This David Bowie Song About Space Was Banned by the BBC Before It Went to No. 1 Years Later

If you’ve ever heard “Space Oddity” by David Bowie, you know that the song chronicles an astronaut’s perilous journey to space. Ultimately, Major Tom (the astronaut) ends up getting lost in the stratosphere, rather than completing his mission. 

Ironically, this song was first released around the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Yeah, you know the one. It’s the famous US space mission which ultimately got pilots like Neil Armstrong on the moon. Basically, “Space Oddity” came out a few days before the mission, which concerned companies like the BBC. I guess people thought there was some bad mojo attached to a song about a space mission gone wrong. 

The ban on “Space Oddity” lasted throughout Apollo 11, but was lifted once the astronauts returned home. However, that didn’t stop the song from providing David Bowie with future success. Just like its creation didn’t prevent man from stepping foot on the moon.

In 1972, “Space Oddity” was rereleased in the US. In 1975, it was released again in the UK, where it gave Bowie a No. 1 hit.

The Film That Inspired David Bowie To Write “Space Oddity”

Even though the timing of the initial release of “Space Oddity” and the moon landing might seem premeditated, the real inspiration for the song actually comes from a film that David Bowie had gone to see called 2001.

“In England, it was always presumed that [Space Oddity] was written about the space landing, because it kind of came to prominence around the same time,” Bowie admitted to Performing Songwriter. “But it actually wasn’t. It was written because of going to see the film ‘2001’, which I found amazing…”

To Bowie’s surprise, the song, although banned from the BBC, ended up being used for coverage of the moon landing by BBC TV, who apparently wasn’t on the same page as the rest of the company when it came to the song’s content.

“…I’m sure they really weren’t listening to the lyrics at all,” Bowie laughed. “It wasn’t a pleasant thing to juxtapose against a moon landing. Of course, I was overjoyed that they did. Obviously, some BBC official said, ‘Oh, right then, that space song, Major Tom, blah blah blah, that’ll be great.’ ‘Um, but he gets stranded in space, sir.’ Nobody had the heart to tell the producer that.”

Photo by: Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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