David Bowie – Life on Mars?

About The Song

“Life on Mars?” is a song by English musician David Bowie, released as a single from his fourth studio album, Hunky Dory, on June 22, 1973, through RCA Records, with “The Man Who Sold the World” as the B-side. Written by Bowie and produced by Ken Scott with assistance from the Spiders from Mars, the track was recorded in August 1971 at Trident Studios in London. The album itself was released on December 17, 1971, in the UK and US. The song features Rick Wakeman on piano, whose contribution was recorded in one take, as noted in a 2016 Mojo interview with Scott.

The single achieved modest chart success initially. It peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart in 1973, charting for 13 weeks, and reached No. 12 in Ireland (IRMA). Internationally, it hit No. 3 in France (SNEP), No. 10 in Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia), No. 28 in the Netherlands (Single Top 100), No. 39 in Australia (Kent Music Report), and No. 57 in Canada (RPM Top Singles). After Bowie’s death in January 2016, it re-entered charts, reaching No. 48 in the UK, No. 39 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, No. 12 on the US Rock Streaming Songs, No. 22 in New Zealand (RMNZ), and No. 26 in Sweden (Sverigetopplistan). Certifications include Platinum in the UK (600,000 units) and Gold in Italy (25,000 units). The Hunky Dory album peaked at No. 3 in the UK and No. 93 in the US, with over one million copies sold worldwide by 2016, per Billboard.

The song’s origins trace to 1968, when Bowie was commissioned to write English lyrics for Claude François’ French song “Comme d’habitude.” Bowie’s version, titled “Even a Fool Learns to Love,” was rejected, and Paul Anka’s adaptation became Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” Frustrated, Bowie wrote “Life on Mars?” as a response, incorporating a similar chord structure, as he explained in a 2008 Mail on Sunday interview. The title was inspired by a 1960s BBC TV series, Life on Mars, and the lyrics were penned in a single day while Bowie walked through Beckenham Park, per a 2016 NME article. The song was one of the last recorded for Hunky Dory, with Bowie directing Wakeman to play “like Sinatra,” according to Wakeman’s 2017 memoir.

Production details highlight the song’s layered arrangement. Mick Ronson’s guitar and string arrangements, recorded with a 35-piece orchestra, were completed in one session, as Scott recalled in a 2021 uDiscovermusic interview. Bowie’s vocal was captured using a Neumann U87 microphone, with a deliberate echo effect added by Scott. The track features Trevor Bolder on bass and Mick Woodmansey on drums. An early demo, released in 2016 on the Who Can I Be Now? box set, featured Bowie on piano and vocals. The music video, directed by Mick Rock in 1973, was shot in a single day at a London studio with Bowie in a blue suit and heavy makeup. The song was covered by Barbra Streisand in 1974 on ButterFly, which Bowie criticized as “bloody awful” in a 1974 Melody Maker interview. It appeared in films like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) and the TV series Life on Mars (2006–2007).

Video

Lyric

It’s a God-awful small affair
To the girl with the mousy hair
But her mummy is yelling, “No!”
And her daddy has told her to go
But her friend is nowhere to be seen
Now she walks through her sunken dream
To the seat with the clearest view
And she’s hooked to the silver screen

But the film is a saddening bore
For she’s lived it ten times or more
She could spit in the eyes of fools
As they ask her to focus on

Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man, look at those cavemen go
It’s the freakiest show
Take a look at the lawman beating up the wrong guy
Oh man, wonder if he’ll ever know
He’s in the best-selling show
Is there life on Mars?

It’s on America’s tortured brow
That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow
Now the workers have struck for fame
‘Cause Lennon’s on sale again
See the mice in their million hordes
From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads
Rule Britannia is out of bounds
To my mother, my dog, and clowns

But the film is a saddening bore
‘Cause I wrote it ten times or more
It’s about to be writ again
As I ask you to focus on

Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man, look at those cavemen go
It’s the freakiest show
Take a look at the lawman beating up the wrong guy
Oh man, wonder if he’ll ever know
He’s in the best-selling show
Is there life on Mars?