"%22Space Oddity%22 is a song written and performed by David Bowie and released as a music single in July 1969, just nine days before Apollo 11 landed on the moon. It was also the opening track of the album David Bowie (also known as Space Oddity). The song is about the launch of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut. Besides its title, which alludes to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the introduction to the song is a barely audible instrumental build-up that is analogous to the deep bass tone in Also sprach Zarathustra that is prominently used in the film. The lyrics have also been seen to lampoon the British space programme.The song was awarded the 1969 Ivor Novello Award, together with Peter Sarstedt's %22Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?%22. It was Bowie's first UK Top 5 hit. %22Space Oddity%22 became so well known that Bowie's second album, originally released as David Bowie in the UK (like his first album), was renamed after the track for its 1972 reissue by RCA Records, and became known by this name. Upon rerelease in 1975, the song was Bowie's first UK No. 1 single.Bowie would later revisit his Major Tom character in the songs %22Ashes to Ashes%22 and %22Hallo Spaceboy%22. German singer Peter Schilling's 1983 hit %22Major Tom (Coming Home)%22 is written as a retelling of the song. In 2013, the song gained renewed popularity after it was covered by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who performed the song while aboard the International Space Station, and therefore became the first music video shot in space. This video was removed from YouTube on May 13, 2014: despite Bowie's explicit wishes that Hadfield be fully licensed to record the song and produce the video, the song is owned \u2014 and its copyright controlled \u2014 by Bowie's publisher, who granted Hadfield license to the song for only one year. As of 2 November 2014 the video has been reinstated, this time for a 2-year period." . . "0.0436853"^^ . "Songs about heroin" . "1960s ballads" . "David Bowie songs" . "Songs featuring Mellotron" . "1969 songs" . "1973 singles" . "Philips Records" . . "Space rock songs" . "UK Singles Chart number-one singles" . "Gold" . . "-15.6"^^ . . "Mercury Records" . . "Psychedelic rock songs" . "1969-07-11"^^ . "false"^^ . "USJT10500002" . . "eng" . . . "--06-20" . "26"^^ . "english" . "84649f3b-6da6-4da6-8e33-a7a990b69516" . . "David Bowie" . "3087501" . "Songs written by David Bowie" . . "-0.039082"^^ . . "Rock ballads" . "D Multitracks/David Bowie - Space Oddity" . "0"^^ . . "false"^^ . "Space Oddity" . "997" . "Gus Dudgeon" . "1975 singles" . "1969 singles" . "317000.0"^^ . "Space Oddity" . "false"^^ . . . "Outer space themed songs" . "Gramophone record" . "Philips Records singles" . "301788"^^ . "D Multitracks (moggs)/David Bowie - Space Oddity.mogg" . "1997-10-27"^^ . "RCA Records" . . "Song recordings produced by Gus Dudgeon" . "137.0"^^ . "5714decc25ac0d8aee3eda5d" .