Major Tom
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Major Tom is a fictional astronaut created by David Bowie. He appears in the songs "Space Oddity" and "Ashes to Ashes" by Bowie, the song "Major Tom" by Peter Schilling, a French cover of "Major Tom" by Belgian artist Plastic Bertrand, and the song "Mrs. Major Tom" by K.I.A.. Due to some similarities in Elton John's "Rocket Man", some presume this song might also be an allusion to Major Tom. In fact, Bowie made the connection during concerts, calling out during the song, "Oh, Rocket Man!"[1] Bowie's lyrics in Ashes to Ashes reinterpreted Major Tom as an oblique autobiographical symbol for himself, who was addicted to cocaine throughout the 1970s.
[edit] Songs
[edit] Space Oddity by David Bowie
In "Space Oddity" on the 1969 album of the same name, Major Tom's departure from Earth is successful and everything goes according to plan. Major Tom leaves his space craft and sees Earth:
| “ |
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Ground Control loses contact with Major Tom because of a electronic malfunction:
| “ |
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[edit] Major Tom (Coming Home) by Peter Schilling
Originally recorded in German, an international version of Major Tom (Völlig losgelöst) was recorded in English.
In "Major Tom (Coming Home)", he appears to lose control of his craft and die. Yet, his spirit lives on and welcomes his new condition:
| “ |
far beneath the ship Earth below us |
” |
The word "light" in "now the Light commands" is often heard or transcribed as "life", which would impart a somewhat different meaning on the lyrics – as though Major Tom were still literally alive but severing his connection with Earth. The liner notes of the Error In The System LP (and the original German), though, confirm the word "light".
The German version differs from the English rendition in that it is implied that rather than being caught in an accident, Major Tom ends his life willingly due to information available to him, but not to Mission Control.
[edit] Major Tom by Plastic Bertrand
The theme of the song is similar to Peter Schilling's lyrics, but there are some subtle differences - it is not quite a direct translation. It's somewhat less personal and contains an element of a cynical social commentary while still being a beautiful and visionary song.
In this variant, Major Tom (or whatever he serves as an analogy for) curses the war-ridden earth, as his ship plummets out into deep space:
| “ |
La terre scintille au loin, noble turquoise. S'en aller de la Terre, plus de pesanteur, Il y a dans l'univers des mondes meilleurs…….. |
” |
Roughly, these translate to:
| “ |
The earth sparkles from afar, a noble turquoise To leave Earth, no more gravity, in the universe there are better worlds... |
” |
[edit] Ashes To Ashes By David Bowie
In "Ashes To Ashes" from the 1980 album Scary Monsters, Major Tom sends a cryptic message back to earth, signifying that he did not die in the original song.
| “ | I've heard a rumour from Ground Control Oh no, don't say it's true |
” |
[edit] Hallo Spaceboy By David Bowie, Additional Lyrics by Neil Tennant
In "Hallo Spaceboy (remix)", Pet Shop Boys pull the original "Hallo Spaceboy" from Outside into the Major Tom mythos by adding lyrics:
| “ | Neil Tennant: Ground to Major, bye bye Tom David Bowie: This chaos is killing me |
” |
[edit] Mrs. Major Tom By K.I.A.
In "Mrs. Major Tom", released by the artist K.I.A. (on Neuphoria Recordings, 2002), the story is continued, but now told from the perspective of the wife left at home.
| “ | You were so far gone Right was wrong, up was down. |
” |
[edit] Major Tom By Fenix Tx
In 2005 Fenix Tx released a remake of Peter Schilling's version of Major Tom. It is a faster paced version of the original. See external links.
[edit] Introduction to Cosmonaut By At the Drive-In
It seems simply that this is just the final message of Major Tom before his death, this was commonly used to introduce Cosmonaut at live shows.
| “ | This was hidden inside the ventilation shaft, Day No. 33, Captain's Log 445A, |
” |
[edit] Grandaddy
The song "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot" by the space-rock group Grandaddy is thought to refer to Major Tom. The song implies that the protagonist is alive, unlike the Major Tom of Schilling's song.
[edit] Real-world references
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Although "Major Tom" may be considered a metaphor for the different perspective of a person with an altered state of consciousness, whether through drugs or some other means, and alludes to such elements of pop culture as Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey, its overt reference is to a lost or stranded astronaut, and thus draws upon public awareness of the United States space program, which was well-known throughout the 1960s.
The song Space Oddity was first recorded in early 1969 for David Bowie's film Love You Till Tuesday. At that time there had been eighteen American manned spaceflights: six Mercury flights, ten Gemini flights, and two Apollo flights. There had also been twelve Soviet space flights, but due to Soviet secrecy and the tensions of the Cold War, these were less well publicized in the English-language press.
The United States Air Force rank of Major was held by several early astronauts (most of whom were officers in the USAF or the United States Navy) during at least one of their flights, including Gus Grissom, Gordon Cooper, Jim McDivitt, Ed White, Tom Stafford, Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Donn Eisele.
As the above list shows, there actually was one real "Major Tom" in orbit during the 1960s, USAF Major Thomas P. Stafford, who flew on the Gemini 6A mission. Due to the practice that emerged in 1965 of giving military astronauts promotions following their flights, Stafford was a Lieutenant Colonel by the time of his next flight (Gemini 9A). The claim in The Straight Dope[2] that there was never a historical "Major Tom" is thus incorrect.
However, Stafford's flight was mostly uneventful and did not involve him leaving his cockpit; he cannot be taken as a direct model for Bowie's "Major Tom". It is more likely that "Tom" is intended as a name for an Everyman, having been formerly a very common one (as recalled by the phrase "every Tom, Dick, or Harry"). Moreover, the use of "Tom" instead of "Thomas" may satirize the American tendency to refer to celebrities, including astronauts, by nicknames such as Jim, Ed, Tom, and Mike.
Of the eighteen American spaceflights made before the release of Space Oddity, five involved spacewalks, all in the Gemini program. Of these, the one most likely to furnish a model for "Major Tom" was the spacewalk by Major Ed White on Gemini 4, June 3, 1965. This was the first ever spacewalk by an American (there had been a Soviet one three months earlier by Alexei Leonov) and was a sensation in the press. Space Oddity implies that the experience is something new and strange ("now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare").
White reported enjoying the experience of walking in space very much. Due to communications difficulties ("can you hear me, Major Tom?") between the Mission Control Center ("Ground Control") in Houston, Texas and the Gemini spacecraft, White did not immediately receive his orders to return to the spacecraft. When they were finally relayed to him by mission commander Maj. Jim McDivitt, White expressed some regret at having to abandon the experience.
This event was sensationalized in the press to suggest that White had refused a direct order to re-enter the spacecraft, and prompted speculation that he might have been suffering from a form of mental derangement caused by the unusual environment, such as disorientation ("floating in a most peculiar way") or a psychologically abnormal euphoria. Such speculations would obviously provoke the question: what if an astronaut was so overcome by the experience of being alone in space, between the Earth and the stars ("Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do") that he would refuse to return to his spacecraft and a much less peaceful Earth? Such speculations, in a different form, also form part of the subject matter of Kubrick's film, in which an astronaut is completely transformed by his journey to another planet.
[edit] Cultural references
Some parts of Ukraine and other areas in the northwest of the former Soviet Union, appears to be the origin of a space race era neo-folk tale about a boy who was in love with the moon and later became a cosmonaut in attempt to reach the moon. The earliest recollection of this tale is unknown but the character was referred to as Major Tom as early as around 1968. In this story, Major Tom does make his way to the Moon, only to be stranded there alone. In popular slang, a person is sometimes referred to as a "Major Tom" if they are generally carefree and focused on chasing their own goals with no regard for having any way to get back or no regard for safety or whatever consequences. (See also: burning bridges.)
Argentinean musician Luis Alberto Spinetta has his own version of Major Tom, which he includes in his LP El Jardín de los Presentes. Here, Major Tom is called the Captain Beto, and he is not an astronaut, but a bus driver that epitomizes the image of the porteño. He hits space in his bus-starship; the song is full of nostalgia and images of Buenos Aires.
The Major Tom of Bowie's "Space Oddity" is referenced as a character in The Venture Bros. animated action-comedy series, as a test pilot with Jonas Venture's team who is killed in the crash of an experimental aircraft at the beginning of the episode "Ghosts of the Sargasso"; much of the dialogue in this scene is quoted verbatim from "Space Oddity". The Action Man, featured in Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes", is also featured as a character. Major Tom leaves him a message: "I’m happy, hope you’re happy too, I’ve loved all I’ve needed to love" (quoting a line from the latter song).
In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, the character of Major Zero uses the codename of Major Tom during the events of the Virtuous Mission (a line of dialogue even reads, 'Can you hear me, Major Tom?'). Although, the name was taken from song according to the developers, within the fictional context of the storyline, Major Zero chooses the name based on one of the escape tunnels in The Great Escape. It was also intended by the game's creator to be the games final credit theme.
In popular slang, the feeling of wanting to be cut off from the world is sometimes called "Major Tom Syndrome." People who are oblivious to social cues or who cut themselves off from the world may be called "Space cadets," or as a verb, "space cadeting."
In the 2002 movie Mr. Deeds the title character, portrayed by Adam Sandler, begins singing part of the song aboard a helicopter entering New York City resulting in most of the occupants participating, pilots included.
In Red Dwarf episode #47 "Back in the Red: Part 3", Lister supplies Cat with the false name 'Major Tom' when talking to ground control, while they are attempting to escape in their VR simulation trial.
The song Happens All The Time by Cold contains the lyric: "I can see it in your eyes, you look as if your Major Tom has lost control."
The Def Leppard song Rocket makes mention of Major Tom, as well as David Bowie's other characters Jean Genie and Ziggy Stardust.
Tom Cruise has been jokingly called "Major Tom" at times because many see him as out of touch with the world.[citation needed]
On the first episode of FX's "Dirt," the character Holt McLaren calls Don Kinney a Major Tom.
The main character of the animated series Chaotic is named Tom Major.
[edit] Mentioned by other artists
- The band Cold also mention Major Tom on their latest album A Different Kind of Pain:
| “ | I still hang on every word In a world of faded memories Where you're still in love with me I can see it in your eyes A look as if your major Tom has lost control. |
” |
They also did a cover of Bowie's song Space Oddity on their EP Oddity EP.
- Five Star's 1986 hit Rain Or Shine mentions Major Tom in the first line of the second verse:
| “ | Robin Hood and Major Tom; All the super heroes rolled into one... |
” |
- Disassociative by Marilyn Manson seems to be written as a sequel to Bowie's songs, albeit from the Major Tom's point of view where he both wants to return to Earth but is glad he left:
| “ | Your world was killing me... The nervous system's down I can never get out of here I don't want to just float in fear A dead astronaut in space. |
” |
- The Mars Volta mentioned Major Tom in their live album Scabdates. The reference was made during an improvised lyrics section by Cedric Bixler-Zavala. The lines come from the Bowie song "Ashes to Ashes," where they are repeated near the end.
| “ | My Mother said to get things done. You better not mess with Major Tom. |
” |
- The Space Lady covers Peter Schilling's Major Tom on her 1990 Cassette, The Space Lady.
- Mentioned by The Violet Burning in the song Sugarlight U.S.A. in the first few lines:
| “ | Gee the stars are bright, flood with satellites, Major Tom, where are you now? | ” |
- The Tea Party included a reference to Major Tom on their song Empty Glass, from 2004's Seven Circles:
| “ | Where do we belong Tell me Major Tom Because nothing's making sense. |
” |
As well as making another reference in a later portion of the song:
| “ | A starman will come When diamond dogs run We need ground control We're losing our souls. |
” |
