"Major Tom (Coming Home)" by Peter Schilling will always remind me of the space shuttle missions in the 80s.
The song is a sort of a sequel, an homage to David Bowie's astronaut character ("Space Oddity" and "Ashes to Ashes") who cuts off communication with Earth and floats into space.
The melody is so addictive, and the glorious exploding chorus with the 4-3-2-1 countdown is a natural singalong. I can't help but feel a little sappy while watching the video and imagining Major Tom looking down on Earth.
So what happened to our hero? The sweeping melodramatic finale sounds like he made it home.
In space.
In space.
On one hand, Major Tom may be left drifting out in space, unable to return to Earth. But perhaps that was his intent all along: could it be he just wanted to go away to some place, a new home, and not have to answer or reply to anyone?
Since the song was originally written in German perhaps something is getting lost in translation or interpretation. I'd be interested in a German's take on all this.
Fave lyric: "This is my home. I'm coming home."
Here's the original German version:
