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Major Tom (Coming Home)

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"Major Tom (Coming Home)"
Single by Peter Schilling
from the album Error in the System
B-side
  • "Völlig Losgelöst" (NA)
  • "The Noah Plan" (UK)
Released24 March 1983
Recorded1982[discuss]
Genre
Length
  • 4:33 (German edit)
  • 5:00 (English version)
  • 8:02 (extended version)
Label
Songwriter(s)Peter Schilling
Producer(s)
Peter Schilling singles chronology
"Fehler Im System"
(1982) 		"Major Tom (Coming Home)"
(1983) 		"Terra Titanic"
(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, 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.

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

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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

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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

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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

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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]

Charts

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Chart (1983–1984) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 57
Austrian Singles Chart 1
Belgian Singles Chart[9] 3
Canadian Singles Chart[10] 1
Dutch Singles Chart[11] 2
French Singles Chart 2
German Singles Chart 1
Irish Singles Chart 22
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[12] 13
Bolivian Chart[13] 1
South African Chart 4
Swiss Singles Chart 1
UK Singles Chart[14] 42
US Billboard Hot 100[15] 14
US Billboard Dance/Disco Top 80[16] 2
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[17] 10
Year-end chart (1983) Rank
Austrian Singles Chart[18] 13
Belgian Singles Chart[19] 43
Dutch Singles Chart[20] 22
German Singles Chart[21] 1
Swiss Singles Chart[22] 4
Year-end chart (1984) Rank
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[23] 33
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[24] 96
American Top 40 Top 100 songs of 1984 97

Certifications

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Certifications for "Major Tom"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[25] Gold 50,000^
Germany (BVMI)[26] 2× Platinum 1,000,000‡

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

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[edit]
  • 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, played by Charlize Theron, fights off would be assailants inside an Audi V8 D1 Typ 4C after arriving in Berlin.[35]
  • It was also 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 Huttese language version was created for a trailer for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.[38]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Wide, Steve (September 22, 2020). "Honourable Mentions: New Wave 'One-Hit Wonders'". A Field Guide to Post-Punk and New Wave. Smith Street Books. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-925811-76-6.
  2. ^ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). "A Flock of Seagulls". Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. p. 154. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  3. ^ a b Edwards, Gavin (2 October 2016). "Missed the '80s? Nena, and '99 Luftballons,' Alights Live in America". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Major Tom (Völlig losgelöst) - Lyrics". Genius.com. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Major Tom (Coming Home)" by Peter Schilling (Hot 100) – Billboard.
  6. ^ a b "Ultimative Torhymne: Diese Version von Major Tom wird euch umhauen!". SWR3 (in German). 2024-06-21. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  7. ^ Klasen, Lena (2024-07-08). "Über 40 Jahre nach Veröffentlichung: "Major Tom" mit Rekord zurück in den Charts". DIFFUS (in German). Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  8. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. ^ "Charts". Ultratop (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  10. ^ "Collectionscanada.gc.ca". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  11. ^ Top 40 Hit dossier 1956-2001 ISBN 90-257-3349-2
  12. ^ "charts.nz Peter Schilling "Major Tom (Coming Home)"" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  13. ^ "Canciones más populares en Bolivia". La Opinión (in Spanish). 16 June 1984. p. 11.
  14. ^ "OfficialCharts.com". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  15. ^ "Single / Peter Schilling / Major Tom (Coming Home)". Billboard Database. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  16. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 228.
  17. ^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending JANUARY 14, 1984". Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 2017-08-20.. Cash Box magazine.
  18. ^ "Jahreshitparade Singles 1983" (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  19. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1983". Ultratop (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  20. ^ "Jaaroverzichten - Single 1983" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  21. ^ "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts" (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  22. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1983" (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  23. ^ "Top 100 Singles of 1984". RPM. Vol. 41, no. 17. Library and Archives Canada. 5 January 1985. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  24. ^ "Talent Almanac 1985: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 96, no. 51. December 22, 1984. p. TA-19.
  25. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Peter Schilling – Major Tom". Music Canada. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  26. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Peter Schilling; 'Major Tom')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  27. ^ "Major Tom by Plastic Bertrand - Samples, Covers, Remixes". Whosampled.com. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  28. ^ "Space Oddity/Major Tom (Coming Home) | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  29. ^ [1] Archived January 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ [2] Major Tom EP on Discogs
  31. ^ [3] Major Tom/Radar Love single on Discogs
  32. ^ TNT Productions - Jay Del Alma feat. Peter Schilling - "Vuela (Major Tom)" (in German)
  33. ^ Breaking Bad S4- Gale (Major Tom) on YouTube. Access date, Jan 31, 2021
  34. ^ The Umbrella Academy Season Two’s Most Ridiculous Soundtrack Choices, Ranked - Meslow, Scott. Aug 6, 2020
  35. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Atomic Blonde (2017) - Car Escape Scene (1/10) | Movieclips". 9 November 2017 – via YouTube.
  36. ^ "Every song from S2E14 - the Blacklist, "T Earl King VI"".
  37. ^ "The Blacklist - Season 2 Soundtrack".
  38. ^ "Skeleton Crew | Official Trailer | Disney+". YouTube. Star Wars. 1 November 2024. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
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