 |
| Why so sad? |
Occasionally, hearing solely the first chord of a song can establish
the feeling of an entire song. This is because of major and minor keys in
music. Without going into extensive music theory, major keys are known for
sounding bright and cheery, while minor keys are known for sounding grim, sad,
or solemn.
The Chris Hadfield rendition of this song applies to one of
those cases; the first piano chord carries a strong sense of sorrow. This is
the first emotional appeal, or pathos appeal, found in the 2013 cover of Space
Oddity.
 |
| Zero Gravity fun! |
The first verse continues this feeling, forcing the listener
to ponder the source of the sorrow. Hadfield even carries a troubled, mournful
face so seemingly no reason. After all, Mr. Hadfield IS in outer space, and
appearing to be having a great time in his zero-gravity home…
With the first chorus comes a chord shift to a less solemn
sounding tune, as other elements in the lyrics and video begin to appeal to
listener’s emotions.
The music video over the chorus appeals particularly to the
human desire for adventure. Hadfield it depicted doing several tricks in the
zero-gravity environment, such as spinning a guitar, or soaring down a corridor.
The final element seems to only hold power if the listener
has also heard the original of the song, David Bowie’s Space Oddity. Toward the
end of David Bowie’s version, Major Tom floats away into space, losing all
contact with ground control in a sorrowful conclusion. On the contrary, in
Chris Hadfield’s rendition, the end of the song brings a safe landing on earth.
Instead of the original lyric “Tell my wife I love her very much”, Hadfield
instead chooses “our commander comes back to earth”. A listener familiar with
the original song will find this new line encouraging, as their favorite Major
Tom will, this time, find his way back to our blue planet earth.
~Greg Fiola
No comments:
Post a Comment