Kerry Says ~ Can You Hear Me?

Copyright IronShrineMaiden on DeviantArt
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This is ground control to Major Tom, 

 You've really made the grade 

And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear 

Now it's time to leave the capsule 

 If you dare. 

 This is Major Tom to Ground Control 

I’m stepping through the door 

And I'm floating in a most peculiar way 

And the stars look very different today

Few of us who were around in the 70's could fail to have been impacted by David Bowie's Space Oddity (1969). Written at a time when the world was fascinated with space travel, shortly on the heels of Armstrong and Aldrin's first steps on the moon (July 20, 1969) and the release of Stanley Kubrick's ground-breaking movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), the song took its place as an icon of progressive thinking in the latter half of the Twentieth Century. 

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Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles, 

 I'm feeling very still 

And I think my spaceship knows which way to go. 

Tell my wife I love her very much, 

 She knows. 

 Ground control to Major Tom, 

 Your circuit’s dead, 

 There's something wrong 

Can you hear me, Major Tom?

Several interpretations of the lyrics have been discussed over the years, including feelings of alienation, the world’s loss of meaning to the individual, death, the afterlife. Bowie’s own interpretation went through several changes. Now it is fifty years on - we are living in the future scientists, artists and story-tellers had only begun to imagine and loss of human connection is more prevalent than ever imagined. Increasingly, people live vicariously through media networks, online social interfaces consuming gigs of data like buckets of popcorn with eyes glued to touch screens, while failing to reach out a hand and really connect with those around them. Yet one of the most fundamental characteristics of what it means to be human is the need to be heard.

Our Challenge today is to consider this theme of alienation, what it means to really hear and respond to the needs of others or the concept of Futurism. The complete lyrics for Space Oddity may be read HERE. I leave you with this video clip of Astronaut Chris Hadfield performing the song on the International Space Station.