Starman (track)
by David Bowie
Year: 1972
From the album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (track #4)
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Starman appears on the following album(s) by David Bowie:
- The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (track #4) (this album) (1972)
- Best Of Bowie (track #6) (compilation) (2002)
- The Singles Collection (track #3) (compilation) (1993)
- Bowie At The Beeb (track #31) (2000)
- The Best Of David Bowie 1969/1974 (track #3) (compilation) (1997)
- Changestwobowie (track #3) (compilation) (1981)
- Fame And Fashion (track #3) (compilation) (1984)
- Legacy (track #6) (compilation) (2016)
- Chameleon (track #1) (compilation) (1979)
- Glastonbury 2000 (track #16) (2018)
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Starman ratings
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Showing latest 3 ratings for this track. | Show all 1,182 ratings for this track.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Track ratings | Avg. track rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 5 days ago | fatpizzachef | 185 | 89/100 |
| ! | 10/11/2026 23:57 |  Musicbuff123 | 857 | 71/100 |
| ! | 10/11/2026 21:08 | Mafedere | 12,332 | 74/100 |
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This track is rated in the top 1% of all tracks on BestEverAlbums.com. This track has a Bayesian average rating of 93.0/100, a mean average of 92.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 93.2/100. The standard deviation for this track is 11.1.
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Starman comments
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Brilliant song - Space Oddity might have been his first hit, but this is probably the song that turned everyone onto Bowie and introduced him as something new and different.
It does feel like the alien has landed and will be using rock'n'roll to deliver his message.
Regarding the Somewhere Over The Rainbow reference, that is spot on, the octave leap on the word "Starman" is identical to that on the word "Somewhere" in "Over the Rainbow" and I believe that Bowie would sometime throw a bit of the Somewhere Over The Rainbow into the song in live performances as a cheeky nod to that. You can easily sing along to the chorus with Somewhere.
Did you know however, that the song nearly never made it onto the album and was a late replacement for Chuck Berry's "Round & Round" - that would have been a travesty!
The album works well as a concept story album, but wasn't set out to be - so imagine if Round & Round had been in there instead of Starman! What an inspired decision whoever made that call. (Edited)
DeusExMackia TOP 100 COMMENTER 06/14/2018 21:18 | #216758
It would be impossible to put into words what this one song has meant and continues to mean to so many people. One of the most important records in the history of popular music. (Edited)
One of many moments where Bowie proves he is the greatest solo artist of all time. (Edited)
This song reminds me of The Wizard of Oz. I think it's because "Staaar-MAAAN" sounds like "Sooome-WHEEERE" from Over the Rainbow. (Edited)
jhuik TOP 100 COMMENTER 06/09/2017 03:53 | #192268
So damn great, yes, every single thing about this song. An astonishingly original, gorgeous mindfuck of a song. (Edited)
