One of very, VERY few artists that actually deserves the label musical genius.

@jaquestraw1

Жыл бұрын

truth

@s.mcpherson6354

Жыл бұрын

True, it's an overused term. As with Queen, or Led Zeppelin, reactors often need a lot of encounters with genius to recognize it because somehow genius finds some thread of unity, even though their songs can each sound profoundly unique from all of their others. And without hearing a lot of them, we can't recognize that their talent is somewhere in finding that middle ground that allows them to be that good, and that eclectic all without sounding trendy or repetitive at all.

@mvellis3863

Жыл бұрын

Kate Bush is on that artistic genius level

@hellesndergaardpetersen8266

Жыл бұрын

Imho Steven Wilson deserves it too and he’s not even known by the mainstream audience ☹️ like Bowie is and he SHOULD be.

@philiphudgens4726

Жыл бұрын

I maintain that Bowie is more important than the Beatles in terms of influence for the greatest artists.

Lex, your first comments about David Bowie being immersed in a world of his own imagination and taking us on a journey with him hit the nail on the head exactly. You summed it up with great perception..

@notcarolkaye

Жыл бұрын

Ken Scott told a story that Bowie was so in character when he recorded the vocal for Five Years he had tears streaming down his face.

@ThatsMyStuffYouBledOnTrevor

Жыл бұрын

Right!? Unless I’m missin something, the chorus is just Bowie describing a bar fight. That’s all. But it SOUNDS DOPE hahaha.

@andyscott5277

Жыл бұрын

@@ThatsMyStuffYouBledOnTrevor I think you’re missing a few things 😅

@ThatsMyStuffYouBledOnTrevor

Жыл бұрын

@@andyscott5277 Sailors 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? Idk man, sounds like the description of a bar fight. Also - to be clear - I don't mean that in a bad way. Van Gough painting an apple is still a masterpiece.

@andyscott5277

Жыл бұрын

@@ThatsMyStuffYouBledOnTrevor just mean that it’s a bit more than that. If taken literally, the chorus is describing a movie that the "girl with the mousey hair" is watching that she’s bored with, as she’s seen it "ten times or more," and wonders "is there life on Mars?" Still the lyrics are rather oblique, and more impressionistic, particularly in the second verse. Could be interpreted as Earth being a madhouse, where nothing makes sense, and wondering if life would be better on Mars, if there is in fact life there? Ultimately, it’s a song about alienation, feeling alone in a crazy world that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. That’s my interpretation at least.

Once in a generation artist and performer. Still hard to believe he's no longer with us. "Moonage Daydream" would be my next vote.

@gambler213

Жыл бұрын

Moonage Daydream is one of his greatest!

@Omegaphats

Жыл бұрын

Phish does an absolute amazing cover check out " Bakers Dozen Moonage Daydream "

@alamc200

Жыл бұрын

Yes! And the video of the live performance from the early 1970s is the best and with Mick Ronson's amazing guitar solo.

@mkmstillstackin

Жыл бұрын

@@gambler213 thanks!

@mkmstillstackin

Жыл бұрын

@@alamc200 agreed, a great performance!

Losing David Bowie felt like losing a family member,he was a huge part of my musical influences. Great artist so inventive.

@antonytheolddog8626

Жыл бұрын

Only famous person, I ever cried for when he died...

@zigman63

Жыл бұрын

I still can't believe a world without Bowie will have anything left to say.

@davemick7216

Жыл бұрын

@@antonytheolddog8626 Same here.

@swingingmonk

Жыл бұрын

I grieved. My best mate and many people I knew grieved when he was gone. Strange effect that someone we don’t know should have on us. A sentiment to how many people he touched.

Still can't get over the fact that Mick Ronson was only 25 when he arranged the orchestra and lyrically, it's so abstract and so perfect.

@nicholasprotz4297

Жыл бұрын

Don’t forget Rick Wakemans piano.

Lex has great perception on many of the artists. She listens carefully and go's on their journey with them. She is smart and realy enjoys her music 🎶

@johnwaga3702

Жыл бұрын

Lex is certainly way ahead of Brad when it comes to understanding.

@zoeherriot

Жыл бұрын

Yeah - her take on this was just perfect.

@67spoon

Жыл бұрын

She does have great perception… and beautiful freckles.

@StonefieldJim4

Жыл бұрын

*goes

@stefannils2032

13 күн бұрын

Agree totally

The lyrics are the best description of a young girl exiled from her parents and feeling very hurt by the environment in which she lives and wondering in a metaphorical way if she could live somewhere she would feel appreciated like Mars. Totally beautiful. One of the best ever written. Rick Wakeman who plays piano on this track and is best known for his work with the band YES has a great video discussing David's creativity with the chord sequence where he says a standard song would have a 1 4 5 chord structure and Bowie starts with that idea but then Bowie does something entirely different, instead of going back tothe 1 point he goes to the 9 chord augmented and thrusts the song like the girl feeling this long journey to a different place in an instant of intense desire and longing. Frickin' amazing. And Lex pretty much nailed David's intention.

@Tom_McMurtry

Жыл бұрын

I always thought it was about a girl with mousy hair on mars and they all watch the freakiest show where earthlings star in it (without realising) and do their bizzare things.

@AngelDelight69

4 ай бұрын

I always thought it was about a transgender woman with it stating that her father had told her to go and that she was walking through her sunken dream

Wow. I miss this man. Once y’all get a better understanding of David Bowie check out his last song ever “Lazarus.” He recorded the song & video while he had cancer.

@rustyzza6017

Жыл бұрын

I just checked it out, david bowies music has always been amazing imo

To me it's about the limits of escapism. The girl with the mousy hair at the beginning of the song is unhappy, so she goes to the movies a lot and watches junk that is ultimately repetitive and unsatisfying. We'd do it with Netflix or video games now, but those weren't options in 1971. That "life on Mars" refrain sounds to me like "is that all there is?" But of course Bowie doesn't say that in a simple or straightforward way. Other interpretations are possible.

@13_13k

Жыл бұрын

Maruka1 --- very close to my interpretation that I wrote in my comment

@mortimerbustos4487

Жыл бұрын

Nailed it! He is saying that he is bored with the slow to evolve human race. I then is hoping that there is a higher evolution of thinking somewhere else…Mars.

@lumpyfishgravy

Жыл бұрын

Pretty much. He's addressing "young adult" themes - along with Kooks for example. He's also using the hangover of the 1970s to draw a line under 1960s modernist optimism.

@13_13k

Жыл бұрын

@@lumpyfishgravy --- I see what you mean about Kooks. I was exposed to a lot of contemporary rock and Glam, and classic rock, at a very early age being the youngest of four kids and the oldest being six years older than I am and young parents, my mom only 25 when I was born. My sisters, the elder two of the four, are huge Bowie fans as well as every other groups and artists from the Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Bad Co. , Rod Stewart, Eagles, Elton, Yes, ELP, Boston, Sabbath, Pink Floyd, you get the picture and I was going into my sister's room starting around six or seven years old which would be '71 '72 and I would put on headphones and play my sister's records, and my Monkees and Beach Boys, etc... but I would love when there were lyrics printed on the sleeves or the cover, Bowie was usually good for lyrics. I would play albums over and over and that progressed into my own record collection. The thing is, I still rarely tried to figure out what a song was about if it wasn't self explanatory. Mostly being too young at first, and not knowing the events of the world, and only just learning a lot of slang etc... I wasn't sheltered by any means but I just didn't think too hard about things until I got older. I remember listening to Ziggy Stardust album start to finish and just loving every song. I have a love hate for Rock and Roll Suicide because it is one of the best Bowie songs ever written but it is the last track and that meant the album was done. Every song on that album is so well written and produced and played Hang On To Yourself, Teenage Moondream, Soul Love, It ain't Easy, the drum beat that opens the album first track Five Years. Hunky Dory, Station To Station, Alladin Sane, Diamond Dogs, Low, PinUps, Heroes, etc, all are incredible

@michaeldyas769

Жыл бұрын

yes its the question that all school leavers ask themselves, 'is this all there is'?

"...piano was played by keyboardist Rick Wakeman, noted session musician and member of the Strawbs, who previously played Mellotron on Bowie's 1969 self-titled album. In 1995 he recalled that he met with Bowie in late June 1971 at Haddon Hall, where he heard demos of "Changes" and "Life on Mars?" in "their raw brilliance ... the finest selection of songs I have ever heard in one sitting in my entire life ... I couldn't wait to get into the studio and record them." The piano Wakeman played was the same 1898 Bechstein used by the Beatles for "Hey Jude" and later by Queen for "Bohemian Rhapsody". The day after Bowie's death Wakeman played this instrumental version of Life on Mars as a tribute to his friend: kzread.info/dash/bejne/nKOb2JmtdJSel9Y.html

@johnedwards1685

Жыл бұрын

Steve Thank you so much for the link.

@dbrooks76

Жыл бұрын

Was Rick in Yes by this time or been and gone from them? I lose track.

@silgen

Жыл бұрын

@@dbrooks76 During the recording sessions for Hunky Dory Bowie offered Wakeman a place in the Spiders From Mars. The same day Chris Squire rang Rick and offered him a place in Yes. Wakeman chose Yes and the magnificent sum of £50 per week.

@13_13k

Жыл бұрын

@@dbrooks76 --- I believe he was in Yes at the time this album came out because Fragile came out around the same time. Fragile was released in November '71 and Ziggy Stardust in June '72 that's only 7 months apart.

@jlr108

Жыл бұрын

That was brilliant and so heartfelt. Thank you for posting.

Bowie was so incredibly talented and his 70's albums show him in all his talent and diversity! A musical chameleon.

Lex is so smart---she has great instincts --love the joy on her face when she discovers new songs/artists she likes

A freaking beautiful song from a masterpiece record.

Lots of people didn't know quite how to take David Bowie at first. He was truly one of a kind. ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡ I recommend trying more of his songs, because he was quite vérsatile, and none of his songs sound alike. 💜🎸

I love this song ,not only for its brilliance, but also the TV show of the same name...who could forget Gene Hunt and his quotes “He’s got fingers in more pies than a leper on a cookery course". The show was named after the song, as was the sequel "ashes to ashes "

Brad & Lex, you'll love his "Changes" and "Suffragette City"!!!

@michaelfrazia4569

Жыл бұрын

yeah give them that stuff before springing Low on them

@TheJazzper1970

Жыл бұрын

And Cygnet Committee, my personal favourite.

@michaelfrazia4569

Жыл бұрын

@@TheJazzper1970 great early one

@TheConservativeinaction

Жыл бұрын

changes is so freakin good

@hotblackdesiato3022

Жыл бұрын

@@michaelfrazia4569 I doubt anything from "Low" would be reacted to on this channel. Maybe "Sound and Vision".

This song Wild Is The Wind shows you a very different side of David Bowie. It’s a wonderful cover of a song made famous by Nina Simone. Great video too 😎

@addickkelders2265

Жыл бұрын

Wild is the Wind is a beautiful song, but Bowie don’t need to be heard for a great cover. First his genius own material to discover, like Life on Mars is

@glebivanov6323

Жыл бұрын

@@addickkelders2265 well, Bowie expand Wild is the Wind to his own direction so yeah, it's cover but who cares. By the way Life on Mars is also an expansion of "My Way" by Sinatra.Or more correctly, expansion of the song "Comme d'habitude" by Jacques Revaux which later was covered by Sinatra. Very tricky expansion. Sinatra wanted the lyrics in English for this song. Bowie sent him his version but Sinatra refused it. Bowie was offended and as an answer created his own version of this song - "Life on Mars?"

@addickkelders2265

Жыл бұрын

@@glebivanov6323 You’re telling the world well known Bowie-stories. But thanx anyway👍

@rclonghurst

Жыл бұрын

One of his best

@mcjs8640

Жыл бұрын

David Bowie's favourite of his own vocal performances. Truly stunning.

In the first verse he sings about a girl that sees the horrors of planet earth and is distracted by a movie to distract her from life and in the second verse he admits that he is the movie as an artist and is also distracting you from the horrors of America and Great Britain and police brutality as he sings- it’s a masterpiece

@hotblackdesiato3022

Жыл бұрын

Agreed.

@hevydavy

Жыл бұрын

My favorite Bowie song!

@jacquelinebugaringonzalez4999

10 ай бұрын

Yes!!!

This was a unique melody that originally started with a hit French song. The song, with different lyrics, but the same chord progressions, then became the hits "My Way" for Frank Sinatra and "Life on Mars" for David Bowie. I interpret the song as a view from Britain coming out of bleak postwar rationing after World War II. Food continued to be rationed for years following the war. Lemons on sale again was a cause for celebration for many British families because it was a return to color and normality. Looking at the non-rationed world of the 1960s and 1970s, and comparing it to the conditions Bowie had grown up in the 1950s, was literally like looking at life on another planet.

@matthewdrake4385

Жыл бұрын

I always thought the line was Lennon's on sale again. As in John Lennon. It was an established fact that Bowie and Lennon were friends, with Lennon playing guitar and providing background vocals on Fame.

@mrkelso

Жыл бұрын

@@matthewdrake4385 And to me it's always seemed like a double... the line before mentions workers striking, so to me he's evoking Vladimir Lenin's ideas being back in style, but ALSO that they're on sale again because John Lennon pushes some quasi-Communist ideals in songs like "Imagine" and "Working Class Hero". I mean, that's the overall idea of the song, right? That the stuff we're confronted with in reality, often horrible, gets recycled into the art that supposed to distract us from reality. This song is over the top with the lyrics. It might be one that's so open-winded, that it means whatever it brings up in each listener's mind. Whatever it is, it's brilliant.

@tomfabozzi6309

Жыл бұрын

There is a story that Bowie briefly worked for a publishing company, and wrote lyrics for the "My Way" version of this, which were rejected. His "revenge" was to take the lyrics and make them even weirder than the ones that had been rejected - and have a huge hit with it.

"Look at those cave men go"...."take a look at the law-man beating on the wrong guy""....thank you Lex, as always, for your empathy, perception and appreciation with everyone here who enjoy David Jones words, music, and philosophy

Bowie use to cut words up, put them in a hat or thrown on the floor and would write lyrics almost randomly, but they create an image in the listeners mind

@magneteye

Жыл бұрын

The cut up method he learned from William Burroughs.

@krs181067

Жыл бұрын

I’m an alligator…Is a great example

@billt9480

Жыл бұрын

cool

@TheBuccy

Жыл бұрын

Dylan did that first.

My favorite Bowie song. This song is just epic, I can't describe why it's my favorite, it's just something subconscious I guess.

@taradevine6026

Жыл бұрын

Mine too. Its beautiful. Time is another one.

"to my mother, my dog and clowns..." That phrase 🤦‍♂ always hits in my heart, it's like a spell.

My favorite Bowie song. A true masterpiece. ❤️ RIP

Lex always have the most amazing interpretations 💜

@Katehowe3010

Жыл бұрын

Twice the insight of Brad. Sorry, but that's how it always comes across to me!

Bowie was a genius at writing a bunch of words that sound like gibberish and once you figure it out you feel the fool! He is one of the greatest, lyrically & musically!

Im 51 and grew up listening to Bowie. Ive always seen it as 'a little girl' witnessing stuff which she doesnt like in this world and gets immersed in the 'movies' shes watching, 'sailors fighting in the dance hall....' as in the chorus. Just me own personal interpretation. One of his many classics. I love your reactions to the many tunes I grew up with

An iconic video of an iconic song from a musical genius. I have listened to Bowie’s music for 50 years. RIP David.

His glam rock opera inspired song, when i was younger one of my least favourites, but the older i get the more i love it. This man was extraordinary, miss him every time i listen to his great songs, thanks.

If you guys do albums. I highly recommend Ziggy Stardust and the spiders from Mars. A true masterpiece from the 1st track to the last!!!

@russwalker3119

Жыл бұрын

Yes!! my favorite album by Bowie, has a lot of his best songs on it

@davidcopson5800

Жыл бұрын

Totally agree.

He was One the best artist of all time 🐐

@pigeonboy7102

Жыл бұрын

He still is!

@christian7951

Жыл бұрын

@@pigeonboy7102 yes I meant it cuz he is dead now

David Bowie so beautiful, an artist.

Early Bowie here. Rearranged chords from the song My Way with Bowie's own unique lyrics and phrasing. Certainly is considered one of his classic songs.

@matthewdrake4385

Жыл бұрын

Not quite, was right after Ziggy Stardust. Man who Sold the World and Space Oddity were older. Great song though.

@xmathmanx

Жыл бұрын

i had no idea of that connection, thank you

@timpindar

Жыл бұрын

@@matthewdrake4385 Hunky Dory came out 6 months before Ziggy Stardust.

@matthewdrake4385

Жыл бұрын

Oops, my bad I got the records wrong. Thought life on Mars was after. Thanks for clearing that up.

Life on Mars was released in 1971. Imagine how people thought of it then! Not only did artists like Bowie revolutionize music, they were the first to create videos many of which were used in bars long before there was an MTV. He is an icon.

Ashes to Ashes needs to be next. Bowie was so creative

70's Bowie is everything!

I always hear the line about the 'law man beating up the wrong guy', like Rodney King and being 'in a best selling show'; so it was all over media; acquitted.. Maybe Bowie knew its an old story and was singing and thinking about a world that was a bit better than ours.

It cannot be underestimated just how talented that man was.

Watching you two grow musically is a treat... Time for some Hard Edge Bowie... ****STAY**** LIVE BBC CONCERT and **I'M AFRAID OF AMERICA** is good for you.

Back when I was a teen and Bowie came on the scene I didn't understand 70% of what I heard. I just knew I wanted to hear it again. RIP David Bowie, you are missed.

When I hear Bowie I'm always " what that honky?? Have you made a Guinness song again 😳" it's so impressive

Brilliant song from the eclectic genius of song.

One of the best songs ever written the genius of Bowie will never be matched

"Ashes To Ashes" should be the next Bowie joint to listen to

When the Beatles broke up in '1970, Bowie had Space Oddity out on the radio and he became my favorite artist. Saw him twice in concert back in the 70's. K7st a great performer.

Lex is so right, Bowie knew what the song was going to sound like before anything was written down.😜🤔

@madgemuso7314

Жыл бұрын

Classical composers often work that way. I’m sure if he’d been born in another century he would have been a Mozart/Beethoven/Bach type genius.

The Ziggy Stardust era of Bowie is my favorite. Good review

Nail Polish under the Sun of Mars is my favourite David Bowie song 🤣

His Ziggy Stardust period was his most creative in my opinion.

good lyrics too , typical goodness, so easy to understand too

Bowie was a musical genius.

Lex youre so right ...he is soo good

1 of my favourite songs from Bowie. Next 5 years by him.

Thank You for reacting to my favourite song of all time I'm 23 and this song was my childhood and it brings back so many memories.

It’s such a great Bowie song. Saw Bowie and nine inch nails. Looking back now it was a privilege

he was a pretty intelligent guy and on top of that he had to courage to be different and stand out in the crowd. a strategy that clearly paid dividends over time

imo the most underrated Bowie song it was a hit but, it’s so overlooked in Bowie’s back catalog of brilliance! the world lost a lot when we lost Mr. David Bowie 😢😩😢

Iv loved and listened to Bowie for least 45 years .. saw him live twice, which was absolutely mind blowing ..David Bowie and his band were phenomenal !

Good point, Brad. '70s Bowie was similar to Queen (Freddie Mercury). Both were glam rock during the '70s. One of the original glam, hairbands. As for life on Mars. I believe there are other forms of life in far away planets in other galaxies. Universe is much too big for us to be alone.

David at this time was experimenting with dozens of phrases he had collected written out and layed out on a table, he would then randomly arrange them to see if anything caught his fancy. He wrote whole songs this way. Now of course with the benefit of hindsight we know he was just messing with Brad 🤩🤙🏼

@Frank-sm9yl

6 ай бұрын

The cut up style he learned from William Burroughs. Created by Tristan Zara.

David was sent a backing track and was asked to write a song, he did and it was not used, they sent the backing track to Paul Anka and he wrote "My Way" which was a huge hit for Frank Sinatra, David, slightly miffed, wrote Life on Mars instead

"Cracked Actor" is a unique and very cool song by David Bowie when he was living in Hollywood, California during the early to middle 70s.

David's eyes were amazing.. not to mention his voice and writing talent.. omg. His writing was so complex from a musician's point of view.

He.s such an icon ...soo good ..sadley missed

Another brilliant song from a musical genius. I miss him as much as Freddie Mercury!

Great clip. Bowie was asked to write lyrics for My Way and did a terrible job, and was passed over to Paul Anka and crew who wrote the My Way we know today. This song was him proving he could write epic ballads. He did a good job by the way

Beautiful song by a very beautiful man, miss him so much

You two are getting much better. Ya'll my favs.

This was one of Bowies newspaper clippings song. He’d cut out lines in a newspaper that caught his eye, then throw a pile of them into the air. As he picked some of them them up they formed the song lyrics with a little massaging to get it all to fit and scan.

Bowie's best song by 94 million miles.

As is so often the case for classics from this era, Rick Wakeman on keys

Rick Wakeman’s piano playing is amazing on this track.

so far ahead of society. we were so lucky to have him when we did. Miss you, David.

Saw Bowie twice on his "Serious Moonlight" tour back in May of 1983. Forest National In Brussels, Belgium was the start of that tour and it was a small marvel to behold. Life On Mars was among the songs he performed. This tour was the first after Bowie went into a sort of retreat after the murder of his good friend John Lennon in December 1980. I'm not a huge Bowie fan, but I'm sure glad I went to see him. A once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Rick Wakeman's Keys & Melotron are just Gorgeous, Bowie's vocals are stellar.❤

"Help" best reaction ever... and most correct!

This IMO is one of those songs you appreciate the more you listen to it.

A true Genius. Seen this film ten times or more, it’s about to be writ again.. he is in the best selling show, is there life on mars? I think we all feel this way at some point or all of the time, we just do not admit it.

a man who fell to earth, could split opinions and lived and died as a pure agent of genius

Got to see him in Memphis in the 70’s and was blown away- it was so different and exciting

Changes next!

My dad thought Bowie sounded like British crooner Anthony Newley. He said this decades ago. Pops knew what he was talking about because I read somewhere recently that Bowie actually wanted to sound like Newley! I never gave it much thought at the time, being it was decades ago, but now I realize that Dad knew his shit! Lol

"HELP" c'est le cri du coeur de Brad.

If I had to put it simply, I’d say the song is generally about "alienation," a very common theme in Bowie’s creations. He often worked in abstraction, very theatrical, nearly absurdist. You’re completely right about Bowie being an artist, creating his own worlds and characters. Used a lot of symbols and subtle movements. An actor, with a background studying mime. Combined the visual with the auditory. Everything was carefully crafted, and filled with deeper meaning. I still can’t believe he’s gone.

What an artist he was. Bowie was the star who made other major stars starstruck.

This is one of my favorites. Huge Bowie fan here!

He is an artist, but not only with his music. When people think of pop /rock they think of only music, but David Bowie used art in everything he did. The abstract stuff he did "weirded" people out. Some people just didn't get it.

My favourite all time song and artist.

A BOWIE classic !!

This song was released in 1971. Imagine hearing this as a teenager while stoned and cranked on headphones. The song was about a girl who felt so isolated and lonely that she felt like she was living on Mars. Her escape was watching Hollywood movies. Bowie's image at the time was TRYING to be SHOCKING to the public in 1971 and it was. His follow up record was Ziggy Stardust, and the rest is history.

Genius. Masterpiece.. Lex..You're really starting to get "Bowie".

I've been watching your Bowie's reactions out of order, but i love how you (in my timeline) finally get Bowie as the artist he is

Listen to starman .changes or ashes to ashes ..heroes.i can go on

We called Bowie the chameleon because of the various phases he went through. This happens to be his sort of pop-androgynous phase. He was transformative. His last phase was jazzy.

Pure genius.

Fantastic song from a fantastic artist, way ahead of his time! Was 10 years old when this song came out. Remember it well as my parents played it a lot [as I did later when I got my first record player]. RIP David, you are sorely missed!

I think this is one of the greatest song ever

I like how Brad wanted to be confused and Lex just shut that ish down and spoke the truth.

Immediate goosebumps all over when he started😥🖤 So missed... thanks for this one! Good morning feels, now for some cheery Bowie, wake my ass up hehee Loved this♥️✌

Bowie was a musical genius, and this is one of his greatest songs. Truly a “born artist “. Well said