‘Space Oddity’: The legendary movie that inspired David Bowie’s landmark hit
It’s not difficult to imagine the ever-evolving face of David Bowie. The icon undertook so many different guises during his long and illustrious career, that chances are you came into contact with the star at some point during your own cultural journey. For many, the firsty blast of Bowie coincided with his mega-hit ‘Space Oddity’ and the launching of Apollo 11 and America successfully winning the space race to become the first nation to set foot on the moon. However, the inspiration for the song was a little different.
As well as being a painter, devoted mime artist and supreme songwriter, David Bowie was an avid admirer of the world of cinema who admitted that he was often mesmerised by some of his favourite cinematic masterpieces. Having put out a considerably impressive body of work as an actor, Bowie had also expressed his interest in becoming a screenwriter-director who was ready to venture into uncharted territory.
Over the course of his acting career, Bowie collaborated with some of the greatest living directors, ranging from Nicolas Roeg to Japanese pioneer Nagisa Oshima. The cultural icon left an indelible mark on film history through his enigmatic performances, which successfully translated a portion of what he had achieved through his music. It’s a remarkable feat that very few have been able to achieve with any degree of real success or even a modicum of artistic integrity. Bowie did both.
According to sources close to him, Bowie was an avid cinephile who was equally interested in eclectic, avant-garde gems from around the world, Hollywood classics, and British comedies. He particularly enjoyed the poetic works of pioneering filmmakers such as Luis Buñuel and Jean Cocteau, among others, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. However, those directors wouldn’t be responsible for the nugget of inspiration that would become his first hit.
One particular film that always stayed him and ended up inspiring his own music was Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 magnum opus 2001: A Space Odyssey. In an interview, Bowie revealed that Kubrick’s famously elusive, hypnotic masterpiece was actually the primary source of inspiration for one of his most famous songs – ‘Space Oddity’.
Although many thought that the moon landings inspired the song, Bowie denied such claims. He explained: “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.”
Bowie hadn’t been too inspired by staring up at the night sky and wondering whether the loneliness felt by those in their tin can was equal to his own on earth. In truth, he had been given the shot in the arm by Stanley Kubrick. However, he did have a connection the moon landing. Bowie was announced when British television programmers used ‘Space Oddity’ as the background music for the presentations of the moon landing. He added that they had chosen to pair his song with the moon landing because they weren’t really paying attention to the lyrics at all.
Kubrick’s attempts to find a scientific definition of god through his film, his questions about human evolution and his commentary on the fundamental nature of individual isolation stayed with Bowie. He also managed to connect that terrible sense of alienation with what he was going through at that point in his career, disillusioned by the commercial flop of his debut album.
