iPod Essentials #70: "Space Oddity"--David Bowie

Whenever I'm troubled, the first song on my iPod or on my Bose system at home or in the SUV on the road is "Space Oddity." I've been listening to it a lot this week. (My week: money troubles, didn't get hired at the same ______ community college that turned me down for a job last year, even though I was a finalist--go figure that one, and the new sudden growth on the face of my beloved dog, Magic.)

"Space Oddity" was a very unique song for 1969 telling the tale of Major Tom, a figure through much of Bowie's early works. Is Major Tom an astronaut, drug addict, or soldier? That remains to be seen. A depressing song, it reminds me that the universe creates problems that no one will ever understand.