David Bowie, one of the most influential and forward-thinkingsongwriters of his time,died Sunday, Jan.10 after an 18-month battle with cancer.Back in 2013,astronautChris Hadfield performed a coverof one of Bowie's most famous songs, "Space Oddity," from aboard the International Space Station. The ISS was a fitting venue for aperformance of the space-themed song, but there's a lotmore behind"Space Oddity" than most people know."Space Oddity" came outin 1969, the same year American astronauts landed on the moon, prompting many to think the lunar landing inspired the song.However, Bowie revealed in a 2003 interview with the magazinePerforming Songwriterthat it was actuallyinspired by the 1968 science-fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey":In England, it was always presumed that it was written about the space landing, because it kind of came to prominence around the same time. But it actually wasn't. It was written because of going to see the film 2001, which I found amazing. I was out of my gourd anyway, I was very stoned when I went to see it, several times, and it was really a revelation to me. It got the song flowing.It's easy to see the similarities if you watch theofficial music videoand compare it to thefilm. The music videousessimilar lighting and has a similar vibe to "2001: A Space Odyssey."But somehave gone on to analyze the song further. The lyricsdescribe the fictional Major Tom who blasts off into space, but then loses connection with ground control, and gets lost. Bowie was a knowndrug user at the time, so many have speculated thatthe song could bemetaphor for a drug overdose. Considering Bowieacknowledged that he saw "2001: A Space Odyssey"when he was stoned, it's not really a stretch to think the song mightalso be related to drug use.And it's fair to say themusic video(and "2001: A Space Odyssey" for that matter)has a pretty trippy vibe.What's a more, a later Bowie song called "Ashes To Ashes" seems to confirmthe idea. In thatsong, Major Tom reestablishes communication with ground control, but they labelhim a junkie."Ashes to ashes / funk to funky /We know Major Tom's a junkie /Strung out in heaven's high /Hitting an all-time low," thechorus goes.Still, the accidental association with the moon landing may have been solidified when, according to Bowie, "Space Oddity"was used as background music for the historic event on British television. As he told Performing Songwriter in 2003:I'm sure they really weren't listening to the lyric at all(laughs).It wasn't a pleasant thing to juxtapose against a moon landing. Of course, I was overjoyed that they did.You can watch the "Space Oddity" music video below:And a trailer for "2001: A Space Odyssey":Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: NASA scientists are baffled by a mysterious pyramid structure they found in space
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