"Space Oddity" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released on 11 July 1969 by Philips and Mercury Records as a 7-inch single, then was included as the opening track of his second album, David Bowie, released in November. Produced by Gus Dudgeon, and recorded at Trident Studios in London, it is a tale about a fictional astronaut named Major Tom; its title and subject matter were partly inspired by the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Bowie's feelings of alienation at that point in his career. Its sound departed from the music hall of his debut album to psychedelic folk inspired by the Bee Gees; it was one of the most musically complex compositions he had written up to that point.