Major Tom (Coming Home) Explained

Major Tom (Coming Home)
Cover:Peter-Schilling-Major-Tom-179173.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Peter Schilling
Album:Error in the System
B-Side:
  • "Völlig Losgelöst" (NA)
  • "The Noah Plan" (UK)
Released:24 March 1983
Recorded:1983
Genre:New wave[1]
Prev Title:Fehler Im System
Prev Year:1982
Next Title:Terra Titanic
Next Year:1984

"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 that was first released as a 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.

In terms of specific lyrics, the song describes a calm, reflective astronaut detached from the psychological stress of his colleagues, who spend a significant amount of time engaging in certain scientific experiments of which he feels uncertain about. An emotional insight breaks through his senses while he happily experiences weightlessness and meets his ambiguous, unclear fate after losing contact with other human beings. One specific line describes Major Tom as realizing that "mich führt hier ein Licht durch das All" or "a light now guides me through space".[2]

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. 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 and release history

In terms of specific lyrics, 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 of which he feels uncertain about. An emotional insight breaks through his senses while he happily experiences weightlessness. The protagonist then meets his ambiguous, unclear fate after losing radio contact with other human beings. One specific 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.[2]

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, Austria, and Switzerland. The English version was first released in the United States on 24 September 1983. It reached No. 1 in Canada, No. 4 in South Africa and peaked at No. 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart the week of 24 December 1983.[3] The English-language version of the song also reached No. 2 on the dance chart in the U.S. In 1994, Schilling made and 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.[4] During the UEFA Championship in the summer 2024, the original version of "Major Tom" re-entered the Top Ten of the German Single Charts after more than 40 years.[5] Schilling stated publicly that he felt emotionally overwhelmed by the support and praised his fans.[4]

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.[6]

Charts

Chart (1983–1984)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[7] 57
Austrian Singles Chart1
Belgian Singles Chart[8] 3
Canadian Singles Chart[9] 1
Dutch Singles Chart[10] 2
French Singles Chart2
German Singles Chart1
Irish Singles Chart22
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] 13
Bolivian Chart[12] 1
South African Chart4
Swiss Singles Chart1
UK Singles Chart[13] 42
U.S. Billboard Hot 10014
US "Billboard" Dance/Disco Top 80[14] 2
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[15] 10
Year-end chart (1983) Rank
Austrian Singles Chart[16] 13
Belgian Singles Chart[17] 43
Dutch Singles Chart[18] 22
German Singles Chart[19] 1
Swiss Singles Chart[20] 4
Year-end chart (1984) Rank
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[21] 96
American Top 40 Top 100 songs of 198497

Cover versions

In popular media

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Wide, Steve. A Field Guide to Post-Punk and New Wave. September 22, 2020. Honourable Mentions: New Wave 'One-Hit Wonders'. 72. Smith Street Books. 978-1-925811-76-6.
  2. Web site: Major Tom (Völlig losgelöst) - Lyrics. Genius.com. 29 July 2024.
  3. https://www.billboard.com/artist/peter-schilling/chart-history/hsi/ "Major Tom (Coming Home)" by Peter Schilling (Hot 100)  - Billboard.
  4. Web site: 2024-06-21 . Ultimative Torhymne: Diese Version von Major Tom wird euch umhauen! . 2024-06-25 . SWR3 . de.
  5. Web site: Klasen . Lena . 2024-07-08 . Über 40 Jahre nach Veröffentlichung: „Major Tom“ mit Rekord zurück in den Charts . 2024-07-10 . DIFFUS . de-DE.
  6. News: Missed the '80s? Nena, and '99 Luftballons,' Alights Live in America. The New York Times. Gavin. Edwards. Gavin Edwards (writer). 29 July 2024. 2 October 2016.
  7. Book: Kent, David . . David Kent (historian) . Australian Chart Book . . 1993 . 0-646-11917-6.
  8. Web site: Charts . . NL . 2023-03-28 .
  9. Web site: Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 27 August 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140202094646/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.4442&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=tq6u6j8obic32egemp6vqpttc1 . 2 February 2014 .
  10. Top 40 Hit dossier 1956-2001
  11. Web site: charts.nz Peter Schilling "Major Tom (Coming Home)" . Hung Medien . . ASP . 14 May 2017.
  12. News: Canciones más populares en Bolivia. La Opinión. es. 16 June 1984. 11.
  13. Web site: OfficialCharts.com . . 14 May 2017.
  14. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003 . Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 228.
  15. Web site: CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending JANUARY 14, 1984 . 2017-08-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121001104352/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/80s_files/19840114.html . 1 October 2012. . Cash Box magazine.
  16. Web site: Jahreshitparade Singles 1983 . DE . 2023-03-28 .
  17. Web site: Jaaroverzichten 1983 . . NL . 2023-03-28 .
  18. Web site: Jaaroverzichten - Single 1983 . NL . 2023-03-28 .
  19. Web site: Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts . DE . 2023-03-28 .
  20. Web site: Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1983 . DE . 2023-03-28 .
  21. December 22, 1984 . Talent Almanac 1985: Top Pop Singles . TA-19 . Billboard . 96 . 51.
  22. Web site: Major Tom by Plastic Bertrand - Samples, Covers, Remixes. Whosampled.com. July 30, 2022.
  23. Web site: Space Oddity/Major Tom (Coming Home) | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company . .
  24. http://shinytoyguns.com/news/major-tom/
  25. https://www.discogs.com/master/590853-Apoptygma-Berzerk-Major-Tom-EP
  26. https://www.discogs.com/master/604654-The-Space-Lady-Major-Tom-Radar-Love
  27. http://www.tnt-productions.de/artist/jay-del-alma/ TNT Productions - Jay Del Alma feat. Peter Schilling - "Vuela (Major Tom)"
  28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxZChYTuIJo Breaking Bad S4- Gale (Major Tom) on YouTube. Access date, Jan 31, 2021
  29. https://www.vulture.com/article/umbrella-academy-season-2-needle-drops-ridiculous-ranked.html The Umbrella Academy Season Two’s Most Ridiculous Soundtrack Choices, Ranked - Meslow, Scott. Aug 6, 2020
  30. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Web site: Atomic Blonde (2017) - Car Escape Scene (1/10) Movieclips . YouTube.
  31. Web site: Every song from S2E14 - the Blacklist, "T Earl King VI" .
  32. Web site: The Blacklist - Season 2 Soundtrack .

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