Major tom is the astronaut. Ground control is space org headquarters in communication with major tom. Most of the song is written like its radio communication between astronaut and ground control. With that in mind it might be easier to grasp what's happening.

David Bowie was one of the greatest musical savants and a chameleon. Myself, I love his stuff from this early era. I love his Ziggy Stardust era output with the incredible Mick Ronson on lead guitar. That was glam rock at its best, with a touch of psychedelia, punk, Prog and hard rock sprinkled in. Try Moon Age Daydream, Ziggy Stardust, Suffragate City and Width of a Circle. This band was at its best live in 1973, that show will send you to outer space! 🎵

David Bowie was a genius. He constantly changed his sound, reinventing himself many times. That's why he remained relevant to music for so many decades. He was a true artist and yet accessible as well. In interviews he usually seemed to be having great fun, a down to earth likeable guy. When it came to his music though he seemed driven to create something timeless and memorable and he often succeeded.

This is one of the TRUE classics!!! His last name is pronounced "Bow E"!

A Canadian Astronaut called Chris Hadfield did a cover while on a space station, far out , David live with his red hair Very alien 👽

R.I.P to the legend david bowie🙏 dope song dope reaction

David Bowie (BOW-ee) is telling a story in this song. He plays the part of both ground control ("This is ground control to Major Tom" and Major Tom ("This is Major Tom to ground control"). They are communicating with each other.

Fun fact: Bowie actually produced a trilogy of sorts for Major Tom. This was the first, followed by Ashes to Ashes, and concluded with Hallo Spaceboy

Fame, Young Americans, Rebel Rebel, Changes are all great. Actually any song from Bowie is awesome. Yes I was lucky enough to see him live in concert!

He is Major Tom. He is in space and he is talking to ground control and they to him.

I like that, after they say "ground control to Major Tom, your circuit's dead, there's something wrong. Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you hear me Major Tom.........?" he doesn't reply to them, instead going inward with his thoughts about "here am I sitting in a tin can............." and pondering his fate. It leaves you thinking. 🙄

Great to see you both doing much better health wise. Believe it or not, David Bowie was watching the 1968 movie 2001: A Space Oddysey high as a kite when ideas came to him about this song 😂. Major Tom is a fictional character. BJ I think you hit the nail on the head saying Major Tom is your own alter-ego, and the space oddity is your own mind where you are present, but not present. And yes Asia, your conscience and sub-conscience. Great opinions, thoughts and reaction ❤️

I'm not sure about this song but many times everything you hear was done by Bowie. All the instruments, all the multi-voice chorus. He was sooo talented. As always y'all review / react great.

Bowie returned to the Major Tom character years later, in an excellent song called "Ashes to ashes". It's well worth checking out.

Bowie was his own genre, a brilliant artist one of a kind

This song is like a whole movie in 3 minutes....it's beautiful man!

I still get a tear in my eyes because of his passing. He was like no other, ALWAYS ahead of the curve. Bowie was a trendsetter, changing with the times and he always came out on TOP. Rest In Peace David, we all miss you.

"Psychedelic Nostalgia" seems actually a good way to describe it.

bowie was one of those rare and special artists years and years ahead of there time he could change his persona and style and reinvent himself many times over throughout his career , even lying and singing in his own coffin just before his death in his final album Black Star, he was iconic the world over

This song is 53 years old. Stunning.

Every album Bowie made was a different trip that he took you on. It always took a little time to catch up with him. Bowie made albums for down the road a bit, he seemed to have understood what you would need later on. For me it started with a song called Oh You Pretty Things and down the rabbit hole I went. Hunky Dory became the beginning of a lifetime of Bowie music.

David Bowie was one of the first androgynous performer. People speculated this was about drugs, and the connection to them. Listen to something from Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Kind of shocking at the time but pretty tame now.

Bowie was a brilliant artist, especially with the art of reinventing himself over and over

David Bowie was an English singer-songwriter & actor. He constantly reinvented himself to stay current over nearly 5 decades. His first big hit was "Space Oddity" in 1969. He has had a lot of great songs including "Starman", "Ziggy Stardust", "Rebel Rebel", "Young Americans", "Changes", "Fame", "Golden Years", "Ashes To Ashes", "Under Pressure", Let's Dance", "Modern Love", "China Girl", "Heroes" etc.

This came out in 69' during the space race before the moon landing. It was stunning then and it's still epic. It has been performed on the international space station by astronaut Chris Hadfield. Played this during a symphony rock show with a cover band and it is a great chart.

"Tell my wife I love her very much, she knows" major Tom knows something is wrong and the ship is starting to careen out of its' path. He knows there is nothing he can do to get back to earth, the very last part the music is going out of control and he is lost, conveying the emotions of early space flights where many things can and did go very wrong.

Commander Hadfield of International Space Station sang this space with a guitar which he took up with him.

Davis Bowie was a legend. Always love his music!!!! 😉❤✌🏼

Timeless....the lyrics are layered with messages

Don't over think it. He's like the narrator, taking both parts of Major Tom and Ground Control. This was his first major hit in 1969, the same year man landed on the moon. Major Tom appears again in two other songs by Bowie, but many years apart ("Ashes to Ashes" and his last album "Blackstar").

We finally got to see him in '74 on his Diamond Dogs tour. He wrote a lot of truly great songs and he was a pretty good actor too. He starred in The Elephant Man on Broadway and was hilarious on Extras with Ricky Gervias. Gone way too soon.

He’s talking back and forth to ground control❤️

So sad, so beautiful. Part 2 of this is Ashes To Ashes.

I love storytelling songs and for me, this one stands as one of the very best. We get the full journey experience in just a few concise minutes. Every line carries so much weight. To deliver the lyrics a in a way that reflects Ground control communicating with the astronaut, and Major Toim reporting back...the "countdown" in the opening lines, Ground Control already reporting of this man's heroics - the papers want to know who's shirt you wear". The line "i am floating in a most peculiar way" - totally sums up the experience of being in space, this mass expanse you cannot even fully grasp". "Tell my wide I love her very much....she knows" - that one just gets me in the feels. And then, tragedy. "your circuit's dead, there's something wrong, can you hear me Major Tom? x3" all with the backdrop of amazing instrumentation that makes you feel this journey into space. And to think that this was released just days before the 1969 moon landing. Just everything put into context - this song is absolute genius. Everything works and it never gets old. "Planet earth is blue and there's nothing I can do."

Great reaction, there is a cover sung by an astronaut in the ISS International Space Station. The visuals are breath taking.

Glad you guys are doing well glad to have you back really missed you channel love you guys again so glad to see you well.

No one writes songs like these anymore. Stories. Different ones. Different perspectives.

Major Tom is a persona of David Bowie's, mentioned in songs "Space Oddity", "Ashes to Ashes", "Hallo Spaceboy", “Major Tom”, and "Blackstar" In Blackstar I am certain he is not mentioned but is a Major {haha} part of the official video which is a absolute must see -- Only after you have a lot more Bowie under your belts tho --- The digital pinging noise in this is also at the end of Blackstar --- There are a lot of hidden treasures and easter eggs in the official video to Blackstar and the physical album -- there are videos of people who have discovered some of them -- also there is messages if you play Blackstar backwards -- The funniest thing is it still sounds like a Bowie song --- RIP David and thank you

He's singing both parts - the astronaut, Major Tom and the guy at Ground Control

David Bowie is quite excellent in THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH, a long film that begs for patience but it's memorable 'study' of What If's...

This is a classic song narrative about a tragedy of a celebrated hero. Who is loss in space. Tell my wife l love her very much. 'She knows ' 😢

David Bowie is a treasure, there will be no one like him again.... a true creative superstar !!!!!

Just thought of an old classic you should do. Dream Weaver by Gary Wright. Excellent song! It was a huge hit at the time.

One "clue" is that Major Tom essentially says goodbye BEFORE ground control loses contact with him.

Seeing you so introspective while reacting is great - this was Bowie's intention This song was written and released just after 2001: A Space Odyssey - some of the lyrics are based on scenes from the movie "the stars look different today" etc Not long after, Apollo 11 launched - the excitement about the intended landing was also a motivator for the song

Space Oddity is a play on the 1968 Movie Title "2001 A Space Odyssey".The entire world was enthralled by the movie and the Moon Landing and Bowie took full advantage of the mania and scored his first big hit, (of the many to come...) He sings the role of Major Tom the Astronaut and he also plays the Technician from Ground Control. Two different people. Straight forward, no hidden anything. Major Tom is a bit overwhelmed by the experience. Ground Control is dealing with the technical problems and they no longer have control or communication. The music emulates the take off, the mystical feeling of space travel/flight, the loss of control and away he goes into oblivion. Straight storytelling.

His last name is Bow-E … Bow as in bow and arrow. It seems like every album, every decade it’s a different Bowie; he was the master of reinvention of himself and his music, so it’s even hard to compare himself with himself. He came out during the early 70s when hard rock like Led Zeppelin was king, so this album was very different then what was going on at the time. For us rockers, as we got old we became more appreciative of his music.

This album is one of the best. I would strongly recommend trying anything from it but I personally think Cygnet Committee, Janine, and Memory of a Free Festival are maybe my favorites. Really there is nothing bad on this album and it has a different vibe than almost anything Bowie, or nearly anyone else has done. A diamond.

You are right . . While being a song about outer space . . It's a song about inner space . . The artist is the Astronaut and psychic explorer probing and lost and a casualty in being a psychic explorer

Onevoice was the ground control the other was major tom. They were having a conversation back and forth

This song is about the Apollo 13 space mission in 1969. They ran into technical difficulties and temporarily lost radio communications with ground control. They were unable to land on the moon and it was feared they would perish. The brightest minds at the time came up with a plan to orbit the space craft at just the right distance from the moon so as to allow the moons gravitational pull to speed them up and pull them in orbit around the moon and then when they were point back toward earth to break free of the moons gravity and be shot back toward earth. All of these things are covered in the song. Space travel was new and dangerous back then so the crew enjoyed celebrity status and thats what the lines about "what shirts you wear" comes from... "your circuits dead" referring to when they lost radio communications, "My space ship knows which way to go" references being slingshot around the moon, "tell my wife I love her very much" is about them thinking there is a good possibility they are not going to survive.

Bowie did consume a lot of substances back in the day. But the album this song is from (also called Space Oddity) was released 1969, same year as Apollo 11 mission/first man on the moon.

This is a radio conversation between the astronaut Major Tom in his space ship (tin can), and ground control. How was that too difficult to understand? LOL

Please check out the most touching song he ever made imo - Heroes! And if you want to taste how diverse check out his collaboration with Trent from NIN on "I'm afraid of Americans"

RIP beautiful, beautiful, David..

At that time many people were asking about what would happen if one of the "Moon Shots" missed and carried on outwards. NASA had no answer to that particular question apart from "Phuq all". Bowie soon came out with this track. Since then there have been many who have tagged on much more meaning to it and Bowie with his sense of humour played up to that.

you need to listen to Heroes or Putting out the Fire with Gasoline. This man changed over time from the early days of Ziggy Stardust to later days of Young Americans. so much creativity and he never stayed the same.

It’s Bow E not Boowie. This is one of his classics. Ashes to ashes is another great song to react to.

Y'all can't miss with my guy from way back to forever. Rip Mr. Bowie. Asia they used to do space walks outside the space capsule (tin can) back in the day.

He is Major Tom talking to Ground Control. PLEASE can you guys react to Bowie Heroes live 2002 or Where are we now which is so beautiful and especially after his death. Love the channel and reactions of you both. Thanks!

David Bowie is a great singer, and happens to be married to one of the most beautiful women in the world. I say happens because she said she'd never re-marry.

Not a lyric song, you can’t experience the magnificence reading the words. So glad you’re listening to Bowie though! He’s a genius - Heroes, Changes, Suffragette City, Rebel Rebel, Fashion. He’s brilliant. ❤️❤️❤️😁

Dr. Andy Thomas was crew of a space shuttle. We asked him what is was like flying a spaceship. He said it's like driving a taxicab!

Really enjoyed this one! And I'd just recommend that you really try to cast your minds back to when this song came out, 50 yrs ago. This was the time of the first moon landings, quantum mechanics and new cosmic theories so this song really spoke to current ideas. In other words, it of course didn't sound "old" or even particularly psychedelic in the 70s. And Bowie was pretty much always right on the edge of experimental music and pop. I think you'd enjoy "Golden Years" or "Suffragette City". Thanks for upload! (note Bowie pretty much said this song is about drugs but I think its way more than that.)

Very unique song.

He had a huge career! Never the same type of song with. Every new hit. RIP

Bowie was just class. Visionary

Welcome to the rabbit hole of David Bowie 👏🏻👏🏻 At first he is the one calling ground control and they’re telling him it’s time to step outside the door. Later in the song it’s ground control trying to reach him but they can’t… He’s Major Tom. Small correction but his last name is pronounced as “Bo E”.

David Blake wrote this song in 1969 after he was inspired by Stanley Kubrick's groundbreaking movie "2001 - A Space Odyssey" hence the play on words "Space Oddity." Anyone who lived at this time knows that the "space race" was a major cultural event to see which country was going to be the first to land on the moon & our space advancements were constantly on TV. Bowie said in interviews that he was "stoned out of his gourd" when he saw the movie & was trying to capture his feelings of alienation. Major Tom was left floating in space & the question has always been was this an accident or intentional. Bowie has always left ambiguity in his lyrics because he wants people to interpret them as they will, as any true artist does. He revisits Major Tom in 1980's song "Ashes to Ashes" as being a junkie, which is after Bowie's own struggle with cocaine addiction (NOT heroin), and again in subsequent years with "Hallo Spaceboy" and again in his swansong video for "Blackstar." I also heard him say in a later interview that space was an outer manifestation of an internal space. Many people interpret that as drug related, and that analogy fits as well as other interpretations. My own personal opinion is that it is more of an existential crisis of sorts - but then again this is why the song has a broader appeal that spans over generations. I still mourn his passing. RIP David Robert Jones, you are sorely missed!

That it's with David Bowie.. a visionary and never afraid in trying to reinvent himself. So creative, classy and intuitive. Bowie could see and feel things that we could not feel or see. He was never afraid to fail and try new ideas until he felt creatively happy. Never will be another Bowie. He even forwarded the cuildren's classic story The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

I’ve listened to this since it came out in 1969 and always interpreted literally as Ground Control communicating with Major Tom in space. But Asia’s interpretation was that this was all going on in Major Tom’s head, like someone feeling conflicted and going through turmoil. That interpretation really works too and I wouldn’t be surprised if that wasn’t Bowie’s intent.

He wrote that the same year as the Moon Landing. Space was the vibe

Great song from back in the day. Glad to see y'all back on this channel.

I like how there's 2 vocal takes, one in each ear. It really make you feel like Major Tom in the story.

This my favorite David Bowie song

It’s been said that the during the early missions to the moon, when astronauts left the space capsule and took a walk, they had an amazing sense of freedom. They didn’t want to go back inside.

Glad you’re feeling better!🤗👍

I wore out the album at a library in the 70's listening to this song over and over )

David Bowie one of the biggest iconic artist of our time. He was famous for changing his music styles over and over again throughout his career and was extremely good at it. Check out his album Ziggy Stardust....still one of my favorites of his.

It’s also metaphor for becoming famous… the stars look very different today…. The isolation of the “higher elevation” in the society.

CHECK OUT PART 2 TO THIS INCREDIBLY GREAT SONG OF OVER 50 YEARS AGO NOW YOU GUYS! :) ( ASHES TO ASHES ) AND A BIGGGGGG R.I.P. TO DAVID :( SO SAD :( BUT HIS MUSIC LIVES ON :)

David Bowie, the original Starman. Rest in peace at home among the stars.

Glam Rock at it's best! You should do Life On Mars it's a great song.

There was a NASA Astronaut that played this aboard the International Space Station. And it was spectacular!!!!!!

I like "Lets Dance" which Diddy sampled in "Been Around The World" feat Mase and Biggie & "Little China Girl" by Bowie first time seeing him as a kid were in the movie Labyrinth lol

I love how Bowies British accent comes thru in this his first hit song.

I saw him sing this song in concert in Detroit. An egg dropped from the ceiling and split open to reveal David Bowie leaning back on his elbow in an all white suit. The interior of the egg was bathed in the black light so he was glowing in the dark. Very inventive for the time. His voice what surreal.

"Cost of Living" Ronnie Dunn of Brookes and Dunn great song that relates to what people are going through now in their lives

This came out as man landed on the moon, perfect timing, perfect song for the time

There are 5 other songs that referred to major tom including 1 from the 80s From another group and 90s from another group

My favorite song of all time

Love your reading of him talking to himself. Bowie often has many different ideas in a song.

What is Major Tom slang for? Major Tom is described as a "junkie, strung out in heavens high, hitting an all-time low". This lyric was interpreted as a play on the title of Bowie's album Low (1977), which charted his withdrawal following his drug abuse in the United States.

You'll probably like Starman better. Its one of my favorite Bowie songs.

Fun reaction. I love how Shaun pronounces the surname, the down south way! Fun fact: that droney little synth sound you can hear in various sections of the song is a Stylophone, a cheap, tiny electric keyboard, only about the size of a hardback book, and played with a stylus, that was quite popular in the late 60s and up to maybe the mid 70s. I'm not aware of any other record which includes a credit for someone (in this case Bowie, who also plays the 12 string acoustic guitar) playing a stylophone. The orchestral string sounds are courtesy of the Mellotron, a rather wonderful early synthesizer.

The Jean Genie is a must for listening.

Love your reactions. BTW, it's BOW-ie....sounds like first part of "bow & arrow."

Major Tom is a Heroin addict. There are 3 more songs about him that Bowie recorded over his career.

You Two Are Funny .Enjoy David Bowie

He's not talking to himself, he's just relaying all his thoughts and actions back to ground control, which is what they did in the early days of the space program.