It's a God-awful small affair
To the girl with the mousy hair
But her mummy is yelling "No"
And her daddy has told her to go

But her friend is nowhere to be seen
Now she walks through her sunken dream
To the seat with the clearest view
And she's hooked to the silver screen

But the film is a saddening bore
For she's lived it ten times or more
She could spit in the eyes of fools
As they ask her to focus on

Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man! Look at those cavemen go
It's the freakiest show
Take a look at the lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man, wonder if he'll ever know
He's in the best selling show
Is there life on Mars?

It's on America's tortured brow
That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow
Now the workers have struck for fame
'Cause Lenin's on sale again
See the mice in their million hordes
From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads
Rule Britannia is out of bounds
To my mother, my dog, and clowns
But the film is a saddening bore
'Cause I wrote it ten times or more
It's about to be writ again
As I ask you to focus on

Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man! Look at those cavemen go
It's the freakiest show
Take a look at the lawman
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man, wonder if he'll ever know
He's in the best selling show
Is there life on Mars?


Lyrics submitted by numb, edited by Smxxch, Mellow_Harsher, Waterlord, aljosa95, BowieTheStarman

Life On Mars? Lyrics as written by David Bowie

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Life on Mars? song meanings
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    General Comment

    I knew this song well long before I actually took a look at the lyrics and I was so blown away with how wrong I had gotten the lyrics for all these years.

    For starters, I always thought he was saying, take a look at the wrong man beating up that one guy. I thought maybe it was some really bad film cherography or something. Like a badly made western where if you looked closely in the background of a specific scene. Maybe a scene where indians and cowboys are brawling it out on the prairie. If you focus, you'll notice an indian punch another indian by mistake. Or maybe the gaffer is acidently in the shot and he is getting punched out. Haha... Anyways...

    The other lyrics I got wrong. I always thought he was saying " now the workers have struck a vane." As in they have stuck oil. They have returned to productivity after some lull in progress. The line right after that is, " cause Lennons on sale again." I technically heard the lyric right but I actually thought he was referring to the fabric like material. Not John Lennon.

    the lyric "Rule Britannia is out of bounds." I Thought he was saying " The rule they bend in is out of bounds." I dont know. I learned long ago that its very important to read the actual lyrics. If I never did then I would probably still think the Ramones are declaring "lets kick butt!" Everytime they sing "Blitzkrieg bop." Haha

    christophton September 09, 2018   Link

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