This is a sweded parody of “Space Oddity,” the David Bowie song (and music video). The lyrics contain only the thousand most common words in English. It’s a loving tribute to David Bowie and it’s inspired by Flight of the Conchords, Michel Gondry, and especially the Up-Goer Five diagram by Randall Munroe.
Molly Lewis and Marian Call rewrote the lyrics and performed the song with Seth Boyer on guitar. This project was Patrick Race's idea, and he filmed it with help from Ben Soileau and Aaron Suring. Links and lyrics are below.
lyrics
SPACE WEIRD THING
(David Bowie's "Space Oddity" translated into Up-go)
Ground control to top space man
Ground control to top space man
Take your small food rocks and put your head-safe on
Ground control to top space man
(ten, ten less one, ten less two, seven)
Start the numbers-down, big fires on
(six, five, four, three, two, one)
Check the start thing and may God's love be with you...
Up-go!
This is Ground Control to top space man,
you’re really first in class
and the papers want to know which person's shirts you wear
now it’s time to leave the space-house since you’re there
This is top space man to Ground Control,
I’m stepping through the door
and I’m relaxing in the air and it’s weird
and the stars look very different today
For here am I sitting in a lunch box, far above the world
Home space ball is blue, and there’s nothing I can do
Though I’m past five hundred hundred hundred hundred feet,
I’m feeling very cool
And I think my space car knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much -- she knows
Ground Control to top space man,
your talk line’s dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, top space man? Can you hear me, top space man?
Can you hear me, top space man?
Can you....here -- I’m relaxing in my lunch box
Far above the space night light ball
Home space ball is blue, and there’s nothing I can do
Marian Call has things to say. She sounds a little like Ingrid Michaelson meets They Might Be Giants & Regina Spektor for
bourbon & laughs, which sounds improbable, but give it a try. She hails from Alaska and tours North America and Europe, and she lives on Twitter. Her songs are quirky, sharp, surprising confections in every genre full of rich dark carmelized sugar, savor, & spice....more
I listen to this album over and over and over. Music nerds will rejoice at the thrilling changes of texture. These songs make me jump up and down. Marian Call
These upstart teenagers from Alaska (now in Montana) have made a sweet, beautiful, moving record full of love and surprises. This album makes me one million happy. So do the kids who made it. Marian Call
“Portraits” is a collection of expertly drawn narrative songs with sharply observed lyrics and rustic instrumentation. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 25, 2022