Chords of: Life on Mars? by: David Bowie. (F#m, E, A, D) are the main chords of the song. The chords are displayed instantly in real-time with a YouTube player, four synced views, instrument diagrams, loop practice and a built-in vocal-remover mixer.
“Life on Mars?” by David Bowie is in D Major and runs at about 59 BPM, giving it a slow, laid-back feel. Our analysis found 33 different chords across 89 chord changes; the ones that carry the song are F#m, E, A, D.
F#m is the chord you will hold longest — roughly 13% of the 3:49 the chords were tracked for. The song opens with E → B/Eb → Ddim → C#7 → F#m → B7 → E → B/Eb. Play the timeline above to hear each change land in real time.
Difficulty: advanced — 7 main chords with 5 extended, altered or slash voicings. Guitarists can play it as written — D Major sits in open-chord territory, no capo needed.
| Chord | Time held | Share |
|---|---|---|
| F#m | 0:30 | 13% |
| E | 0:27 | 12% |
| A | 0:25 | 11% |
| D | 0:17 | 7% |
| B7 | 0:13 | 5% |
| A/E | 0:12 | 5% |
| Em | 0:10 | 4% |
| B | 0:08 | 4% |
E – B/Eb – Ddim – C#7 – F#m – F#m7/E – B7 – E – B/Eb – Ddim – C#7 – F#m – B7 – Em – F – C – Caug – Am – A# – A – D – F#m – Faug – E – Em – Bm – Dm – A – D – F#m – C#/F – E – Em – Bm – D – F#m – Faug – A/E – D#dim – E – Fdim – F#m7 – C#m – G#m7 – A6 – Am7 – E – B/Eb – …
