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Bowie (Flight of the Conchords)
Encyclopedia
"Bowie" is the sixth episode of the HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords
. The episode first aired in the United States
on Sunday, July 22, 2007.
After a photo session, Bret develops body image issues and gets some dream advice from his idol, David Bowie
. Jemaine plots to cheer him up and Murray tries to get one of the band's tunes used for a musical greeting card.
-era David Bowie
(performed by Jemaine, whose resemblance is acknowledged by Bret) telling him not to worry about his body image and advising him to get an eyepatch
.
Murray announces that he has arranged a meeting with a company who are interested in using one of the band's songs in a musical greeting card. Jemaine visits Mel and asks her to cheer Bret up complimenting him next time she sees him. Later Jemaine tries to cheer Bret up himself by singing him a song he has written, "Bret, You've Got It Going On".
After Bowie's eyepatch suggestion causes accidents, Bret is visited again in a dream, this time by Bowie dressed as he appears in the "Ashes to Ashes
" music video. Bowie advises him to do something "absolutely outrageous" when the "time is right". The next day they see Mel on the street who compliments Bret profusely at the expense of Jemaine who now starts to doubt his own body image.
At the greeting card meeting the owner, David Armstrong (played by John Hodgman
), tries to explain the workings of the audio card to technically challenged Murray, Jemaine and Bret. When Armstrong says that he feels that the band are not really interested in the opportunity, Bret sees it as the cue to do something outrageous. He leaps onto the manager's desk and exposes himself. On the bus ride home, Murray and Jemaine express their disappointment with Bret for ruining the business opportunity and Murray becomes depressed that his management skills were not good enough to prevent the incident or spin it well.
That night Bret gets visited again. This time it is Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King
from the movie Labyrinth
. A disappointed Bowie tells Bret that he is out of advice and has lost confidence in his ability to help people. The scene ends with a song and music video, "Bowie", that mimics various performance styles and roles from David Bowie's career.
Later, Bret drinks a cup of coffee with Jemaine and Dave (Arj Barker
) outside of Dave's pawn shop, where he concludes that if even David Bowie sometimes loses self-confidence, then he should not have to be so insecure about his body image. Murray arrives and tells them that despite the disastrous meeting, the greeting card company decided to produce the card anyway, but because the chosen design is "Happy 80th Birthday, Son" very few cards are made and the band ends up earning only 50¢.
The song is one of the few in the television series to have no accompanying montage or fantasy sequence and is performed primarily by Jemaine on guitar and vocals. It had previously been used in the second episode of the Flight of the Conchords radio series
and was later released as an iTunes-only bonus track for pre-orders of their soundtrack album
.
of the many musical styles and visual aesthetics that Bowie has used in his career and features a long fantasy sequence that takes place in outer space. The song mimics the style of "Space Oddity", "John, I'm Only Dancing
", "Let's Dance
" and "Sound and Vision
" and also briefly references "Changes
" and "Life on Mars?
" in the lyrics.
The accompanying music video includes imagery from many aspects of David Bowie's career, including elements of the original video for "Space Oddity" from his 1969 promotional film Love You till Tuesday and Bowie's costume from his 1974 appearance on TopPop performing "Rebel Rebel
", as well as references to his interests in mime
and sci-fi imagery. The extreme close-ups and profile images of Bret and Jemaine's faces against black backgrounds are similar to those of David Bowie and Candy Clark
in The Man Who Fell to Earth
.
During the credits, a reprise of the song plays featuring a short clip mimicking the music video to "Let's Dance
".
. When Murray shows the duo their photo that was featured in the magazine, the caption reads "New Zealand Novelty Duo: Tenacious Dundee?". This is a reference to another famous comedy musical pairing Tenacious D
, and also to Crocodile Dundee
, a fictional character created by Australian film-maker Paul Hogan
.
When David Bowie visits Bret for a second time, Bret tells him that his previous suggestion of wearing an eyepatch caused him to lose his depth perception
. David Bowie has limited depth perception due to an eye injury that causes his left pupil to remain permanently and visibly dilated. David Bowie has worn an eyepatch in accompanying promotional videos for his songs "Rebel Rebel
" and "Little Wonder
".
Also, this could be a reference to one of Bowie's stage personas Halloween jack, who wears an eye patch, from the album Diamond Dogs
. Bret Also later dresses like Halloween jack in the video for Bowie's in space.
The robot on the birthday card is a robot from the Doctor Who
serial Robot
.
The space-helmet-wearing band that appears during the bridge of "Bowie" is a reference to the 1977 video for "Magic Fly" by the French
electronic music
band Space.
There is a Sub Pop
sticker on Bret's guitar case.
Flight of the Conchords (TV series)
Flight of the Conchords is an American television comedy series that debuted on HBO on June 17, 2007. The show follows the adventures of Flight of the Conchords, a two-man band from New Zealand, as its members seek fame and success in New York City. The show stars the real-life duo, Jemaine Clement...
. The episode first aired in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on Sunday, July 22, 2007.
After a photo session, Bret develops body image issues and gets some dream advice from his idol, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
. Jemaine plots to cheer him up and Murray tries to get one of the band's tunes used for a musical greeting card.
Plot
Bret starts suffering body image issues after Murray accuses him of being small during a photo session. He then gets visited in a dream by a Ziggy StardustZiggy Stardust (song)
"Ziggy Stardust" is a song written by David Bowie in 1972 for the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The name Stardust was inspired by the Legendary Stardust Cowboy...
-era David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
(performed by Jemaine, whose resemblance is acknowledged by Bret) telling him not to worry about his body image and advising him to get an eyepatch
Eyepatch
An eyepatch or eye pad is a small patch that is worn in front of one eye. It may be a cloth patch attached around the head by an elastic band or by a string, or an adhesive bandage. It is often worn by people to cover a lost or injured eye, but it also has a therapeutic use in children for the...
.
Murray announces that he has arranged a meeting with a company who are interested in using one of the band's songs in a musical greeting card. Jemaine visits Mel and asks her to cheer Bret up complimenting him next time she sees him. Later Jemaine tries to cheer Bret up himself by singing him a song he has written, "Bret, You've Got It Going On".
After Bowie's eyepatch suggestion causes accidents, Bret is visited again in a dream, this time by Bowie dressed as he appears in the "Ashes to Ashes
Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie song)
"Ashes to Ashes" is a single by David Bowie, released in 1980. It made #1 in the UK and was the first cut from the Scary Monsters album, also a #1 hit. As well as its musical qualities, it is noted for its innovative video, directed by Bowie and David Mallet...
" music video. Bowie advises him to do something "absolutely outrageous" when the "time is right". The next day they see Mel on the street who compliments Bret profusely at the expense of Jemaine who now starts to doubt his own body image.
At the greeting card meeting the owner, David Armstrong (played by John Hodgman
John Hodgman
John Kellogg Hodgman is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as The Areas of My Expertise, More Information Than You Require, and That Is All, he is known for his personification of a PC in contrast to Justin Long's personification of a Mac in...
), tries to explain the workings of the audio card to technically challenged Murray, Jemaine and Bret. When Armstrong says that he feels that the band are not really interested in the opportunity, Bret sees it as the cue to do something outrageous. He leaps onto the manager's desk and exposes himself. On the bus ride home, Murray and Jemaine express their disappointment with Bret for ruining the business opportunity and Murray becomes depressed that his management skills were not good enough to prevent the incident or spin it well.
That night Bret gets visited again. This time it is Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King
Jareth
Jareth, the Goblin King is a fictional character in the 1986 fantasy movie Labyrinth. Jareth is a powerful, mysterious creature who has an antagonistic yet strangely flirtatious relationship with Sarah , the film's teenage heroine...
from the movie Labyrinth
Labyrinth (film)
Labyrinth is a 1986 British/American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed by Brian Froud. Henson collaborated on the screenwriting with children's author Dennis Lee, Terry Jones from Monty Python, and Elaine May .The film stars David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin...
. A disappointed Bowie tells Bret that he is out of advice and has lost confidence in his ability to help people. The scene ends with a song and music video, "Bowie", that mimics various performance styles and roles from David Bowie's career.
Later, Bret drinks a cup of coffee with Jemaine and Dave (Arj Barker
Arj Barker
Arjan Singh , known by the stage name Arj Barker, is an American stand-up comedian and actor from San Anselmo, California. He has toured in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. He was born to an engineer father and artist mother, and is half-Indian, half-European...
) outside of Dave's pawn shop, where he concludes that if even David Bowie sometimes loses self-confidence, then he should not have to be so insecure about his body image. Murray arrives and tells them that despite the disastrous meeting, the greeting card company decided to produce the card anyway, but because the chosen design is "Happy 80th Birthday, Son" very few cards are made and the band ends up earning only 50¢.
Songs
This episode features the following songs, both adapted from previous material by the duo:"Bret, You've Got It Going On"
Jemaine sings "Bret, You've Got It Going On" to Bret as a way to cheer him up after he starts to feel insecure about his body. The song is meant as a tribute to Bret, although Jemaine insecurely asserts throughout the song that he is not gay and has no physical attraction to Bret, and concludes with Jemaine revealing that he once put a wig on Bret while he was sleeping in the same bed with him and pretended Bret was a woman.The song is one of the few in the television series to have no accompanying montage or fantasy sequence and is performed primarily by Jemaine on guitar and vocals. It had previously been used in the second episode of the Flight of the Conchords radio series
Flight of the Conchords (radio series)
Flight of the Conchords was a radio series broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 2005, starring the New Zealand musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords. A 3-CD set containing all the episodes was released in 2006 by the BBC. Each disc consisted of 2 episodes...
and was later released as an iTunes-only bonus track for pre-orders of their soundtrack album
Flight of the Conchords (album)
-Personnel:*All songs written and performed by Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie*Sara Johnson - vocals on "Foux du Fafa"*Robin Lynn - keys on "Foux du Fafa," "Think About It" and "The Most Beautiful Girl "...
.
"Bowie"
"Bowie" (a.k.a "Bowie's in Space") begins after Bret's last dream encounter with David Bowie. It is a parodyParody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the many musical styles and visual aesthetics that Bowie has used in his career and features a long fantasy sequence that takes place in outer space. The song mimics the style of "Space Oddity", "John, I'm Only Dancing
John, I'm Only Dancing
"John, I’m Only Dancing" is a single by David Bowie, released in September 1972.-Recording and release:The song was widely believed to be concerned with a homosexual relationship, the narrator informing his boyfriend not to worry about the girl he's with because he's "only dancing" with her...
", "Let's Dance
Let's Dance (David Bowie song)
"Let's Dance" is the title album track on David Bowie's album Let's Dance. It was also released as the first single from that album in 1983, and went on to become one of his biggest-selling tracks....
" and "Sound and Vision
Sound and Vision
"Sound and Vision" is a song and single by David Bowie which appeared on the album Low in 1977.The song is notable for juxtaposing an uplifting guitar and synthesizer-led instrumental track with Bowie’s withdrawn lyrics...
" and also briefly references "Changes
Changes (David Bowie song)
"Changes" is a song by David Bowie, originally released on the album Hunky Dory in December 1971 and as a single in January 1972. Despite missing the Top 40, "Changes" became one of Bowie's best-known songs. The lyrics are often seen as a manifesto for his chameleonic personality, sexual ambiguity,...
" and "Life on Mars?
Life on Mars?
"Life on Mars?" is a song by David Bowie first released in 1971 on the album Hunky Dory. The song—which BBC Radio 2 later called "a cross between a Broadway musical and a Salvador Dalí painting"—featured guest piano work by keyboardist Rick Wakeman. When released as a single in 1973,...
" in the lyrics.
The accompanying music video includes imagery from many aspects of David Bowie's career, including elements of the original video for "Space Oddity" from his 1969 promotional film Love You till Tuesday and Bowie's costume from his 1974 appearance on TopPop performing "Rebel Rebel
Rebel Rebel
"Rebel Rebel" is a song by David Bowie, released in 1974 as a single and on the album Diamond Dogs. Cited as his most-covered track, it was effectively Bowie's farewell to the glam movement that had made him a star.-Music and lyrics:...
", as well as references to his interests in mime
Mime
The word mime is used to refer to a mime artist who uses a theatrical medium or performance art involving the acting out of a story through body motions without use of speech.Mime may also refer to:* Mime, an alternative word for lip sync...
and sci-fi imagery. The extreme close-ups and profile images of Bret and Jemaine's faces against black backgrounds are similar to those of David Bowie and Candy Clark
Candy Clark
Candace June "Candy" Clark is an American film and television actress, well known for her role as Debbie Dunham in the 1973 film American Graffiti, which garnered her an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress, a character she reprised in 1979 for the sequel More American Graffiti...
in The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Man Who Fell to Earth (film)
The Man Who Fell to Earth is a 1976 British science fiction film directed by Nicolas Roeg.The film is based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis, about an extraterrestrial who crash lands on Earth seeking a way to ship water to his planet, which is suffering from a severe drought...
.
During the credits, a reprise of the song plays featuring a short clip mimicking the music video to "Let's Dance
Let's Dance (David Bowie song)
"Let's Dance" is the title album track on David Bowie's album Let's Dance. It was also released as the first single from that album in 1983, and went on to become one of his biggest-selling tracks....
".
Cultural references
Bret is reading a magazine called "Novelty Music Scene", early in the episode. On the cover is "Weird Al" Yankovic"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
. When Murray shows the duo their photo that was featured in the magazine, the caption reads "New Zealand Novelty Duo: Tenacious Dundee?". This is a reference to another famous comedy musical pairing Tenacious D
Tenacious D
Tenacious D is an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. Composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jack Black and lead guitarist and vocalist Kyle Gass, the band has released two albums – Tenacious D and The Pick of Destiny...
, and also to Crocodile Dundee
Crocodile Dundee
"Crocodile" Dundee is a 1986 Australian comedy film set in the Australian Outback and in New York City. It stars Paul Hogan as the weathered Mick Dundee and Linda Kozlowski as Sue Charlton....
, a fictional character created by Australian film-maker Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan, AM is an Australian actor best known for his role as Michael "Crocodile" Dundee from the Crocodile Dundee film series, for which he won a Golden Globe award.-Early life and career:...
.
When David Bowie visits Bret for a second time, Bret tells him that his previous suggestion of wearing an eyepatch caused him to lose his depth perception
Depth perception
Depth perception is the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions and the distance of an object. Depth sensation is the ability to move accurately, or to respond consistently, based on the distances of objects in an environment....
. David Bowie has limited depth perception due to an eye injury that causes his left pupil to remain permanently and visibly dilated. David Bowie has worn an eyepatch in accompanying promotional videos for his songs "Rebel Rebel
Rebel Rebel
"Rebel Rebel" is a song by David Bowie, released in 1974 as a single and on the album Diamond Dogs. Cited as his most-covered track, it was effectively Bowie's farewell to the glam movement that had made him a star.-Music and lyrics:...
" and "Little Wonder
Little Wonder
"Little Wonder" is a song and single by David Bowie, from the 1997 album Earthling. It was the album's biggest hit, reaching number 14 in The United Kingdom and topping the charts in Japan.-Background:...
".
Also, this could be a reference to one of Bowie's stage personas Halloween jack, who wears an eye patch, from the album Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Bowie's own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world...
. Bret Also later dresses like Halloween jack in the video for Bowie's in space.
The robot on the birthday card is a robot from the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
serial Robot
Robot (Doctor Who)
Robot is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 28 December 1974 to 18 January 1975...
.
The space-helmet-wearing band that appears during the bridge of "Bowie" is a reference to the 1977 video for "Magic Fly" by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
band Space.
There is a Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
sticker on Bret's guitar case.