Life on Mars? 1008330 225034062 2008-07-11T15:51:24Z Fantailfan 324926 linked Let's Spend the Night Together to Bowie version {{Infobox Single <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs --> | Name = Life on Mars? | Cover = Bowie_LifeOnMars.jpg | Artist = [[David Bowie]] | from Album = [[Hunky Dory]] | B-side = "[[The Man Who Sold the World (song)|The Man Who Sold the World]]" | Released = [[22 June]] [[1973]] | Format = [[Single (music)|7" single]] | Recorded = [[Trident Studios]], [[London]]<br />April 1971 | Genre = [[Glam rock]], [[piano rock]] | Length = 3:48 | Label = [[RCA Records]]<br> <small>2316</small> | Writer = [[David Bowie]] | Producer = [[Ken Scott]] | Certification = | Chart position = * #3 <small>(UK)</small> * #55 <small>(UK 2007)</small> | Last single = "[[Let's Spend the Night Together#David Bowie version|Let's Spend the Night Together]]"<br /> 1973 | This single = "Life on Mars?"<br />1973 | Next single = "[[Sorrow (The McCoys song)|Sorrow]]"<br />1973 | Misc = {{Extra tracklisting | Type = Studio | Album = [[Hunky Dory]] | prev_track = "[[Eight Line Poem]]" | prev_no = 3 | this_track = "'''Life on Mars?'''" | track_no = 4 | next_track = "[[Kooks (song)|Kooks]]" | next_no = 5 }} }} {{otheruses2|Life on Mars}} "'''Life on Mars?'''" is a song by [[David Bowie]] first released in 1971 on the album ''[[Hunky Dory]]''. The song&mdash;which [[BBC Radio 2]] later called "a cross between a [[Broadway musical]] and a [[Salvador Dalí]] painting"<ref name="soldonsong">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/lifeonmars.shtml Sold on Song: "Life on Mars"] from the [[BBC Radio 2]] website</ref>&mdash;featured guest [[piano]] work by keyboardist [[Rick Wakeman]]. When released as a single in 1973, it reached #3 in the UK and stayed on the chart for 13 weeks. The song re-entered the UK charts at #55 over 30 years later, largely because of [[Life on Mars (TV series)|a TV show by the same name]] that used the song. In February 1999, ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' magazine listed the single as one of the 100 greatest of all time, as voted by the readers. It has continued to chart in the ''Q'' 'best of' polls, featuring most recently in 2006 at #45. A [[BBC Radio 2]] poll in 1986 crowned it as the best David Bowie song of all time.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} == Origins == In 1968, Bowie wrote "Even a Fool Learns to Love", a song with lyrics by Bowie set to the music of a 1967 French song ("[[Comme d'habitude]]"). Bowie's song was never released, but [[Paul Anka]] bought the rights to the original French version, and rewrote it into "[[My Way (song)|My Way]]," made famous by [[Frank Sinatra]] in a 1969 recording on his [[My Way (Frank Sinatra album)|album of the same name]]. The success of the Anka version prompted Bowie to write "Life of Mars?" as a parody of Sinatra's recording.<ref name="soldonsong"/> Bowie described how he wrote the song in notes for a Bowie compilation CD that accompanied a June 2008 issue of ''[[The Mail on Sunday]]'':<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1030121/DAVID-BOWIE-I-went-buy-shoes--I-came-Life-On-Mars.html DAVID BOWIE: I went to buy some shoes - and I came back with "Life On Mars"] from ''[[The Mail on Sunday]]''</ref> :Workspace was a big empty room with a [[chaise longue]]; a bargain-price ''[[art nouveau]]'' screen ('[[William Morris]],' so I told anyone who asked); a huge overflowing freestanding ashtray and a grand piano. Little else. I started working it out on the piano and had the whole lyric and melody finished by late afternoon. Bowie noted that Wakeman "embellished the piano part" of his original melody and guitarist [[Mick Ronson]] "created one of his first and best string parts" for the song.<ref name="soldonsong"/> The [[liner notes]] for ''[[Hunky Dory]]'' indicate that the song was 'inspired by Frankie'.<ref name="soldonsong"/> == Lyrics == The song’s second verse is made up entirely of social observations, with Bowie discussing the faults with [[Overseas expansion of the United States|American cultural imperialism]] and the state of Britain. == Music video == To promote the single release, [[Mick Rock]] directed a promotional video for the song, featuring Bowie in a turquoise suit performing the song solo against a white backdrop. == Track listing == All songs written by David Bowie: # "Life on Mars?" – 3:48 # "[[The Man Who Sold the World (song)|The Man Who Sold the World]]" – 3:55 The Portuguese release of the single had "[[Black Country Rock]]" as the [[B-side]].{{Fact|date=July 2008}} == Production credits == ;Producers: * [[Ken Scott]] on "Life on Mars?" * [[Tony Visconti]] on "The Man Who Sold the World" ;Musicians: * David Bowie: [[Singer|vocals]], [[guitar]] * [[Mick Ronson]]: guitar * [[Trevor Bolder]]: [[Bass guitar|bass]] on "Life On Mars?" * [[Tony Visconti]]: bass on "The Man Who Sold the World/Black Country Rock", piano on "Black Country Rock" * [[Mick Woodmansey]]: [[drum kit|drums]] * [[Rick Wakeman]]: [[piano]] on "Life on Mars?" * Ralph Mace: [[Moog synthesizer]] on "The Man Who Sold The World" ==References== Specific references: {{Reflist}} General references: {{ref begin}} *Pegg, Nicholas, ''The Complete David Bowie'', Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5 {{ref end}} {{David Bowie}} [[Category:1973 singles]] [[Category:David Bowie songs]] [[fr:Life on Mars?]] [[nn:Life on Mars?]] [[sk:Life on Mars?]] [[sv:Life on Mars?]]