The story of Life on Mars is weirder than you thought

[@douglasjohnson2959]

This was a great documentary. I loved David Bowie (still do). In particular this song. My high school days, in the 70's, where filled with all his music. And just to show how great music is timeless, my kids in their 30's love this album and all his work. I think my introduction had something to do with it LOL. I had tears when I heard about his death. RIP David, you impacted my life. Thank you for producing this great video.

[@paulricketts10]

Back in spring 1971 David Bowie got on the number 54 bus at the start of Southend Road, Beckenham. Apparently he ran through the Comme d' Habitude (My Way) opening melody in his head as he sat on the top deck. But this time the chords followed for the "But the film is a saddening bore" section and by the time the bus reached Bromley Road, Catford, Bowie had the full Life on Mars' chords and melody complete in his head. So, he jumped off the bus and crossed the road to catch another 54 bus back to Beckenham to record a version asap.

[@makwilson2050]

Great video! Hunky Dory was the first pop album I ever owned and I love it to this day. Who’d have thought that 12 years later I would end up working with Bowie on Labyrinth and he’d borrow a book from me I never got back. Still, made for a great story.

[@j.dmetalhead7517]

I grew up listening to David's songs, at one point I had the majority of his albums (now they're cd's). He was genuinely ONE OF A KIND, R.I.P Mr Jones

[@xShamanx]

Wonderful content! I love these deep dives and behind the scenes details! Bowie forever!

[@stevedotwood]

Best Bowie song ever. Sends shivers down my spine - even after this many years. Lyrics, vocals, arrangements and music. He did it his way

[@X-boomer]

I have always loved that song❤ It cries of sadness and loss.

[@edwardmeradith2419]

‘Life on Mars’ is so much more than ’My Way’ the similar part- the first 8 bars of the verse- are a jumping off point- Life on Mars is musically and lyrically sophisticated, and beautifully arranged and performed.

[@cobeyc.b5946]

Comme D’habitude is great too, more emotional than either of its offspring. No where near as sophisticated and thought provoking as Life On Mars and the way I see it, Life On Mars is a post modern Warholian work in that it takes the relatively mundane My Way and uses it the create a cerebral, nostalgic masterpiece that makes every day life and the then-new phenomenon of consumerism seem like Monet’s gardens- at least what we’d been saddled with as the romance of the 18th century had completely faded. I mean, the lyric of “Is there life on Mars?” begs the question: is this all there is now?

[@neiljohns245]

Great video! I've been listening to this song for 50-odd years. and it's great to learn some of the details behind it. Thank you.

[@SandraBonney]

Im 63, my daughter's boyfriend recently bought me a Bowie T-Shirt for my birthday❤. I love it and I get a lot of comments when I wear it. Bowie is such a well loved artist. I've loved him since one of my brother's friends brought up his Aladin Sane album to listen to. That was the beginning of my love affair with DB. There are no dud albums, they are all excellent. Thanks for this lovely insight into a lovely song.

[@sk95-21]

these are some of the best videos on youtube, just fantastic work my man. your doing a lot of important work for music history and i think a lot of people will appreciate that in time. thank you.

[@apollomemories7399]

It's actually general-Bowie-knowledge that's been told on Bowie sites for years. All of this is very old news.

[@bengerson7064]

@@apollomemories7399 Not to me and many others.

[@revwpitt2347]

Still miss Bowie. One of the all time greats in music.

[@markkumanninen6524]

In my teens (mid 70s) Bowie saved my mind with The Man Who.. and Hunky Dory, still my faves. Life in Mars I listened to death. Nowadays I listen to Ronno's guitar first and foremost. They really were a hugely creative duet.

[@douglasjohnson2959]

Mic was amazing, Pin Ups is an often overlooked Bowie album of covers. Ronson really makes that album great.

[@taketwo_duo]

David Bowie was my era. I was an early teenager as he was starting to become popular, at school when Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane were all coming out. He was like a lightening bolt after the Beatles and Stones. He literarily dressed like a space man and pointed to us all during his TV performance of Starman. I was hooked like millions of others. My point is, he came across as such a weird person that performed weird songs. You never got to see him on TV apart from a documentary Cracked actor 1975. That film confirmed his weirdness. He was this weird star you would never get to meet. But when he was interviewed (as himself) he seemed perfectly normal, it was all an act and he was the indeed the Cracked actor. He was however, very clever and very determined.

[@rottensquid]

In in the early 80s, when he achieved mainstream popularity, he was still the musician for weirdos. That's the great thing about mainstream success. The casual fans never bother looking deeper, so they had no idea who he really was. And the weird obsessives get to discover a wealth of back-catalog, and realize that he's putting on the persona of a mainstream pop star the same way he put on the persona of an alien. Of course, he's articulate, erudite, and personable in interviews, but at his core, I think he was definitely a full-blown weirdo. Not because he really was Ziggy, or the Thin White Duke, or the Cracked Actor. But because he was always wearing a persona. And, of course, while he pretended to the end of his career that those personas weren't him, there was always more of him in them than he was willing to admit, even to himself. After all, by his own admission, he really did take it all too far. But boy, could he play guitar.

[@DailyDoseOfFootballYT]

this is my favourite channel on youtube right now, just wish there were hundreds more videos like this.

[@precogpeter]

Great video David! I love Bowie. I write music and play guitar and sing. Bowie along with Nina Simone, Elizabeth Fraser, and Jeff Buckley are my greatest voice influences. Such fun to see the back story on this song. Cheers!

[@barrievee]

Nice to hear the back story on genuinely great songs ~ Good job ~ Subscribed!

[@jamesphipps1121]

you’re one of the best and most consistent music content creators on this platform, never skip a video ❤

[@davidhartley94]

Thanks for watching!

[@leonsearle7288]

I'm a Bowie fan, another excellent video 🤩

[@robertpepper5256]

Thanks DH. Excellent storytelling. Bowie was a major influence on my life and your story just enhanced that.

[@cdeweijer12]

Delving into this makes me understand why listening to this beautiful song has so much impact. Captivating, magical, I just cannot define it✨

[@flamencoprof]

Well done! I have been thinking about early Bowie the last few days, and this was good to hear.

[@anthonyclarke5579]

Two sides of the same coin, Hunky Dory and Station to Station...priceless. Great video.

[@KevinBlythe-x3f]

Agreed ! My two favourite albums too though also some more excellent tracks on other albums. Prefer his earlier work though.

[@coenbouman7911]

So happy I just saw this video, excellence inn all respects, thanks!

[@KokkiePiet]

I love how the TV Series "Life on Mars" used this song, it was perfect for it, including the ringing telephone.

[@stevenr2463]

This needs to be spreaded! As a Bowie fan I was fully aware of that.

[@Chris-NZ]

Thanks for being a real person and not a robot voice which is becoming all too common on KZbin. Very interesting btw.

[@CatFiain]

Without question, one of the very best channels on KZbin. Informative, well scripted, highly engaging content superbly presented. I wish you every success!

[@andrewfield]

One of my favorite Bowie songs and albums. Thanks for the explanation of how the song was made.

[@anthonyintexas]

I have been watching your videos for about a year now, & I realize I haven't subscribed until now. Your well-informed and sublime commentary is much appreciated. Keep up the good work,mate!! Bowie Lives!

[@philipB31]

Only recently did I mention to my father that Hunky Dory is quite possibly my favourite album of all time, this reminded me that I’m right. Thank you for sharing.

[@LoandtheMagneticsOfficial]

Love it... Huge Bowie fan! Little known fact: before Paul Anka, the song Comme d'habitude was offered to Montreal singer Tom Swift who was busy in studio recording his album, so turned down the opportunity!

[@OldMod67]

That's some nifty playing Rick. Nice!

[@dashmagic6211]

Absolutely perfect song.

[@wyffio]

I would always love how your videos look high quality yet you have so few subs and views, I see a lot of good content from you

[@farquell5782]

My favorite Bowie song. That part with the recorders is really nice

[@davidg2122]

Very interesting, well done

[@alexbowman7582]

Leather clad rocker Vince Taylor (Brand New Cadillac) and his band were skint so Vince went to France to get paid off their manager and Vince spent all the money on LSD and subsequently went insane. David Jones (then) knew Vince and bumped into him outside a London train station where Vince pulled out a map and proceeded to show David where the spiders from Mars would land. Vince was the inspiration for Ziggy. Presumably Vince regained his sanity because he later worked in a Swiss airport.

[@robhodder1687]

Van Morrison references this when he sings about Vince in the song Goin Down Geneva

[@ingridfong-daley5899]

I had no idea how much i didn't know about my favourite Bowie song. This track always breaks me down. But in the good way. What a Star, Man.❤

[@DavidShields-h1q]

I discovered Hunky Dory in about 1980, and it remains one of my all-time favourite albums.

[@Judith_Remkes]

Bowie didn't just use instruments to make his music, he also used the talented musicians he surrounded himself with. Their creativity made songs fantasticly real and special. He knew that whatever they would do, it'd be great. It must've been a wonderful feeling to work with him ❤

[@garysmith3173]

Beautiful video David,thank you.❤️❤️❤️

[@kellidinit3725]

One of my all time favorite songs.

[@donaldanderson6604]

Bowie had a real gift for choosing the right musicians and then leaving them to do their thing. Hunky Dory is full of great piano playing from Rick.

[@Michel-r6m]

Thanks for the upload. Rick Wakeman...I didn't know this 👍

[@patrickpowell5430]

i also think Hunky Dory is Bowies’s greatest album, with some (as Wakeman says) great melodies. For me the puzzle is why didn’t Bowie carry on writing great melodies?

[@13_13k]

Thanks for this video. There is only one thing wrong with it. It's too short. Hunky Dory is an incredible album and Lifr On Mars is an incredible song. I first started listening to Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust at the same time around 1973 I was eight years old thanks to my two older sisters who are five and six years older than I am. They would let me hang out in myboldest sister's room and I could listen to their albums on her stereo. I would put on headphones and get lost for hours listening to Bowie, Beatles, Stones, Who, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Eagles, Elton, Ted Nugent, America, Hendrix, Doors, and more. I particularly loved and still do albums with lyrics on the sleeve or cover. Even if one didnt have lyrics I would read everything printed in the cover and the inner sleeves and even the engraving on the center of an album betweej the last groove and the label giving the pressing number and studio codes Thats the thing I miss most about getting music theae days unless I buy vinyl which I still do, is the peeling of the plastic shrink on the album, the smell of a new album and seeing what surprises may be inside besides the dust sleeve, reading all the notes and thanks and what musicians played on what song and what instrument, who wrote and who produced and engineered and final mix at which studio. I'm crazy. I know

[@adam7763]

Nice video man, thanks

[@AndrewFloydWebber]

Always one of my favorite Bowie songs. When I bought Anjjun’s album Snow On the Sahara for the title track (1994?) the beautiful bonus was her cover of Life On Mars.

[@chrisnicholls6898]

Thank you - really interesting video. Very good work.

[@ShoppingCart13comic]

Thanks for posting this.

[@ivanjulian2532]

You didn't mention the piano used by Rick Wakeman to record the song. It was the same piano used on Hey Jude, You're So Vain and Bohemian Rhapsody.

[@ingridfong-daley5899]

The Bluthner at Abbey Road?

[@ivanjulian2532]

@@ingridfong-daley5899 Wakeman played the same 1898 Bechstein piano that was used by the Beatles for "Hey Jude", and later by Queen for "Bohemian Rhapsody". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars_(song)#:~:text=Wakeman%20played%20the%20same%201898,Queen%20for%20%22Bohemian%20Rhapsody%22.

[@ingridfong-daley5899]

@@ivanjulian2532 I'm thinking of Let It Be or Long and Winding Road... you're right, my bad.

[@ivanjulian2532]

@@ingridfong-daley5899 My understanding is the piano was ultimately sold to a private collector in New York. What a fantastic dinner party conversation piece that would be!

[@ingridfong-daley5899]

@@ivanjulian2532 OMG i'd either cry or wee a little in excitement, yes! 😆

[@balazstorok9265]

Nice work!

[@petergleeson295]

I became a Bowie fan when i was 15 in 1973. Hunky Dory was brilliant

[@thepagecollective]

Used to sing this song to warm up for gigs because it has such a range. One day a flatmate popped out of her room while I was belting it. She was sleeping off a long night. She was furious I woke her up playing a Bowie record so loud. I said, "Sorry, that was me, I have a gig." Her face lit up with a big smile. She was quite understanding after that. (Apparently, I have to edit: If this post makes you angry, you need to examine your life. I am not responsible for your sad state.)

[@SpaceCattttt]

Shameless self-promotion.

[@thepagecollective]

@@SpaceCattttt Promoting what? It's just a story from a Bowie fan?

[@SpaceCattttt]

@@thepagecollective Yourself. In this one comment you wrote, you managed to mention both how difficult "Life on Mars?" is to sing, but that you can do it, AND that you're a gigging musician. PLUS that you're sooo good at singing that you make women smile and forgive you anything. It's all "me, me, me" with you...

[@thepagecollective]

@@SpaceCattttt I clearly stated "Used to sing." I'm stunned if I get a few hundred views on youtube these days.. "Life On Mars" IS difficult to sing. I just happen to know that. Maybe you should focus on what you can do to better your life instead of trying to knock me down for a memory. You seem so bitter. It's not a good look.

[@rpm4999]

Thats singers for you😂😂😂

[@harmlesscreationsofthegree1248]

Excellent video 👌🏽

[@davewoodward1155]

Life on Mars is the first single I ever bought. What a classic. Bowie Genius,

[@PaulMurray-kw9tj]

Very interesting, well presented, great content. Am now subscribed

[@Your_Name_Lol]

Wonderful video

[@charleshultquist9233]

Wow...some very interesting storytelling.

[@mobill49]

I've just purchased the Divine Symmetry boxset. Includes everything in the time leading up to and including Hunky Dory. Outstanding.

[@andrewbravery5114]

Life on Mars is a powerful peice that will always take me somewhere.

[@oliviertilanus]

Fantastic video! I thought I knew everything about this song but you gave a lot of new information. I always found the piano and the phone in the fade-out to be so haunting and mysterious. When I listened to Life on Mars it always was as a single song so i figured that the phone would be a hint to the next song on the album, like a sort of concept album of sorts. But when I started listening to Hunky Dory in full, I never understood why the phone was there. Great video, Keep it up!

[@caseyrevoir]

Giant Rooks cover of this song is magical.

[@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd]

the person who said Life on Mars was a beautiful song was absolutely right. Bowie was a true musical genius and his reputation has only grown since his passing.⚛️❤

[@leonbeale5431]

'Genius' is the first word that comes mind when I think of Bowie.

[@Vgallo]

Oh that swearing was gold had me lolling

[@Goodnewsglobal]

The French guy never got a penny. Such a robbery. It was his song and he was totally robbed.

[@potterwalker4823]

happens all the time unfortunately. The music business is a cruel business because they know we love doing what we do naturally. They know we are distracted with the sounds in our minds and they use that knowledge to screw us left right and center. Whether you’re a little guy, playing in a band or Mr. big playing stadiums you’re going to get fucked one way or the other

[@fefritschi]

Where did you get this? Jacques Revaux is properly credited on My Way.

[@4444colin]

WOW never knew the "my way" connection.

[@kurtlee3198]

he must of been something really special for yorkshiremen to claim him (his dad doncaster and his aunts leeds) in the 70's in a leotard and makeup

[@cree8vision]

Fascinating.

[@baldyslapnut.]

There's an awesome live version of Bowie and Garson performing Life on Mars on Parkinson around 2002. 👌

[@mikearchibald744]

I still think Hunky Dory is the best Bowie album. The others are great albums and great songs, but I think I like every song on that, the favourite being 'the bewlay brothers' which is supposed to be 'bowie' about his crazy brother, something he referenced again later with 'jump, they say'.

[@joedoe783]

Excellent video.

[@NicleT]

Claude François: "Look, I made this". Bowie: "... I made this". Sinatra: "... I made this".

[@GEMSofGOD_com]

Bowie should've sung. Just like any author, their own words. Everyone's voice is beautiful even if you whisper; the feeling is what matters, authenticity is a requirement

[@amonynous9041]

Ironically the response to Life on mars was recorded prior in 1965 and it's called ballad of thin man, as if Bob Dylan was way ahead of the curve. When you find this connection and a dialogue between them it will blow your mind, you just have to realize how relative timespace really is and how some people have more insight then others who live through their own mistakes.

[@jeepsthetimebandit]

Great video!! ❤

[@jkellytree]

Why does everyone overlook The Man Who Sold the World? What a brilliant album! That’s when he was right on the cutting edge as an influence in hard rock, in my opinion. It also marks the beginning of his best band and collaboration with Mick Ronson. (They were in full force and also his band on the Ziggy Stardust album). Hunky Dory’s great, but definitely mellower and more laid back.

[@user-li3fr8jl3b]

I agree with you that it's a very good album. But it wasn't a big influence on people until later. The album flopped when it came out.

[@montanaheaventush]

Top Job

[@lovelylemonfactory]

Being force to sing a song with the hook "Much more than this, I did it my way" is tragically ironic.

[@st.armanini9521]

Toilets in a recording studio, I can understand. Phones, not so much. Phones in toilets, eh, nope. Phones in toilets in a recording studio, I just can't fathom.

[@MM-ji5je]

Fate had other plans for David than be a writer for others.

[@areamusicale]

The telephone was in the TOILET? What?

[@LaurieValdez-zk3dy]

I ❤ him

[@markthomasson5077]

Can you sing the words to My Way over Life on Mars?

[@jerste]

chills

[@Cameradude1]

You got the wrong photos for what years of Bowie you were talking about, otherwise I like the video

[@binghamguevara6814]

6:04. I thought Bowie was saying ‘wonderful’ at the end. No idea it was a swear word.

[@bettyswallocks6411]

Things work out in weird ways. If it hadn’t been for a rebuff, Life on Mars would probably not have been written, and it’s a far better song than My Way, to my taste.

[@crapmalls]

Frankie did it his way 😂

[@andrewgillis8572]

PYTHONIAN... AS BRILLIANT STUDIO TAKE DISSOLVES INTO RINGING PHONE AND MUTTERED CURSES.

[@MrBrynmair]

That’s not my memory. I seem to remember Space Odyssey, Starman and Jean Genie being hits before Life on Mars. You seem to suggest that he only found real fame with Hunky Dory. Maybe I am confused.

[@myradioon]

You don't talk about what the song is about? ! The song is enigmatic. The main character of an adolescent girl. I've tried to figure it out. It sounds like she's a Genius and can't stand life on Earth around her, including a ridiculous movie someone's brought her to see.

[@cheffjeffB]

Well done, all except the clickbait title the greatly oversells. The series of events sound like pretty normal stuff in the life of a great artist.

[@jada90]

Lol his first album did not fail due to bad marketing. It's just a shit record hah. And I'm a huge fan

[@user-li3fr8jl3b]

Lol !

[@GeorgeCostanzais10.]

Am I the only one who likes HUNKY DORY better than any other glam era Bowie album ?

[@anthonyclarke5579]

Nope.😊

[@rogercudney8238]

This phenomenon happens in academia too, unfortunately. Most scientific publications have way too many coauthors for their content, and the amount of authors per publication is increasing. Yes, cooperation among scientists is important, especially in cross-disciplinary themes, but in practice only one, two, maybe three coauthors made significant contributions to the paper, and the others are slightly more than dead weight. Why does this happen? Because researchers are judged by their number of publications. Publish or perish.

[@kilgoretrout413]

why was there a toilet with a public phone next to a piano in a recording studio?

[@bagualues]

XXth Century, you wouldn't get it 😅

[@odelayrowemonkey2145]

I prefer Sids version..

[@hohaia01]

Sp my way is actually a French song