Was "Space Oddity" Really About the Moon Landing

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It's been exactly fifty years since we landed on the moon (thanks to the late, great Neil Armstrong). The iconic anniversary, coupled with my recent visit to the Museaum of Flight to learn more, got me wanting to listen to David Bowie's Space Oddity (1969) yet again.

You can listen to the song here.

Now here's the catch. While many think that the song was written in honor of the moon landing, that is NOT the case. The BBC played the song in time with the moon landing and the song was released about the SAME TIME  as the landing event. HOWEVER, and this is a BIG however, Bowie stated in a 2003 interview that the inspiration behind this classic hit came as a result of him watching the 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odessy. If you can't recall, that's the movie with the icon doo-doo-doo TA TAHHHH! music. Bowie stated that he was stoned while watching it and loved watching reruns of it calling it, in his own words, "such a revelation."

A word about the movie:

 2001: A Space Odessy centers on a fictious astronomer, Major Tom, who travels into space and looses contact with Earth. The movie has remained a legacy for many years and as previously stated, its theme has become a signature staple of our pop culture.

The song itself, whose title is a play on "Odessy," hit #5 on the BBC Singles Chart. To many, however, it can go into the list of the so-called "misinterpreted classics."

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