The song is "Life on Mars" by art-pop, glam-rock icon David Bowie, which came out as part of his album "Hunky Dory" in 1971 but didn't get much play until 1973, when it was released as a single following the 1972 success of "Ziggy Stardust."
"Life on Mars" came about because Bowie was asked to pen English lyrics to the 1967 French song "Comme d'habitude" by Claude Francois, turning the song into a piece called "Even a Fool Learns to Love." However, the song's French publishers rejected his version and then Paul Anka bought the rights and rewrote it, turning into the famous Frankie Sinatra tune "My Way." Bowie claimed Sinatra's version as inspiration for his semi-parody. Far Out Magazine describes it as "a truly perfect song that epitomizes the supernatural lure of David Bowie."
The song's somewhat abstract lyrics focus on a "mousy-haired girl" (synchronized in the "Licorice Pizza" trailer with scenes showing Haim), who gets stood up and decides to see a movie anyway, but fails to lose herself in its on-screen happenings while surrounded by couples. As an anthem, it's totally relatable: "The very first notes of this masterpiece catapulted me back in my adolescence's attic, in a cold winter's night, with me feeling lonely but enthralled by the endless promises of the magical adulthood that I was about to step on soon," commented YouTube user Thomas Gazis on the David Bowie video site.
This makes it perfect choice for a 1970s film about maturing teenagers that will be released this holiday season. MGM (via United Artists) will open film "Licorice Pizza" as a limited release starting Nov. 26 and then nationwide on Dec. 25 (via Collider).
