10 Amazing Songs Written Out Of Competition

It's hard to imagine David Bowie being utterly faceless at the start of his career. Long before he donned the massive amount of makeup and the Ziggy Stardust persona, his first attempts at folk-tinged vaudeville rock pretty much fell on deaf ears. Many songwriters that are this down on their luck turn to writing for other artists, but Bowie got the surge of inspiration he needed when his original ideas were declined.

When he was sifting through possible backing tracks to put his words to, Bowie came up with a song tentatively titled Even a Fool Learns to Love. Though Bowie's lyrics weren't used, the backing track did go on to become a bonafied classic when Paul Anka rewrote it as My Way for Frank Sinatra. Looking to get back at his detractors for being snubbed, Bowie had something special planned on Hunky Dory.

Across Life on Mars?, you can tell that Bowie is taking a few cues from My Way, down to the similarities in the initial chord progressions and the way that he even delivers the first verse. That falls away once the chorus hits though, as Bowie comes up with something all his own, with a falsetto performance and an intergalactic subject matter that shows his Ziggy Stardust character more into focus. Just to add a little more saltiness into the equation, the back cover of the record includes a thank you to Frank Sinatra for triggering Bowie's competitive nature.