David Bowie Cover of the Week: Snowapple Collective’s Dutch Odyssey

If it ain’t Dutch, it ain’t much!*. Snowapple Collective demonstrates the concept with their Dutch-language version of “Space Oddity,” in this well-performed, well-made video. “Space Oddity” is one of the songs I encounter most frequently as I review covers during the week, so much so that it takes something special for a performance to break through. The beauty of hearing the song in an unfamiliar language does it for me.

Nicholas Pegg wrote in his Complete David Bowie, “After all these years ‘Space Oddity’ remains Bowie’s best known, most influential and perhaps most remarkable song.” That’s an amazing statement, especially considering the song is 56 years old (as old as I am), and emerged from a Bowie who, up to that point had shown only hints of his own potential. Nonetheless, the song has become part of our cultural fabric, showing up everywhere from movie soundtracks to, well, YouTube covers. It has become a unifying thread; a common experience shared by people across time and across the planet. This Dutch version of the song shows that.

It helps that the video gives us something to watch. The band is in costume, really performs the song, and the technical aspects of the video are strong. This is enjoyable to both see and hear.

The Snowapple Collective seems to me to be more like a project than a band. Summarizing what they say about themselves on their website, the Snowapple Collective is an international group of artists and storytellers who collaborate across disciplines—combining theater, music, puppetry, film, and more—to create socially engaged, community-centered works. Rooted in exchange and mutual learning, they perform everywhere from theaters to public squares, aiming to connect people, challenge inequality, and advocate for women’s rights. They see their collective as a model for a more just, imaginative, and symbiotic society.

Their website is fairly extensive, and you can learn more about the group HERE.

I selected this as the feature cover for this week because I like how it sounds, but also because Snowapple Collective shows that the song still has something new to say, even if its in a different language.

——

* I heard this line in a movie, so I don’t get creativity points…