Aracde Fire & David Bowie -- Life on Mars? Life On Mars? (Live at Fashion Rocks)
Greetings!
Life on Mars? is one of David Bowie’s best and most moving songs. Appeared for the first time on the album Hunky Dory from 1973, BBC Radio 2 later called “a cross between a Broadway musical and a Salvador Dalí painting”. The attached version is a recorded performance of David Bowie together with Arcade Fire (featured last week) at Fashion Rocks on 8th September, 2005 in New York.
Life on Mars? seems to have quite strange lyrics and it is rumored that David Bowie used the Cut-Up technique for this song (influenced by William S. Burroughs)…
The original pop-video for the song:
Lyrics:
It’s a God awful small affair
To the girl with the mousey hair,
But her mummy is yelling, “No!”
And her daddy has told her to go,
But her friend is no where to be seen.
Now she walks through her sunken dream
To the seats with the clearest view
And she’s hooked to the silver screen,
But the film is sadd’ning bore
For she’s lived it ten times or more.
She could spit in the eyes of fools
As they ask her to focus onSailors
Fighting in the dance hall.
Oh man!
Look at those cavemen go.
It’s the freakiest show.
Take a look at the lawman
Beating up the wrong guy.
Oh man!
Wonder if he’ll ever know
He’s in the best selling show.
Is there life on Mars?It’s on America’s tortured brow
That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow.
Now the workers have struck for fame
‘Cause Lennon’s on sale again.
See the mice in their million hordes
From Ibeza to the Norfolk Broads.
Rule Britannia is out of bounds
To my mother, my dog, and clowns,
But the film is a sadd’ning bore
‘Cause I wrote it ten times or more.
It’s about to be writ again
As I ask you to focus onSailors
Fighting in the dance hall.
Oh man!
Look at those cavemen go.
It’s the freakiest show.
Take a look at the lawman
Beating up the wrong guy.
Oh man!
Wonder if he’ll ever know
He’s in the best selling show.
Is there life on Mars?
Enjoy!
Zohar Manor-Abel
One Response
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It’s Wonderful and unique even today. I love the clip.