Chords with lyrics
Song: Life On Mars?
Artist: David Bowie
Album: Hunky Dory, 1971
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars_%28song%29
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kPDJQBtHaY (Live)
Tempo: 4|4
Style: Weimar & French Cabaret Style
Tuning: Standard
Capo 3
Chords EADGBe
D MajorD XX0232
F#m/C X44222
F#dim7/C X34242
BB X24442
E minorEm 022000
G/DG/D XX0002
A7A7 X02020
F/CF/C X33211
C#augC#aug XX3221
DmDm XX0231
Eb MajorEb XX1343
Bb majorBb X13331
BbaugBbaug X10332
G minorGm 355333
Bb7/F XX3334
G+G 320003
C majorC X32010
EbaugEbaug XX1003
E minor 7Em7 020000
Am7Am7 X02010
Cm7Cm7 X35353
C#m7b5C#m7b5 X4545X
Ebdim7Ebdim7 XX1212
BdimBdim X2343X
F# minorF#m 244222
C minorCm X35543
INTRO:(Piano over)
|D MajorD |
VERSE 1:
D MajorD 
F#m/C#F#m/C# F#dim7/C
It's a god-awful small affair,
BB E minorEm
To the girl with the mousy hair.
G/DG/D A7A7
But her mummy is yelling "No!?,
D MajorD
And her daddy has told her to go.
F#m/C F#dim7/C
But her friend is nowhere to be seen.
BB E minorEm
Now she walks, through her sunken dream.
G/DG/D A7A7
To the seat with the clearest view,
F/CF/C
And she's hooked to the silver screen.
C#augC#aug DmDm
But the film is a saddening bore.
Eb MajorEb Bb majorBb
For she's lived it ten times or more.
BbaugBbaug G minorGm
She could spit in the eyes of fools,
Bb7/F
As they ask her to focus on?
CHORUS 1:
G+G C majorC
Sailors fighting in the dance hall.
E minor 7Em7
Oh man!
EbaugEbaug D MajorD
Look at those cavemen go,
DmDm Am7Am7
It's the freakiest show.
Cm7Cm7 G+G
Take a look at the Lawman,
C majorC E minor 7Em7
Beating up the wrong guy.
EbaugEbaug D MajorD
Oh man, wonder if he'll ever know,
DmDm Am7Am7
He's in the best selling show.
Cm7Cm7 E minor 7Em7
Is there life on Mars?
BRIDGE:
|EbaugEbaug G/DG/D|C#m7b5C#m7b5 D MajorD|
|Ebdim7Ebdim7 E minorEm|BdimBdim F# minorF#m|
|G+G G minorGm|D MajorD |
VERSE 2:
D MajorD F#m/C#F#m/C# F#dim7/C
It's on Amerika's tortured brow.
BB E minorEm
That Mickey Mouse, has grown up a cow.
G/DG/D A7A7
Now the workers, have struck for fame.
D MajorD
'Cause Lennon's on sale again,
F#m/C F#dim7/C
See the mice in their million hordes.
BB E minorEm
From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads,
G/DG/D A7A7
Rule Britannia is out-of-bounds.
F/CF/C
To my mother, my dog and clowns.
C#augC#aug DmDm
But the film is a saddening bore,
Eb MajorEb Bb majorBb
'Cause I wrote it, ten times or more.
BbaugBbaug G minorGm
It's about to be writ again,
Bb7/F
As I ask you to focus on?
CHORUS 2:
G+G C majorC
Sailors fighting in the dance hall.
E minor 7Em7
Oh man!
EbaugEbaug D MajorD
Look at those cavemen go,
DmDm Am7Am7
It's the freakiest show.
Cm7Cm7 G+G
Take a look at the Lawman,
C majorC E minor 7Em7
Beating up the wrong guy.
EbaugEbaug D MajorD
Oh man, wonder if he'll ever know,
DmDm Am7Am7
He's in the best selling show.
Cm7Cm7 E minor 7Em7
Is there life on Mars?
CODA:(Instrumental & Fade)
|C#m7b5C#m7b5 |D MajorD |
|Ebdim7Ebdim7 |E minorEm |
|G/DG/D |G/DG/D |
|G/DG/D |C majorC |
|C minorCm |G+G |
Very low frequency, Reprise of the INTRO Piano (Fade Out)
|(D MajorD) |
[End]
NOTES:
1. ??In 1967 Claude Francois recorded Comme d?habitude, a song that became pretty fast famous in the USA.
At that time a young David Bowie was commissioned to rewrite and sing the lyrics in English, hoping to
give a larger diffusion to his debut record and earn popularity across the States. Even a Fool learns
to Love,
as the song was retitled, was unfortunately never released. Paul Anka, with a huge sense of business,
bought the rights of that French song and rewrote it into the famous My Way. In a short time that
version reached a huge popularity thanks to Sinatra?s interpretation. ?
2. ??But what?s the point of quoting Mickey Mouse, John Lennon and a bunch of workers in the lyrics?
To clear this point is to remind a huge Disney?s animators strike during the 40s. That fact
(?a god-awful small affair? as Bowie sing) showed how the company turned arts and entertainment into
factories and products. The ?girl with the mousy hair? is quite bored of the repetitive work is doing
(?she?s lived it ten times or more?) but it seems like there?s no way out: the revolution became a product
itself, the idealism is ready to be sold on silver screens and dance halls. Even the 60s student protests
turned into a brand. That?s the reason why Lenin-Lennon was once again up for sale. Life on Mars itself
became a best seller from being an anti-showbusiness hymn. ??
https://musicblob.wordpress.com/2013/11/02/david-bowie-life-on-mars/
3. ??Bowie noted that Wakeman "embellished the piano part" of his original melody and guitarist
Mick Ronson "created one of his first and best string parts" for the song.[1] The liner notes for
Hunky Dory indicate that the song was 'inspired by Frankie'. ??
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars_%28song%29
4. This is simply ?my take? on how this might have been accompanied. By using the Capo on the third fret,
it reduces the Chorus to simple open chords. Hence, this version differs from all previous versions.
Feel free to transpose or simplify to suit your playing style. I believe that it comes very close to the
spirit of the original. :-R
Other versions of Life On Mars2
Alternative guitar chords and tabs for Life On Mars2 by David Bowie
