David Bowie – Life On Mars? lyrics

David Bowie – Life On Mars? lyrics

It's a God awful small affair
To the girl with the mousey hair,
But her mummy is yelling, "No!"
And her daddy has told her to go,
But her friend is no where to be seen.
Now she walks through her sunken dream
To the seats with the clearest view
And she's hooked to the silver screen,
But the film is sadd'ning bore
For she's lived it ten times or more.
She could spit in the eyes of fools
As they ask her to focus on

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?

It's on America's tortured brow
That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow.
Now the workers have struck for fame
'Cause Lennon's on sale again.
See the mice in their million hordes
From Ibeza to the Norfolk Broads.
Rule Britannia is out of bounds
To my mother, my dog, and clowns,
But the film is a sadd'ning bore
'Cause I wrote it ten times or more.
It's about to be writ again
As I ask you to focus on

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?

Lyrics taken from /lyrics/d/david_bowie/life_on_mars.html

Songwriters: David Bowie

Life On Mars? lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Corrected by maverickrazor

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Life On Mars? meanings

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youknowwhoiam 2015-09-17 01:51:04

The whole song is about the dying culture of America and the people who are stuck in this culture. Another view could be that the girl is dysfunctional and has mental health issues. She escapes her health through movies. Making herself seem like mickey mouse, and growing up a maid.

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Pat Lyons 2014-12-13 08:36:31

Every time I hear this song, I think of the Life on Mars TV series'. There were British & American versions, as well as a spin-off, named Ashes to Ashes. They were really great shows. The song was such a good fit, I wondered if it was written for the show, or if the show was based off of the song. There sure were plenty of lawmen beating up the wrong guys.

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Unregistered 2012-03-13 18:39:17

The girl protagonist must be singing the line: "is there life on mars? " a little louder these days as we see the mass self-important and narcissistic behaviour and commentary we get online and in the media, generally, today. Ironic that a song that strikes a chord with the youth of today should also be the ones that are parodied by this song. Life on mars? And the video-song version are in fact a fantastic parody before it is even a pop song. Reveals bowie's music-hall-type artistic leanings. And the song parodies the mass entertainment industry, whose creators and controllers provide us with it, and profit from it. For that reason this song has been snobbishly ignored by the cultural bigwigs who will not countenance a wonderful and original pop song/parody par excellence. Bravo bowie. The turquoise suit and wild in the video parodies to perfection the pompous and overrated mass entertainment industry of today. Because most films/tv programmes/ pop songs are absolutely crap. In the 60s and 70s there were far fewer entry levels to "make it". So people had to work harder to convince you to part with your money. The interesting thing about the lyrics is that they could have come off a schoolkid's whimsical attempt at school-level poetry from the 1930s. The lyrics even fit cultural and political moments from the 1930s. But turn those old school poems you used to write into a pop song and its meaning could be totally different.

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