CELEBRATING DAVID BOWIE WEEK + SONG OF THE WEEK

"Space Oddity"

CELEBRATING DAVID BOWIE WEEK + SONG OF THE WEEK: “Space Oddity.” The original Bowie track reached me deeply when I was a kid, amping my escapism into sci-fi books, Star Trek TV reruns, and “God questions.” Years passed and I became a singer on my own, adding Bowie songs to my solo set. Here’s my cover of “Space Oddity,” Mellotron, Stylophone, and all:

  

I was blessed to work with “a galaxy” of talented personnel:

Uma Robin Mackey: harmony vocals & “Lt. Uhura countdown”

Robert Powell: Ebow & pedal steel guitar

Prairie Prince: drums

Chris von Sneidern: electronic percussion & mixing

Me: bass, guitars, Mellotron, percussion, piano, Stylophone, vibraphone, lead & harmony vocals

This week marks an opportunity to look at David Bowie’s influence and innovations (born Jan. 8th; passed Jan. 10th) as a singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. Many have assumed that Bowie’s “Space Oddity” is a dystopian story of futility and failure. I beg to differ. The indicators in Bowie’s music point to his spiritual quest, a pursuit of God’s heart in the cosmos, inner and outer, and the Major Tom storyline has an open ending—there’s no conclusion that Tom died! Instead (later in Bowie’s catalogue) he reprised Tom as a conflicted man, “…Strung out on heaven’s high, making an all-time low,” seeking redemption from his own foibles while expressing awe at the vast potential of creation!

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