Friday 15 April 2016

M - Moonage Daydream

Keep your electric eye on me, babe
Put your ray gun to my head
Press your space face close to mine, love
Freak out in a moonage daydream, oh yeah!

One of the pivotal songs on David Bowie's 1972 tour-de-force album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, "Moonage Daydream" was first recorded in February 1971 with the band Arnold Corns and released as a aingle with "Hang On to Yourself" as the B-side.  The version which actually appears on the album was recorded in June of 1972 with Bowie's backing band The Spiders from Mars.

The song forms part of the album's overall narrative which describes Earth facing an impending disaster and the arrival of an alien messiah who becomes a rock star, and who ultimately self-destructs under the pressures of his own fame.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFDj3shXvco

The song has been covered many times, and also inspired the title of a book published in 2002 that chronicles Bowie's persona of Ziggy during 1972-1973.  Moonage Daydream: The Life and Times of Ziggy Stardust was written by Bowie, illustrated by his friend and photographer Mick Rock, and published by Genesis Publications.  (Good luck in getting your hands on a copy - it's out of print and some sources quote prices starting at $330.)

No comments:

Post a Comment