Major Tom - Songs

Songs

In "Space Oddity", from the 1969 album David Bowie (later retitled Space Oddity), Major Tom's departure from Earth is successful and everything goes according to plan, but he then cuts off contact with Ground Control. His last transmission is "Tell my wife I love her very much", with the frantic response from ground control: "She knows!"

In 1980, Bowie created a sequel entitled "Ashes to Ashes". The song was a Number 1 hit single and also appeared on his Number 1 LP Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). The song doesn't actually say much about Major Tom, except to call him a "junkie" (slang for a person with a heroin addiction or other compulsive habit). The context of the lyrics seems to indicate that the song is mainly about Bowie's own soul searching, rather than a literal continuation of the Major Tom story.

In Peter Schilling's 1983 song "Major Tom (Coming Home)" Tom sends a final message, "Give my wife my love..." with no transmissions back to Earth from that point. He then declares that he's "coming home", being commanded by the light, which can be taken to refer to the afterlife. The associated music video also shows an object falling back through the atmosphere, presumably either Major Tom or his ship. In this song the word "light" in "now the Light commands" is often heard or transcribed as "life" but the liner notes of the Error In The System LP (and the original German) confirm the word "light." The German-language version "Völlig losgelöst" is contained in Schilling's 1983 German LP Fehler im System. Both albums also contain a different song without lyrics entitled "Major Tom, Part II". In 1994, Schilling teamed with Bomm-Bastic to record a sped-up Techno-Trance Mix of "Major Tom (Coming Home)" that was released in English and German versions under the EP title of Major Tom '94.

Also in 1983, Schilling's song was recorded in French by Plastic Bertrand, but with slightly altered lyrics, in which Major Tom prefers to stay away from Earth and its selfishness and danger of nuclear war.

Additionally from 1983, the song "Why Me?" by the Planet P Project, also about an astronaut, may be indirectly referencing Major Tom with the line, "The last man to leave here was never heard from again. He won't be back this way till 2010," though this more likely references the character David Bowman (coincidentally similar to Bowie's name) in 2001: A Space Odyssey, who next reappears in 2010 (2010: Odyssey Two).

The title track of Matthew Wilder's 1984 LP Bouncin' Off the Walls tells a similar story of an unnamed character having a personal crisis while piloting a spacecraft: "Tell my family I love them.... I can't handle this at all.... May Day, I'm fallin'." The connection to Major Tom is otherwise not stated.

In 1995, Bowie released a song entitled "Hallo Spaceboy" on his LP Outside. While this song itself does not directly reference Major Tom, references to Major Tom do appear in the remixed version that Bowie released with the Pet Shop Boys in 1996. The 1996 remix contains lyrics from "Space Oddity" that are sung by Pet Shop Boys vocalist Neil Tennant.

At the Drive-In's 2000 song "Cosmonaut" was sometimes introduced at live shows by a recorded "final message" from Major Tom before he dies in space. The message does not appear in the recorded version of "Cosmonaut", which itself has no apparent connection to Major Tom.

In 2002, K.I.A. created a song entitled "Mrs. Major Tom" on his Adieu Shinjuku Zulu album, where the song is sung by Larissa Gomes. Here the story is told from the perspective of Major Tom's wife left at home. The song was also sung (solo) by Sheryl Crow in a new arrangement on William Shatner's 2011 album Seeking Major Tom.

In 2004, The Tea Party created a song entitled "Empty Glass" on its Seven Circles album. The song is written from the perspective of an unnamed person who is questioning Major Tom intensely about the purpose of life. The song also references ground control and the Bowie phrases "star man" and "diamond dogs".

The New Zealand comedic folk duo Flight of the Conchords allude to the character in their 2008 tribute song "Bowie" where they place Bowie himself in space, and give him the rank of Lieutenant.

In 2011, Jimmie Fallon appeared on the "Piers Morgan Tonight" television program, playing a guitar and singing a broad parody of "Space Oddity" along the lines of: "This is Tim Tebow to Jesus Christ", using a Bowie-esque vocal style.

Major Tom also has had and continues to have passing references in other popular songs, such as: Five Star's 1986 song "Rain or Shine", Def Leppard's 1987 song "Rocket", Marilyn Manson's 1997 song "Apple of Sodom", Lorraine Bowen's 2002 song "Space", The Mars Volta's 2005 song "Cicatriz: Part III", Cold's 2005 song "Happens All The Time", Alphabeat's 2007 song "Fantastic 6", and The Cab's 2011 song "Angel With A Shotgun".