sung a cappella by 10-year-old Emily. "Life on Mars?" is included on the soundtrack to the 2006 film Factory Girl. "Life on Mars?" is used in the 2012 British film Hunky Dory, sung by the character Davey.
In 2018 the song was played by the radio of Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster during its launch aboard the Falcon Heavy's maiden flight.

Covers

Certification