I have to give full credit to my husband for sending me a link to the illustrated children's book by Andrew Kolb depicting David Bowie's "Space Oddity". Being a huge fan of this song and also an admirer of great illustrations, I was impressed Kolb's interpretation.
This classic song released in 1969 tells the story of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut who cuts off communication with Earth and floats into space. In a 2003 interview with Performing Songwriter magazine, Bowie explained: "In England, it was always presumed that it was written about the space landing, because it kind of came to prominence around the same time. But it actually wasn't. It was written because of going to see the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which I found amazing. I was out of my gourd anyway, I was very stoned when I went to see it, several times, and it was really a revelation to me. It got the song flowing. It was picked up by the British television, and used as the background music for the landing itself. I'm sure they really weren't listening to the lyric at all (laughs). 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."
Kolb's bold colors and retro style bring the song and characters to life. The beginning creates feeling of celebration for space exploration. However, as in the song, it all goes terribly wrong. The colors and mood depicted in the illustrations beautifully follow the emotions of the story as it turns from its optimistic beginning to disastrous ending.
If you don't know the song (or even if you do) play this music video and listen to the song as you scroll down through the illustrations.
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