Major Tom Question
Steam0235
song by the title of "Major Tom". I believe that he also had a second one about
the same person. In addition in 1983 Peter Schilling had a nice song titled
"Major Tom" which presented similar story in it's lyrics. The fact two songs
were written by two seperate artists implies that this event has happened. Can
any one tell me who Major Tom was?
-Mario
Stea...@aol.com
Mr PINK
;-)
P Schilling's "Major Tom" was inspired by Bowie's first hit single "Space
Oddity" - Major Tom himself was one of Bowie's personas.
Steam0235 <stea...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19990417004349...@ng-ba1.aol.com>...
mike
The first song was called Space Oddity and the second was Ashes to Ashes.
Dreitzes
>From: "Mr PINK" <s36...@student.uq.edu.au.NOT>
>Date: 4/17/99 2:26 AM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: <01be889a$775123e0$df5014ac@default>
>
>we could tell you, but we'd have to kill you.
>;-)
<LOL>
Okay, okay, let's be kind. Bowie just made up the Major Tom character for
"Space Oddity" in 1969 and used him a decade later in "Ashes to Ashes." Peter
Schilling's song was simply inspired by Bowie's; you could call it an
unauthorized sequel or maybe just a tribute.
Dave Reitzes
P.S. Bowie's sense of humor doesn't always come out in his music; sometimes
it's there if you recognize it. One example is the opening line of "Ashes to
Ashes": "Do you recall a guy that's been in such an early song?" This line was
a play on Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue Got Married," which opened with a line
asking if we remembered a girl from an earlier song of his -- his big hit
"Peggy Sue."
smetge
well I can愒 swear by it , but as far as I know Major Tom didn愒 exist.
There are only two songs about the same guy called Major Tom, because Peter
Schilling kind of covered Bowie愀 Major Tom. That愀 why it seems to be
similar.
At least that斐 s what I think about it.
Oh, and I read one day that Bowie chose the name Major Tom from John Major愀
dad, Tom Major...
Steam0235 schrieb in Nachricht
Rokyhoror
steven pirie-shepherd
> Oh, and I read one day that Bowie chose the name Major Tom from John Major´s
> dad, Tom Major...
Unlikely as John major was a major non-entity in 1969, as he was during much of
he laye s80'z and early 90's.
Unless db knew the family personally, but I highly doubt it.
This is a definite post event urban myth.
Dreitzes
>Date: 4/18/99 8:20 AM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: <3719CDCF...@davidbowie.com>
Unless Tom Major was an astronaut, I'd tend to agree.
DR
Nyssa & Cugan
steven pirie-shepherd wrote:
> > Oh, and I read one day that Bowie chose the name Major Tom from John Major´s
> > dad, Tom Major...
>
> Unlikely as John major was a major non-entity in 1969, as he was during much of
> he laye s80'z and early 90's.
> Unless db knew the family personally, but I highly doubt it.
> This is a definite post event urban myth.
Not necessarily...Didn't someone post recently that Tom Major was some sort of
entertainer in those days?
Nyssa
<to reply, remove NOSPAM>
Andrew Stewart
<pi...@davidbowie.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>> Oh, and I read one day that Bowie chose the name Major Tom from John Major´s
>> dad, Tom Major...
>
>Unlikely as John major was a major non-entity in 1969, as he was during much of
>he laye s80'z and early 90's.
He was, but not his father, who was a well-known vaudeville and circus
performer who settled in Bowie's part of London. This admittedly
speculative theory that Bowie might have got Major Tom from Tom Major
is based on the fact that more than likely when he was growing up,
Bowie saw a playbill with "Major, Tom" written on it.
(np: Lou Reed - Transformer)
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possibility that Bowie saw him in the 60s.
Rob
Dreitzes wrote in message <19990418110301...@ng-fz1.aol.com>...
>>Subject: Re: Major Tom Question
>>From: steven pirie-shepherd <pi...@davidbowie.com>
>>Date: 4/18/99 8:20 AM Eastern Daylight Time
>>Message-id: <3719CDCF...@davidbowie.com>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> Oh, and I read one day that Bowie chose the name Major Tom from John
>>Major´s
>>> dad, Tom Major...
>>
>>Unlikely as John major was a major non-entity in 1969, as he was during
much
>>of
>>he laye s80'z and early 90's.
>>Unless db knew the family personally, but I highly doubt it.
>>This is a definite post event urban myth.
>
Jim Rosencutter
rhyme with "Tom".
Andrew Stewart
<rose...@southwind.net> wrote:
>Maybe he chose Major Tom because it was easy to come up with words that
>rhyme with "Tom".
Or maybe not, since he didn't avail of any rhymes in the lyrics. Lines
ending in Major Tom are followed by lines ending with "on" and
"wrong", so if he wanted a good rhyme, he'd have done better with
Major John or Major Don or Major Ron.
(np: Joy Division - Heart And Soul)
David Koenig
Stewart) wrote:
= On Sun, 18 Apr 1999 19:19:52 -0500, Jim Rosencutter
= <rose...@southwind.net> wrote:
=
= >Maybe he chose Major Tom because it was easy to come up with words that
= >rhyme with "Tom".
=
= Or maybe not, since he didn't avail of any rhymes in the lyrics. Lines
= ending in Major Tom are followed by lines ending with "on" and
= "wrong", so if he wanted a good rhyme, he'd have done better with
= Major John or Major Don or Major Ron.
LOL...I'm trying to picture Bowie singing, "Ground control to Major Don."
--
dek17 AT columbia DOT edu
--
From: Ms. Nomer / Newsgroups: alt.fan.dave_barry / Subject: Ballad of AFDB
The users here are scary...
We don't talk of Dave Barry...
The newbies should be wary...
We are afdb.
Da da da Dum... <snap, snap> etc.
Jim Rosencutter
meant those couplets to rhyme? Anyway, the point I was trying to make
was that I'll bet there is no great significance to the name Major Tom.
It seems that this topic pops up here every couple of weeks--why don't
some of you bowienetters grill the man next time he drops in there to
chat?
Ground control to Major Bruce
Ground control to Major Bruce
Take your protein pills and drink your orange juice
Ground control to Major Bruce
Liftoff aborted, something's loose
Jim
Andrew Stewart wrote:
>
> On Sun, 18 Apr 1999 19:19:52 -0500, Jim Rosencutter
> <rose...@southwind.net> wrote:
>
> >Maybe he chose Major Tom because it was easy to come up with words that
> >rhyme with "Tom".
>
> Or maybe not, since he didn't avail of any rhymes in the lyrics. Lines
> ending in Major Tom are followed by lines ending with "on" and
> "wrong", so if he wanted a good rhyme, he'd have done better with
> Major John or Major Don or Major Ron.
>
Andrew Stewart
<rose...@southwind.net> wrote:
>Well, they may not be exact rhymes, but are you suggesting DB never
>meant those couplets to rhyme?
No, but you suggested before that perhaps the only reason Bowie chose
the name Tom was to make the rhymes. That clearly can't be the case
since if that was the only criterion, he would have selected a better
rhyming name.
>It seems that this topic pops up here every couple of weeks--why don't
>some of you bowienetters grill the man next time he drops in there to
>chat?
Are you suggesting Bowie tells the truth when asked about these
matters?
> Ground control to Major Bruce
> Ground control to Major Bruce
> Take your protein pills and drink your orange juice
>
> Ground control to Major Bruce
> Liftoff aborted, something's loose
That works too.
My favourite misheard lyric on Space Oddity is someone who thought
Bowie was singing "Ground Control To Mao Tse Tung".
(np: Scott Walker - Climate Of Hunter)
Jim Rosencutter
>
> My favourite misheard lyric on Space Oddity is someone who thought
> Bowie was singing "Ground Control To Mao Tse Tung".
Now I will never be able to listen to the song without hearing that :)
--
jدm ®¤§تراüttêr (rose...@southwind.net)
Trent Annetts
Assonance differs from rhyme in that rhyme is a similarity of both the vowel
and consonant and assonance is a similarity of vowel only. So, lake and
rake is an example of rhyme and Tom and on is an example of assonance. It
is likely that Bowie, being the clever fellow that he is, was well aware of
what he was up to. It is a common poetic device.
Rev Dr James Fouch
In the Space Oddity "Major Tom," Bowie is describing his fame, where he'd
"really made the grade," and the media where "the paper wants to know whose
shirts you wear." He makes a conscious decision to detach himself from the
planet below where he believes his "spaceship knows which way to go." He
then tells his wife he loves her and the circuits go "dead." It appears to
me that this is a metaphor for Bowie cutting himself off from the world,
probably through the means of drugs.
This idea is supported by the subsequent song, "Ashes to Ashes," where he
describes his battle with the drugs. He sings once again about what he
feels the public/media's opinion about him is: "We know Major Tom's a
junkie, Strung out in heaven's high, Hitting an all-time low." This song
differs, however, in the fact that he "wants to come down right now." He
tells himself "time and again... I'll stay clean tonight."
The third song by Peter Schilling, "Major Tom (Coming Home)," it seems is
mearly a tribute to or revision of Bowie's earlier "Space Oddity." Where
again there's a "problem," "there's no reply" and a final "Give my wife my
love" as he is "drifting, falling, floating," he finds that "THIS" is his
home.
Hope this clears it up for you and all of your replying rhymers (or
assonancers as the case may be).
Jim
Steam0235 <stea...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19990417004349...@ng-ba1.aol.com...
Fandar
>
> Consider this:
> In the Space Oddity "Major Tom," Bowie is describing his fame, where he'd
> "really made the grade," and the media where "the paper wants to know whose
> shirts you wear." He makes a conscious decision to detach himself from the
> planet below where he believes his "spaceship knows which way to go." He
> then tells his wife he loves her and the circuits go "dead." It appears to
> me that this is a metaphor for Bowie cutting himself off from the world,
> probably through the means of drugs.
How could it be describing his fame? It was his first hit. If the song
came after Ziggy Stardust, yeah, I could by that interpretation. But
with the things really happened, he would stressed out over being famous
when no one really know who he was.
--
Fandar
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