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
"Life on Mars?" is often considered one of the true masterpieces of the Bowie Canon. Originally released on the Hunky Dory album in 1971, it was made a single in 1973 during the height of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust era.
The song details the story of a young girl who wants to go the movies, while her parents are not completely behind the idea. She goes anyway to find entertainment and escape. Instead, she finds out that the movie is a saddening bore as a poor parody of the mundane reality of her existence.
The situation prompts Bowie to raise the question, whether there is any life/art beyond what we already see. It also raises the more existential questions about whether escapism through art is possible, when art is really a representation of reality (however popular or obscure).
A bit about how it was written: In 1968, Bowie wrote the lyrics "Even a Fool Learns to Love", set to the music of a 1967 French song "Comme d'habitude", composed by Claude François and Jacques Revaux. Bowie's version was never released, but Paul Anka bought the rights to the original French version and rewrote it into "My Way", the song made famous by Frank Sinatra in 1969. The success of the Anka version prompted Bowie to write "Life on Mars?" as a parody of Sinatra's recording.