By Ron Powers

In 1971, David Bowie channeled creative frustration into one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs in rock history with “Life on Mars?”, a track that would transcend its era to become a cultural monument. Born from Bowie’s bruised pride after Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” eclipsed his own rejected attempt at the same French source melody, the song found its home on the landmark album Hunky Dory and immediately announced itself as something far beyond ordinary. It’s driven by Rick Wakeman’s cascading piano, Mick Ronson’s sweeping string arrangement, and Bowie’s shape-shifting vocal: moving from nasal detachment in the verses to soaring passion in the choruses. The song follows a disillusioned girl escaping into cinema, painting Hollywood as a dream factory gone stale.

Things get started with a minimal arrangement composed of Bowie singing a lonely melody accompanied by a somber piano. Bowie pulls the listener in from the very beginning with a dark, dramatic emotion along with obscure and poetic lines like, “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”. As the verse progresses, the emotion deepens with a sparse but dramatic string arrangement led by bold and deep cello notes. Finally, we hear a swell of emotion and a brief snare roll as the music swoops into the first chorus.

As the chorus gets going, Mick Ronson’s string arrangement comes into full bloom with flurries of violins accentuating the first backbeat of measures one and two while extended notes on cello and viola add weight to the downbeat. Mick Woodmansey’s drum beat is also added for the chorus bringing a glam rock sparkle through slap back delay processing. For the top line, Bowie continues his iconic vocal performance and lifts the song to an operatic ballad level while maintaining the song’s slightly odd tone with off-center lyrics like: “Take a look at the lawman / Beating up the wrong guy / Oh man! / Wonder if he’ll ever know”. The chorus ends with Bowie belting out the line “Is there life on Mars?”. Here he holds the last note for a full one and a half measures, raising the energy of the song to a fever pitch as he passes the baton to a reverb-soaked guitar that hits the ears like a portal to a dream world.

For the second verse, Bowie keeps things fresh with the addition of a synthesizer flute adding new color to the musical palette. Drums are also included here along with a laid-back bass line boosting the energy while maintaining the song’s moody feel. Rick Wakeman’s ornate piano performance continues throughout the second verse as well, blending with the new elements, and remains the musical backbone into the final chorus and outro music.

Released as a single in 1973 and since ranked among the greatest songs ever written, “Life on Mars?” helped secure Bowie’s place not just as a rock star, but as one of the most singular artistic minds of the twentieth century. If you would like to listen to “Life on Mars?” or any of Bowie’s extensive catalog of music, you can find it on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and most other places music is streamed or sold. For more on David Bowie, you can find information on Wikipedia or any of the many books about him.

About the Author: Ron Powers is an independent A&R specialist and music industry consultant and is constantly searching for, discovering and writing about new talent.