So the other day on my way home from work, I’m listening to Big 100.3, the former oldies station that now passes for classic rock both because the other classic rock stations have either a) migrated to sucky garage band modern rock, or b) migrated to sucky soft modern rock, and because classic rock is apparently considered oldies at this point. I'm bracing for the day I hear Van Halen or Bon Jovi playing there. I know it's coming.
Anyway, so David Bowie’s "Major Tom" comes on. I understand it's about the astronaut's all-consuming rapture with the enormity and undiscovered territory that is outer space, but I’ve always thought it was an exceedingly sad song. He goes up in the ship and... never comes back. He knows he's going to certain and probably very uncomfortable death, and he's cool with that. He says goodbye to his wife from way up there, which kills me (and the "She knows," bit always makes me wonder whether they had talked about it and she knew he was going to hijack the ship for his own personal tour of The Black, but that doesn't make it any better.) All the people down here who care about him, he just leaves - POOF! But really, that’s neither here nor there because at the end of the day, it's a made-up song about made-up people. Point is, ever since then, the opening sequence of the song has been looping in my head.
But it’s not David Bowie singing.
It’s Matt Le-freaking-Blanc from that episode of Friends where he was singing it to Phoebe because his singing always made her do whatever he wanted! (I think that particular episode was the ride back from Vegas and he was in the back of the cab, having pissed her off for some reason, and he was trying to get back on her good side. Don’t ask me why I remember all these crappy details about crappy shows (in hindsight, it was a pretty stupid show, and I’m still stunned anyone ever thought LeBlanc had talent above vapid wannabe actor (since there’s no acting above that involved in the Joey character) and I just realized I’ve lost count of how many parenthetical statements within parenthetical statements I’ve made. So I’ll just stick a bunch of closers on here to cover my bases.))))
So. Moral of the story. The talentless Mr. LeBlanc has been singing in my head all week.
I’ll accept your pity starting...... Now.
4 comments:
Just so you know, I believe the song's title is "Space Oddity". Someone did a follow up song where Maj Tom survived. Anyone out there remember who that was. I think it was a bad 80's band.
My sympathies for having Chandler stuck in your head.
I'm not sure what song you're describing, but on the 1980 Bowie album "Scary Monsters" there's a song called "Ashes To Ashes" which is a sequel to "Space Oddity," and this song is, I'm sorry to report, a bit of a downer as well. In it, good old Tom is still floating around the world, making cynical and melancholy observations, and he's addicted to drugs to boot. Here are the lyrics for your edification:
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/david+bowie/ashes+to+ashes_20036971.html
But Chandler singing "Space Oddity" into a camcorder is funny, low-brow or no.
Yeah yeah yeah, Space Oddity not Major Tom, blah blah blah. You still knew which one I was talking about. :)
And it was Joey, not Chandler. Matthew Perry certainly has a schtick that shows up in just about every movie he's cast in, but at least he can play different characters. Matt LeBlanc played Joey who, while funny and endearing in the first season when we hadn't been overexposed to him, became the most pointless and irritating character on the show by the ninth. And yet, they greenlighted "Joey" but axed "Firefly". And "Arrested Development". That's showbiz. I guess.
About to reveal just how uncool I was in high school by letting on how much Friends I watched:
Joey may well have sung "Space Oddity," but so did Chandler. It's the episode where Joey invites his ancient grandmother over to watch "Law & Order," which he's finally secured a small role in. Trouble is, part way through the program they are watching, a body is brought out in a stretcher covered in a sheet. Joey whispers to the other "Friends" that the body was him, and apparently they've cut his part from the show (big frickin surprise). He says if his Nana finds out he's been cut out from the show, she'll keel over and die...or something.
In an effort to prevent this, the guys run next door to their apartment and film a new ending to Law & Order with their camcorder, and then they take the tape they've made back to the girls' apartment and try to slip it in under granny's nose.
Granny watches said tape, and is thrilled that her little bambino was on L&O. Then the part of the tape they just filmed ends, and there on the television is Chandler, with a spoon, singing "Space Oddity" into the camera. Joey tries to convince his granny that Chandler is, in fact, Sam Waterston.
They ran the Chandler bit in it's entirety under the credits for that episode.
Now I will go hang my head in a very uncool corner.
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