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'Life On Mars?' is revenge on Frank Sinatra
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2018
- Bowie wrote 'Life On Mars' as a revenge on the song 'My Way'. I look at the similarities between the two songs to show how Bowie took the Sinatra classic and ventured off into new harmonic realms!
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After decades of knowing Life On Mars, and being familiar with My Way, I never put two and two together. Huh.
The chord progressions are only identical when LOM is transposed into the same key.
Also "Starman" is basically "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
or Claude François
th-cam.com/video/nW0ACEOEq6w/w-d-xo.html
Hi Jiu, watched the link. Very funny. Goes to show there's nothing new under the Sun. Although in fairness to David Bowie (of whom i'm a fan) I've read there are but a few melodies in music and everything we hear can be traced back to these. To quote Oscar Wilde there are but two tragedies in life: getting what you want and not getting what you want. All the best for 2019. @@julucthulhu
Hearing Bowie completely trash his own writing is somehow so funny when you think how he's written some of the most influential music of the last 50 years
david bowie slept with 13 year old female fans in his early 20's...fact
He knew when his lyrics we teach because he was good. Real good.
@@ladedade23Blunticus Really? evidence please. As an old man who has followed Bowie through his whole career, have never heard that at all. So back it up with evidence or delete your comment.
You have to write a lot of garbage to know when you're not.
ladedade23 So, does that change anything?
Life On Mars is a masterpiece. It really is something else.
Tony Bates true. But it doesn’t compare to My Way though
Frank Sinatra Frank, get back in your coffin. If people notice this, can you imagine the anarchy?
Frank Sinatra
Really?
@@franksinatra9579 No old corpses in here.
Song would be shit if it wasn't for Mick Ronson.
Just David Bowie's speaking voice alone is amazing
kc freeman I agree! He actually did the narration for Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf once
He could've just did spoken poetry on top of the music of that French dong.
kc freeman that’s smoking for you
It makes me want to cry every time I hear it :/
Why do you think he's a hit as an actor?
There's actually a great lesson to learn from that! Bowie wrote a not-so-great song. One of his heroes at the time turned it down and he got really upset by it, believing that his song was good. So what did the man do? He turned it into the energy that fueled him in writing one of his greatest songs, lyrically and musically, a song that to this day is considered one of his most ambitious works and a song that massively boosted his popularity. It's not about turning lemons into lemonade-it's about replacing the rotten lemons you picked and were stolen from you with a freaking gourmet mango smoothie!!! That's just awesome
He acknowledged that his lyrics for that song was bad though, so maybe it's more like redeeming himself than revenge.
@@Lundy.Fastnet.Irish_Sea yeah, but back then he thought the lyrics were good. It can be both, though
I think it's more like he was mad at himself.
Cool name
That was nice
It's interesting to know too that David Bowie was a great fan of Frank Sinatra. When news of a movie based on Sinatra's life reached him, Bowie wanted to play the main role, but Frank said he didn't want someone queer (I'm using this term becaue I dont remember what he actually said, I only remember it being offensive) like Bowie to play him. David was devastated when he heard that.
Fuck Sinatra, man.
@@rezalustig6773 he was a punk from a young age any one could see that. Thats not why people like him though
Bowie was too good for that role anyway. Sinatra, four notes in his register, basically just talked with drawn out words as he "sang" and was really only popular in the 1940s because of his teen fanbase. Most overrated "singer" of all time
Reza Lustig he wasn’t a jerk, he just had standards. Something we need now.
@@mikeycondry1493
"Standards" ...
Yeah, and look at how he is seen now ...
Oh, i guess that is why you said what you said: You have similar "standards".
I almost feel sorry for you.
That is some 60s tea sis
Edit: Lol it's so funny how people fighting over a 3 letter word. I wrote my comment out of boredom and English not even my first language.
Edit no.2: Just got a notification 5 years after writing the original comment. Still find it funny how so many people were pressed at the comment I made as a 15 year old.
pavel pavel people who use the word tea are the worst people
@@eightytwo8282 k lol
@@eightytwo8282 I drink tea every morning
All tea all shade all pink lemonade
People who say "tea" deserve the electric chair
How ever highly you might think of Sinatra, he was not a songwriter.
That's pointless. It's like saying Kevin Keegan was bad at darts. Sinatra was a brilliant singer and performer...
He was a singer what is so hard to understand about that
Neither was Enrico Caruso
I adore Sinatra, but I'm not going to claim he was anything that he wasn't, and he was no songwriter lol.
Yeah, that's the point.
1:54 a singer called Paul Anka??? Everyone should know Paul Anka already, he's the guy who did "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"
Yes Paul Anka is a Legend too
He sings god damn puppy love. It dont get much pop hit smash than that. He was a total babe, a pop sensation. Its amazing how this 3 Legends somehow come into the story of an amazing classic
Who’s Paul Anka?
@@dabzvapelord One most popular acts of the 60s. Check on utube..
@@dabzvapelord Who’s Paul Anka? is probably wrote some of biggest hits for some of biggest singers of the 20th century
As a Bowie fan, let's be honest here, Paul Anka's lyrics were much better suited to the song than Bowies (by his own admittance) terrible effort.
Bowie wrote an english adaptation. Anka's lyrics have nothing to do with the original french. Just another detail.
@@palpic9304 Bowie's lyrics have nothing to do with the original french either. They were both doing exactly the same thing: writing completely novel English lyrics to go along with the melody from the french song.
the song is shit so its hard for me to say
Who's not being honest?
Bowie's lyrics are way better- fantastic imagery, amazing melody- great chorus, brilliant storytelling. Yes My Way is extremely powerful but it's a bit outdated and self involved (ooh look at me I did it my way, yeah mate no cares)
Isn't it rather revenge on Paul Anka then?
I think it's a revenge on Sinatra because Sinatra was the one who didn't pick Bowie's lyrics but Anka's.
Nora Folk I’d like to know if Sinatra picked it or was it the record company who did.
@@Pheicou Pretty sure both of the parties had a say in it. But the lyrics really fit Sinatra's style, something that he would like (I guess, haha)
Revenge seems too strong a word anyway - rather a response !
Right i came here to say that.
I'm glad both songs exist
I'm not glad My Way exists; never liked the tune, don't like Sinatra's voice, reminds me of Claude François who wrote the original and who can't sing and who murdered some 70s classics... I like Life on Mars though, love Bowie.
@@BigHeretic what's wrong with Sinatra's voice tho? Songs like "Something Stupid" and "The Girl From Ipanema" are so sweet to listen, I get it is your opinion and I respect it, I prefer My Way on Elvis Presley's Voice, and as I am starting to getting myself into music I would like to know other people's opinions
@@KaoruSF It's just a question of taste - he sings in tune but I don't like _what_ he sings and the crooning style, that's all. I love Elvis but I don't like his 'My Way' anymore than Sinatra's. :-)
@@BigHeretic thank you for the polite response, well i think I learned today that not everything in music depends on the paper hehe
@@KaoruSF It's just mediocre. The problem is My Way is the corniest pop song in existence
My dad wants "my way" played at his funeral, but the version by sid vicious of the sex pistols.
Slank I do love that version. Apparently Sid has Bronchitis at the time and had to record the song 1 line at a time.
Yes, the truly great version!
Well then he had bad taste. I mean come on anyting by The sex pistols..... Really really bad taste.
TheHauntedMansionFan12345 and everything you like is objectively really good and no one thinks it sucks?
the best version
"I hate these lyrics. They're so awful. I'm embarrassed I even wrote them. What? Sinatra's not singing my amazing lyrics!?"
Jon At the time, he thought it was good. He then realised by 2002 (the interview) that it was shit
@@firmanchristiansianturi4794 It was probably about money. He got no lyrics money from the Sinatra song I would guess. He must have known immediately that the Anka lyrics were far superior. He got over it when he starting making money from his own music.
They were rubbish, sure, but they were HIS rubbish.
he probably thought it was good at the time maybe but now thinks it's bad ?
As a big Bowie fan (and love Paul Anka) this was a super interesting video! Awesome to watch.
I wonder if "spit in the eyes of fools" from Life on Mars is a reference to When a Fool Learns to Love
Interesting that "clown" features in both of Bowie's versions too...
Could be, Good observation bro. 👍💯😎💗
Yes
Bowie was a different level. The descending verse then the ascending bridge (literally lifting off to Mars) and chorus in a different key. As good as it gets.
I honestly don't think too many people know that My Way is actually a cover.
It starts as an adaptation of "My Way" which later-on develops into another song. It's no cover at all. I like the idea of Bowie having a very own argument because his lyrics had been rejected. His approach is very typical for westerners: He was driven by his intention to surpass the contender's contribution. Successfully.
@@maetzchenmusik I wasn't talking about Life On Mars being a cover of My Way. I was talking about My Way being a cover of French song Comme d'Habitude by Claude François. My Way is such a classic in the repertoire that not many people know it's a cover and originally a French song.
@@erich3784 I got it wrong, sorry.
@@erich3784 The words to Comme d'Habitude are full of despondency. They're all about a relationship that's gone stale, doing everything out of habit. The words to My Way on the other hand are utterly pompous. So I guess that makes a hat trick of terrible lyrics with Bowie's self-confessed lemon.
That's because Frank sang it his way 😉
Worth watching all the way through just to see Tom Hanks stare in amazement at David
agreed!
Another fun fact. When Paul Anka covered Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life”, which has the lyrics “like Frankie said I did it my way”, Anka sings “like Frankie said HE DID IT my way”. Like, ambiguously saying that Frankie dang my way AND that the song was Paul’s.
Life on Mars is absolutely beautiful. I feel it in my soul. The Paris 1999 live version is truly everything!
Just so you know, Claud François the one that did "comme d'habitude" that inspired "my way" was a true rock star in France when, he wasn't an obscure musician nobody knew he was the french first Rockstar along Johnny Hallyday those two were the equivalent of the Elvis "the king" Presley in France
This proves Bowie had an unreal gift for melody.
I’ve noticed it before, while covering both of the songs, but never knew the story behind it! You’re doing a great job here, you have a new subscriber 😁
I've always loved the F to Fm change in the chorus of Life on Mars. Simple but brilliant. Similar to Sail Away by Enya (which is C to Cm I think).
He did a similar thing on Space Oddity.
A IV to iv progression is always emotional.
that's a very commonly used technique actually. It stems from the classical age. I think chopin was famous for it.
mushyw1234 that’s my favorite combination of chords it’s used in a lot of great music queen especially beautiful but simple
Its Orinoco flow, actually
I love Frank Sinatra, and I like David Bowie. Both songs are great in their own way.
I wonder if the two ever met each other I'd like to think they'd get along and respect each other as artists. Even if Bowie was a total weirdo he was a very talented one. He's freaking out the angels now.
Great word play! In its own way! Hahah
There is a rumor/story/what have you that they did meet each other once during his time in LA because they were both recording one day in adjoining studios. I could imagine that happening. I'm so glad Bowie didn't "go Hollywood".
There's video of Bowie singing a christmas carol with Bing Crosby...
You are a man of culture
Well, then, thank you Paul Anka!
Yes, but Paul did not write the music.
@@KristineMaitland No one questioned that. It was the lyrics.
Wow!! Great video!! 👏😊 Thank you for making this!
This channel finds the most interesting topics and presents them so well. Between the contextual and the explicit, what a great way to tell a fascinating story.
It was actually revenge against the lyrical genius William Frederick Durst who wrote the masterpiece "My Way".
can we uh...keep talking about Fred Durst
Bowie and Sinatra are my 2 most favorite musical artists. This is frickin' cool. I've played both these songs on the guitar, but never thought about the fact that the chord progression were so similar to one another!!!
Super interesting. Never new this.
Finally! Credit to Claude Francois for writing Comme d'Habitude! Well done!
NightwishLover He just wrote part of the lyrics. I’d say thanks Jacques Revaux for composing the melody.
you're absolutely amazing at explaining this. thank you!
5:26
That's amazing I have never heard this story before. As a fan of both artists its incredible to know they are linked in such a way
Go Bills!!
In all honesty, I'm glad they didn't pick Bowie's lyrics. If they didn't, he never would have gotten that drive, giving us one of the best songs of all time
So interesting!! Thanks for your videos, I try to understand as much as I can because I have not studied music, but I find them so eye-opening and help me analyse songs.
Honestly, I didn't even listen to Bowie much before his death, but any time I see him or hear him anymore I just get very sad. I only looked into his music when I heard that he had passed and started to fall in love with the pre-Ziggy era. Great music.
As someone with no musical experience in any way, you showing the sheet music demonstrated nothing to me lol. I was like “he says they’re the same but they don’t look the same.”
The chord progressions are the same. The melody is different
Clark • 93 years ago • updated Voodoo
Clark • 93 years ago • updated black magic
They don’t sound the same either. I think it’s a stretch.
The harmony is the same but the melody and lyrics are different. The reason the sheet music looks different is because it shows the two different melodies, but it's notated with identical chord symbols (so basically same harmony).
fascinating, thanks for this!story and video. and I REALLY appreciate that you got right to the content, no bs intro or fat.
This was really interesting, dude. I’m a huge Bowie fan and never knew any of this. I’ll definitely be checking out your other stuff. Subbed. ✌🏼
There are some stories where you REALLY NEED TO LISTEN to hear the similarities .... I never heard this . Pretty cool video , thanks.
Cool video, Very clever to put the clip where he literally says "It was my revenge on 'my way'" at the very end ;)
How did I never know this? Amazing!
It should be noted that the original Comme d’Habitude by Claude François is a much better song than Pail Anka’s My Way, which lacks the poignancy and emotional vulnerability of the Frqnçois lyrics.
Meh, it shouldn't as that's just your point of view
John Slater Great comment, thanks for giving us the name and artist of the original song.
I should have said the François *lyrics* are better than Paul Anka’s. Otherwise, it’s the same song - melody and harmonies are the same. Comme d’Habitude is a complex and vulnerable confession of a man‘s love for the woman who no longer loves him. Yet they carry on keeping up appearances and going through the motions of married life. It’s raw and touching, while the Americanized rewrite is just mawkish sentimentality and boastfulness. And yes, obviously that’s my point of view. That goes without saying.
@@johnslater8998 I think that interpretation of "My Way" is a little shortsighted. It dismisses the complexity of the song completely, and in general your comments seem to carry the bias that the melody has to conform to one interpretation to be valid. My way is the acceptance of the successes and missteps along some one's personal journey. It's not meant to be vulnerable, because it's a song of conviction. I do think the lyrics flow a little better in french, but that's more a less to be expected. French in general tends to flow better in music due to not being a composite of 8 drastically different languages with different rules and pronunciations. In terms of actual emotional impact, I don't personally feel that it's any less strong. It's not the same song, so it naturally won't create the same feelings, but they're no less intense. It may be a boast, but it's a boast that carries the struggle of a long and difficult journey. In other words, rather than just sentimentality (which is a pretty vague descriptor that i could easily apply to anything that looks back on a previous state, such as the french lyrics) the song evokes self-affirmation and self actualization. TLDR: No shit it isn't the same song with the same emotions. Apples and oranges. Why are you using poignancy and vulnerability as the benchmark for the value of a song?
I wouldn’t say those are benchmarks, just the reasons I find the Comme d’Habitude lyrics moving, and the My Way lyrics not so much. I think they tell a more compelling story, and are more poetic. But hey, that’s just my take. Thanks for sharing yours.
Really enjoyed this mate, well done.
Love reading up on the side stories of such songs and artists!! Very much appreciate the time to share this upload.....Cheers All
You're an amazing talent. You're have a thorough knowledge of all the genres of Western music. You also are a great communicator - I predict big things for you!
Explains why I love both songs so much.
I wish more people were aware of Paul Anka. He's a local hero here ❤️
Just stumbled upon your Channel a few videos ago & i can honestly say i love your content so far!... infact i have atleast 10 of your videos in my watch later playlist so i can binge watch them!... Keep up the awesome! work! man! you rock! & you've earned a brand new loyal subscriber here in myself!... 🎵🎶👍👍❤😉✌
M. Bennett, You are brilliant and eloquent. Job well done
Nice video, keep posting the score or sheets, your channel will grow.
Bowie collaborated with Rick Wakeman for the piano chord progression for Life On Mars.
If I recall correctly, Bowie wrote the chords himself, and Rick just arranged the piano part, which is not the same as writing the chord progression.
Paul Anka was actually a talented Canadian song writer -- Diana, Lonely Boy, You Are My Destiny -- all post-Elvis, pre-Beatles American style pop. He was also powerful vocalist in his own right.
Thank you for posting this. Really cool piece of history and I had no clue.
Wait THE Paul Anka? Like the 50s singing star? Jesus
I love how your eyes match your shirt. Oh yeah great info too thx
Fascinating I always wondered how Bowie came up with that chord progression after the standard major/minor thing at the begining ends - it's an odd but rather brilliant chord progression particularly when you factor in the melody. Complex harmony for pop! Half the mystery solved now. Thank you great video
I've heard David Bowie say that he wrote My Way & then he goes "yeah, right" in his Bowie humor. Love love David.
Thank you for this video!
Missing my Starman ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
So fascinating. Never realised this. Thanks for the insight.
Thanks for telling this story. I'm a fan of Bowie and I never heard this.
Love this video! That last clip you showed is what got me into this today, yours is like the fifth video I’ve watched on it.
Great video!
Bowie is now comparable with Sinatra? Sinatra is hardly comparable with Bowie. Bowie far exceeds Sinatra as an artist.
In what way?
@@Superphilipp breadth. willingness to experiment. impact across different genres. Better looking broads.
@@mentalitydesignvideo I get what you're saying. Bowie wasn't just about music. He was in theater film art he could almost do it all.
I think he met at that time. When Bowie was still an obscure song writer. He said a bad selling first album. Franky was a Big Band name.
@@Superphilipp In my way
Very interesting! Thanks for the insight.
Great insight! thanks a lot esp. for the small part when David sung his My Way lyrics
"Look at that caveman go" is a quote from a Kim Fowley song called "Alley Oop" that was a hit when Bowie was young.
Thank you so much for this vital information about that song. I am so happy to learn of this music fact. God bless you!
I'm French and I know well Claude François so I appreciate that you spoke about him in this video.
Is he a friend of yours?
@@Sanglierification No, but I know his life well and his music too (:
He died 40 years ago electrocuted in his bath trying to straighten up a wall fixture. He was considered to be the favorite singer of the less than 10 years old !
I was familiar with this story, but I had never noticed the frankie reference on hunky dory. Thanks for the video. Long live Bowie
At the time David Bowie was a nobody working for a lyric publishing company but Paul Anka was a rock n roll legend.
True Paul Anka ....he was working with Buddy Holly before his death
I love learning things like this because it's so relatable and motivating! One of my most popular songs is a 'revenge' song in a way. I wrote it because I thought I could do a better job of a theme / topic than someone else.
Oh my god, Bowie singing gave me goes bumps
Wow! I didn't know this! What a wonderful piece of Bowie history❤
Interesting video. I never knew that Anka didn't write the music for My Way, only the lyrics.
Synchronicity of the day- this showed up in my feed at the exact same time my Mexican neighbor is playing the Spanish version!
Amazing video. Thanks for the knowledge!! Xxx
Good stuff! I love also how Bowie takes news stories from the English tabloids for the lyrics of Life on Mars.
This was truly amazing. You've perfectly presented such an amazingly detailed video.
Beneath the vocal talent, megastar charisma and artistic style, Bowie was a songwriting genius.
That French song was really good.
love your videos and appreciate you displaying the scores
Love TH-cam channels that are truly seriously informative. Thank you!
Awesome info !!!! Thanx!!!!!!
You’re a wonderful teacher. Thanks for the video.
love hearing about how Life on Mars came into being such an amazing song
Great video very informative!👍 miss you David Bowie
i like david bowie as much as the next guy but paul anka's lyrics are miles ahead and so is frank's voice
Saint Petru yeah but Bowie wrote way better songs
@@navmanshack1579 facts
You think Sinatra's voice is better than Bowie's? Sinatra had no range.
Love this. Instant subscribe. Top notch!
Everytime i watch david bowie's interviews i feel an urge to cry
i always found the song "what now my love" so similar to the song "i want to come over" by Melissa Etheridge. is it my imagination? given that Melissa Etheridge was so outspoken about intellectual rights.
Very nice video
That recording must be one of the rarest rock and roll collectibles in history.
That’s weird that Bowie wrote life on Mars and Sinatra spent his life in bars.
But we would have had "Even a fool learns to love", and how awesome would that have been?
Hey! Norwegian here.
The subtitles in the beginning is in swedish! Ha en mycket bra dag allihopa!
Love your channel mate. Keep on keeping on.
Frank did not write "My Way" The lyrics were by Paul Anka to the French song (which had different lyrics) and it was called "Comme d'habitude" ("As Usual") and the most famous version of THAT was recorded by Claude François.
David Bowie used THAT version of the song for "Life on Mars" and it had nothing to do with Frank Sinatra.
That was what I was gathering from the video but people are super ready to jumping on the fact that Frank Sinatra “stole his song” but he didn’t. He didn’t even write the new lyrics. He is just the singer.
Also the fact he knew the song lyrics was he wrote were rubbish, still turned it over and then got angry when it was replaced with better lyrics is just funny to me.
Like sure you can be a bit mad but its not really that big of a deal since you didn’t care enough in the first place.
So I just read the Wiki page about My Way. I won't copy the entire "background" but it says : Paul Anka heard the original 1967 French pop song, Comme d'habitude (As Usual) performed by Claude François, while on holiday in the south of France. He flew to Paris to negotiate the rights to the song." I have to admit I do not believe A SINGLE WORD of that "amazing Paul Anka" story. He was on vacation in France and just heard the song makes a better story than: there were companies that bought foreign songs and had writers write English lyrics for those songs.
I mean given the fact that Bowie wrote lyrics for this song first and they rejected his lyrics makes it clear that there was an English language company that had the rights for it and wanted to release it in the English language market and not OH Paul Anka just randomly stumbled upon it while on vacation. Really what a BS story. What is your take on this?
Anka finished the song at 5 in the morning. "I called Frank up in Nevada - he was at Caesar's Palace - and said, 'I've got something really special for you.'"[2] Anka claimed, "When my record company caught wind of it, they were very pissed that I didn't keep it for myself. I said, 'Hey, I can write it, but I'm not the guy to sing it.' It was for Frank, no one else."[2] Despite this, Anka would later record the song 5 times.
Max KopfraumPoops Anka was at the time a huge star in US and Canada, singer, songwriter, actor, producer and performer. I do not think he would take translation jobs from music editors like the young David Jones did in ‘67 before he called himself Bowie. Anka was driving his own companies and projects in ´his way’
Seems more likely that Anka had so much cache he could have done whatever he wanted. Even if Bowie's lyrics weren't shit (by his & the executives own assessment), Anka's version would have taken off since he was plugged into the industry directly already.