As Rorschach would say, hurm. I’m not exactly sure of the purpose of the article written by Dan Cairn for the Times-Online, but nevertheless he has chosen David Bowie’s Space Oddity as the Song of the Year for 1969. Despite the fact that Cairn briefly gives play to the mistaken interpretation that Space Oddity is about space exploration, he shows great insight into what the structure of the lyrics and music foreshadow for the rest of Bowie’s career. In fact, I like this article so much that I’m going to add a link to it in the Trivia section for Space Oddity.
[edit]I did a quick search on the Times Online (now that I’m not updating via my iPhone) and found that Cairns’ Song of the Year: 1969 article is part of a regular feature. But I’m leaving my Rorschach reference at the beginning of this post because I’m a nerd.
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3 responses to “David Bowie Takes Song of the Year Title….For 1969”
I still can’t quite figure out why they’d want to use such a downbeat song to sell cars, either, although it cuts out before the really dystopian part. Still, wish I’d been there when the ad agency guy said “Hey! Anyone know a song about space?”
Yeah, I couldn’t make any sense of that advertising decision either. It seems that when Bowie and Iggy’s music come into play, ad agencies don’t care how inappropriate the lyrics are for what they’re selling – they are damn well determined to use the song they’ve chosen. The result is hilariously inappropriate ads for cruises and cars.
Arguably, “Lust For Life” makes rhythmic sense in the context of the cruise ship commercial, where you’re flogging fun and energy (before the lyrics kick in), but “Space Oddity” isn’t gonna make me buy a Lincoln. Perhaps nothing can.