"Major Tom (Coming Home)" (German: Major Tom [völlig losgelöst], 'Major Tom [completely detached]') is a new wave song written and sung by German musician Peter Schilling, released as the lead single from his album Error in the System. Featuring the story of a character unofficially related to "Major Tom", an astronaut depicted in British musician David Bowie's 1969 song "Space Oddity" and other releases, Schilling's track describes a protagonist who leaves Earth and begins drifting out into outer space as radio contact breaks off with his ground control team. His fate is left ambiguous as the song ends.
The song is one of multiple singles by various artists with a pop music related style influenced by the cultural roboticism associated with Berlin, Germany.[3] It is specifically a part of the "Neue Deutsche Welle" (NDW), a social movement in the arts within German society, and is one of its pieces that crossed over into the popular culture of other nations. Versions in both the English language and in Schilling's native German have earned critical and commercial acclaim over multiple decades.
Background
The song describes a calm, reflective astronaut known as Major Tom that's detached from the psychological stress of his colleagues, who spend a significant amount of time engaging in certain scientific experiments about which he feels uncertain. An emotional insight breaks through his senses while he happily experiences weightlessness. The protagonist then meets his ambiguous fate after losing radio contact with other human beings. One line describes the Major as realizing that "mich führt hier ein Licht durch das All" or "a light now guides me through space". He leaves Earth and begins drifting out into outer space.[4]
Chart performance
The song was originally recorded in the German language and released in West Germany on 3 January 1983. It reached No. 1 in West Germany as well as in both Austria and Switzerland. The English version was first released in the United States on 24 September 1983. This version reached No. 1 in Canada, No. 4 in South Africa and peaked at No. 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of 24 December 1983.[5] The English-language version of the song also reached No. 2 on the US Dance chart.
Reception
In retrospect, journalist Gavin Edwards of The New York Times has stated that "Major Tom" became a key part of "a brief-lived flowering of Kraut-pop in the [United] States" during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Schilling's work proved to be "a hit in its English-language version" alongside other commercial "successes". Those include Trio's "Da Da Da" and After the Fire's "Der Kommissar" (which was a cover of a release by Falco), with Nena's "99 Luftballons" crossing over the Atlantic Ocean to commercial praise even in an untranslated version.[3]
Other versions
In 1994, Schilling released a remixed version along with Boom-Bastic, titled "Major Tom 94". Other remixes were released in 2000, titled "Major Tom 2000", and in 2003, titled "Major Tom 2003".
On 24 March 2024, a petition was initiated to make "Major Tom" the new goal song for the Germany national football team for the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship. The song was used during two previous friendly matches as individual goal songs are not allowed by UEFA.[6] During the UEFA Championship in the summer 2024, the original version of "Major Tom" re-entered the top ten of the German singles chart after more than 40 years.[7] Schilling stated publicly that he felt emotionally overwhelmed by the support and praised his fans.[6]
English singer-songwriter Jonathan King released a mashup of "Major Tom (Coming Home)" together with David Bowie's "Space Oddity" titled "Space Oddity / Major Tom (Coming Home)". This release reached No. 77 on the UK Singles Chart in May 1984.[28]
A cover version by Shiny Toy Guns, was released in 2009; an advertising commercial for the Lincoln MKZ, featured this cover.[29]
American hard rock band Heaven Below released a cover in 2009 on their debut album Countdown to Devil and included a live recording on its companion album Reworking the Devil that same year.
In 2016, Jay Del Alma released a Spanish-language remake titled "Vuela (Major Tom)" with Schilling on vocals.[32]
Another remix was published in 2020 by Spinnin' Records alongside Austrian DJ LUM!X and German DJ duo Hyperclap.
Ava Max interpolated the chorus melody in the chorus of her 2020 song "Born To The Night".
In popular media
The song was used as the theme song for the distribution outside Germany of the TV show series Deutschland 83.
The song was used in AMC's Breaking Bad, in a scene where Hank Schrader, Walter White, and Walter Jr. watch a video of the drug chemist Gale Boetticher singing the song at a karaoke bar on a vacation to Thailand.[33]
In season 2, episode 5 of the Netflix original series The Umbrella Academy, the song was used when Pogo, the chimpanzee character on the show, was traveling into outer space and back to earth.[34]
The song was used in the car escape scene in Atomic Blonde (2017) when Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) fights off would be assailants inside an Audi V8 D1 Typ 4C after arriving in Berlin.[35]
The song was used in the fourth season of the show The Americans.
An instrumental version of the song was used during the 1980s as the introduction music of the San Diego Sockers (1978-1996).
The German version was used in the series The Blacklist Season 2 Episode 14 T Earl King VI.[36][37]
The song was used as part of supposed communication with aliens in Season 1 of Invasion, an original series by Apple.
The English version was used in season 1, episode 2 of the 2023 Netflix original series Wrestlers
A cover in the fictionalHuttese language was created for a trailer for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.[38] A full-length version titled "Youngee Wim (Bunky Dunko)" was released on December 4, 2024[39][40], featuring vocals by the show's sound designer David W. Collins and supervising sound editor Matthew Wood.[41]
