<P> One reviewer suggested the song was written after "a brief and painful affair" with actress Hermione Farthingale . While on tour in 1990, Bowie introduced the song by saying "You fall in love, you write a love song . This is a love song ." </P> <P> BBC Radio has described "Life on Mars?" as having "one of the strangest lyrics ever" consisting of a "slew of surreal images" like a Salvador Dalí painting . The line "Look at those cavemen go" is a reference to the song "Alley Oop", a one - off hit in 1960 for American doo - wop band The Hollywood Argyles . </P> <P> Bowie, at the time of Hunky Dory's release in 1971, summed up the song as "A sensitive young girl's reaction to the media ." In 1997, he added: "I think she finds herself disappointed with reality...that although she's living in the doldrums of reality, she's being told that there's a far greater life somewhere, and she's bitterly disappointed that she doesn't have access to it ." </P> <P> Mick Rock filmed and directed a promotional video backstage at Earl's Court, on 12 May 1973, to accompany the release of the song as a single . It features a heavily made - up Bowie performing the song solo against a white backdrop, in a turquoise "ice - blue" suit designed by Freddi Buretti . It was Bowie's fourth music video . </P>

What do the lyrics to life on mars mean
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