Editing Space Oddity (section)

===Music===
"Space Oddity" has been characterised as a [[psychedelic folk]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/david-bowie-the-early-years-763372 |title=Life Before Ziggy – Remembering David Bowie's Early Years |website=[[NME]] |first=Mark |last=Beaumont |date=12 January 2016|access-date=9 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509125125/https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/david-bowie-the-early-years-763372|archive-date=9 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[folk rock]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Heller |first1=Jason |title=The Secret Literary History of David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' |url=https://electricliterature.com/the-secret-literary-history-of-david-bowies-space-oddity/ |website=Electric Literature |access-date=8 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602082343/https://electricliterature.com/the-secret-literary-history-of-david-bowies-space-oddity/ |archive-date=2 June 2023 |date=8 June 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> ballad.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2014/11/04/with-david-bowies-blessing-astronaut-chris-hadfields-space-oddity-is-back-on-youtube/ |title=With David Bowie's blessing. astronaut Chris Hadfield's 'Space Oddity' is back on YouTube |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |first=Abby |last=Phillip |date=4 November 2014|access-date=22 October 2021}}</ref> It represented Bowie's new interest in acoustic music since joining the experimental trio Feathers.{{sfn|Doggett|2012|p=60}}{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=256}} [[Nicholas Pegg]] and Doggett compare the song's style, structure, lyrics and arrangement to those of the [[Bee Gees]]' 1967 single "[[New York Mining Disaster 1941]]", which has similar minor chords and chorus. Hutchinson later stated: "'Space Oddity' was a Bee Gees type song. David knew it, and he said so at the time&nbsp;... the way he sang it, it's a Bee Gees thing."{{sfn|Doggett|2012|p=60}}{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=256}}

"Space Oddity" is one of the most complex songs Bowie had written up to that point. He [[storyboard]]ed each section, all leading into the next until completion.{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 3}} According to O'Leary, in a little over five minutes, the song includes "a faded-in intro, a 12-bar solo verse, a 'liftoff' sequence, a duet verse, a bridge, a two-bar acoustic guitar break, a six-bar guitar solo, a third verse, another bridge, break and solo, and a '[[A Day in the Life|Day in the Life]]'-style outro to the fade".{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 3}} Bowie stated in 2002 he was "keen on&nbsp;... writing in such a way that it would lead me into leading some kind of rock musical".{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 3}}

Although primarily in the key of [[C major]],<ref>{{Cite web |first=David |last=Bowie |date=31 August 2010 |title=Space Oddity |url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0086062|access-date=2 June 2021 |website=Musicnotes.com|archive-date=16 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916204204/https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0086062|url-status=live}}</ref> the song has a variety of chord changes and resonances that aid in telling the story. The intro has a pairing of [[F major]]7/[[E (musical note)|E]] and [[E minor]], while the first verse alternates between C major and E minor. The guitar harmonises E and [[B (musical note)|B]] while on Stylophone, Bowie "drones" [[C (musical note)|C]] and B.{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 3}} A [[D major]] chord plays on the line "God's love be with you" during the pre-liftoff countdown sequence. In the second verse, an E7 chord on the line "really made the grade" counteracts the overall key of C major. O'Leary said this change "brightens" the song.{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 3}} The bridge's "planet Earth is blue" has a standard folk-style descending progression; ([[B-flat major|B{{flat}} major]] 9th/[[A minor]] add9/[[G major]] add9/[[F (musical note)|F]]). According to O'Leary, the B{{flat}} major9 chord "ratifies Major Tom's choice (or doom) to stay out in space". The acoustic-guitar break has a C–F–G–A–A note sequence with the two A notes emphasised.{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 3}}