History Music / TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars

''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (often shortened to ''Ziggy Stardust'' or even just ''Ziggy'') is the fifth studio album by Music/DavidBowie, released in 1972. It is his most famous, most popular and generally most critically lauded album. "Ziggy Stardust", "Starman", "Suffragette City" and "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide" were big international hits at the time. While the album was less successful in the United States, it did help establish a cult following there, eventually being certified gold two years after its release.

Magazine/TimeMagazine included ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' in their [[TimeAllTime100Albums 2006 list of 100 timeless and essential albums.]] It was also listed at #35 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]], #23 on Magazine/{{NME}}'s [[UsefulNotes/NME500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime same-named list]], and #16 on Website/AcclaimedMusic's [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums 2018 list of their All Time Top 3,000 albums]].

# "Round and Round"

''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (often shortened to ''Ziggy Stardust'' or even just ''Ziggy'') is the fifth studio album by Music/DavidBowie, released in 1972. It is his most famous, most popular and generally most critically lauded album. "Ziggy Stardust", "Starman", "Suffragette City" and "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide" were big international hits at the time.

* IntercourseWithYou: It's hard to imagine any other explanation for "Aaaaawww ''wham bam thank you ma'am!''"

The ambiguous story of this ConceptAlbum revolves around Ziggy Stardust, a bisexual rock star (either from space or TouchedByVorlons) who rises to stardom in a time when Earth is on its last years and its people need hope. But he succumbs to the hedonistic lifestyle that comes with fame, and it's his own fans who are responsible for his death. Ironically Bowie himself nearly fell into the same trap, as "Ziggy Stardust" became such a global phenomenon that he did everything to distance himself from the "Ziggy" character, in essence reinventing himself each album. He succeeded, but still Ziggy Stardust remains the persona he is closest identified with among the general public.

# "It Ain't Easy"[[note]]Originally by Ron Davies/[[/note]] (3:00)

# "Moonage Daydream (alternate version)"[[note]]from Bowie's old band Arnold Corns[[/note]]

# "It Ain't Easy" (3:00)

''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' is the fifth studio album by Music/DavidBowie, released in 1972. It is his most famous, most popular and generally most critically lauded album. "Ziggy Stardust", "Starman", "Suffragette City" and "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide" were big international hits at the time.

* CoverVersion: The only song on the album not written by Bowie is a cover of Ron Davies' "It Ain't Easy"...not that you can tell without looking at the credits.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Oh no, love! You're not alone/No matter what or who you've been/No matter when or where you've seen/All the knives seem to lacerate your brain/I've had my share, I'll help you with the pain/You're not alone..."'']]

->''"Let the children lose it\\
Let the children use it\\
Let all the children boogie!"''
-->--"Starman"

-->''"Let the children lose it\\

--->"Starman"

-->''There's a starman waiting in the sky\\
He'd like to come and meet us\\
But he thinks he'd blow our minds\\
There's a starman waiting in the sky\\
He told us not to blow it\\
'Cause he thinks it's all worthwhile\\
He told me: "Let the children lose it\\

--"Starman"

-->''Pushing through the market square\\
So many mothers sighing\\
News had just come over\\
We had five years left to cry in''

# "Moonage Daydream"[[note]]a re-recording of an earlier Bowie song with old band Arnold Corns, with updated lyrics[[/note]] (4:35)

# "Hang On to Yourself"[[note]]a re-recording of an earlier Bowie song with old band Arnold Corns, with updated lyrics[[/note]] (2:40)

# "Moonage Daydream (alternate version)"
# "Hang On to Yourself (alternate version)"

!! "Freak out in a moonage trope dream, oh yeah":

# "Moonage Daydream" (4:35)

# "Hang On to Yourself" (2:40)

Magazine/TimeMagazine included ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' in their [[TimeAllTime100Albums 2006 list of 100 timeless and essential albums.]] It was also listed at #35 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]], #23 on Magazine/{{NME}}'s [[UsefulNotes/NMEThe500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime same-named list]], and #16 on Website/AcclaimedMusic's [[UsefulNotes/AcclaimedMusicAllTimeTopAlbums 2018 list of their All Time Top 3,000 albums]].

Magazine/TimeMagazine included ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' in their [[TimeAllTime100Albums 2006 list of 100 timeless and essential albums.]] It was also listed at #35 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]].

** "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" quotes "No, Love, You're Not Alone" by Music/JacquesBrel. Bowie was a noted fan of Brel's songs.

* JustBeforeTheEnd: "Five Years" is a look at how people respond to the news that TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is only five years off.

* LostInCharacter: After playing Ziggy for awhile, Bowie reportedly had difficulty separating his character from himself. On-stage at a concert, to the surprise of his fans (and his band), he announced that Ziggy would be retiring, as it was difficult for him (Bowie) to keep his sanity.
* MessianicArchetype: Ziggy Stardust is worshipped to the point that he believes the hype about himself by the time he dies at the hands of his fans.

* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: The song "Ziggy Stardust" itself, which is sung from the point of view of his Spiders from Mars band-mates, claims Ziggy grew egotistical once he became famous. Two of Bowie's actual band-mates from this period, Trevor Bolder and Woody Woodmansey, claim this actually happened to the real Bowie -- that he spent less and less time off-stage with them and other old acquaintances as his star rose -- and Bowie later admitted that he wrote the song partially as an apology to his loyal band-mates for his behaviour during the recording of ''Music/HunkyDory''.

-->''News-guy wept and told us''\\
''Earth was really dying''\\
''Cried so much his face was wet''\\
''Then I knew he was not lying''
* IntercourseWithYou: Is there any ''other'' explanation for "Aaaaawww wham bam thank you ma'am!"?

* MessianicArchetype: Ziggy Stardust is worshipped to the point that he believes the hype about him by the time he dies at the hands of his fans.

-->''Oh no love! You're not alone''\\
''You're watching yourself but you're too unfair''\\
''You got your head all tangled up''\\
''But if I could only make you care''

--> ''There's a starman waiting in the sky''
--> ''He'd like to come and meet us''
--> ''But he thinks he'd blow our minds''

[[caption-width-right:320:''"Oh no, love! You're not alone/No matter what or who you've been/No matter when or where you've seen/All the knives seem to lacerate your brain/I've had my share, I'll help you with the pain/You're not alone..."'']]

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ziggy_stardust_8233.jpg]]

* CosmicHorrorStory: According to Bowie, this is a possible interpretation:
-->The time is five years to go before the end of the earth. It has been announced that the world will end because of lack of natural resources. Ziggy is in a position where all the kids have access to things that they thought they wanted. The older people have lost all touch with reality and the kids are left on their own to plunder anything. Ziggy was in a rock-and-roll band and the kids no longer want rock-and-roll. There's no electricity to play it. Ziggy's adviser tells him to collect news and sing it, 'cause there is no news. So Ziggy does this and there is terrible news. "All The Young Dudes" is a song about this news. It's no hymn to the youth as people thought. It is completely the opposite...The end comes when the infinites arrive. They really are a black hole, but I've made them people because it would be very hard to explain a black hole on stage...Ziggy is advised in a dream by the infinites to write the coming of a Starman, so he writes "Starman", which is the first news of hope that the people have heard. So they latch onto it immediately...The starmen that he is talking about are called the infinites, and they are black-hole jumpers. Ziggy has been talking about this amazing spaceman who will be coming down to save the earth. They arrive somewhere in Greenwich Village. They don't have a care in the world and are of no possible use to us. They just happened to stumble into our universe by black hole jumping. Their whole life is travelling from universe to universe. In the stage show, one of them resembles Brando, another one is a Black New Yorker. I even have one called Queenie, the Infinite Fox...Now Ziggy starts to believe in all this himself and thinks himself a prophet of the future starmen. He takes himself up to the incredible spiritual heights and is kept alive by his disciples. When the infinites arrive, they take bits of Ziggy to make them real because in their original state they are anti-matter and cannot exist in our world. And they tear him to pieces on stage during the song "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide". As soon as Ziggy dies on stage the infinites take his elements and make themselves visible.

** Ziggy Stardust himself was inspired by Music/TheLegendaryStardustCowboy, where Bowie took the name from.

-->''News-guy wept and told us:''\\