The Supermen
1970 song by David Bowie
"The Supermen" | |
---|---|
Song by David Bowie | |
from the album The Man Who Sold the World | |
Released |
November 4, 1970
(US)
April 1971 (UK) |
Recorded | 18 April – 22 May 1970 |
Studio | Trident and Advision, London |
Genre | Hard rock , psychedelic rock |
Length | 3 : 38 |
Label | Mercury |
Songwriter(s) | David Bowie |
Producer(s) | Tony Visconti |
" The Supermen " is a song written by English singer-songwriter David Bowie in 1970 and released as the closing track on the album The Man Who Sold the World . It was one of a number of pieces on the album inspired by the works of literary figures such as Friedrich Nietzsche and H. P. Lovecraft .
Music and lyrics
The song has been cited as reflecting the influence of German Romanticism , its theme and lyrics referencing the apocalyptic visions of Friedrich Nietzsche and its prominent timpani part being likened to Richard Strauss ' Also Sprach Zarathustra . [1] Bowie later said "I was still going through the thing when I was pretending that I understood Nietzsche... And I had tried to translate it into my own terms to understand it so 'Supermen' came out of that." [2] Critics have also seen the influence of H. P. Lovecraft 's stories of "dormant elder gods". [3]
According to Bowie himself the guitar riff was given to him by Jimmy Page when the latter, who was Shel Talmy 's session guitarist in the mid-1960s, played on one of Bowie's early releases, " I Pity the Fool ". [1] The riff was later used on another Bowie song, " Dead Man Walking ", from the Earthling album in 1997.
Live versions
- An early performance of the song, by the Hype , on the BBC show Sounds of the 70s : Andy Ferris , recorded in March 1970, was released for the first time in 2016 on the vinyl edition of the album Bowie at the Beeb . [4]
- Bowie and Ronson played the song on the BBC show Sounds of the 70s: Bob Harris on 21 September 1971. This was broadcast on 4 October 1971 and was released in 2000 on Bowie at the Beeb .
- A live version recorded at the Boston Music Hall on 1 October 1972 was released in 1989 on the original Sound + Vision box set, but was not included in subsequent versions of this compilation. However, the same track appeared on the bonus disc of the Aladdin Sane – 30th Anniversary Edition in 2003.
- Another live version recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on 20 October 1972 was released on Santa Monica '72 and Live Santa Monica '72 .
Other releases
An alternate version of the song was recorded on 12 November 1971 during sessions for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars . It first appeared on the album Revelations – A Musical Anthology for Glastonbury Fayre in July 1972, compiled by the organisers of Glastonbury Festival at which Bowie had played in 1971. [5] It was later released as a bonus track on the Rykodisc CD and cassette reissue of Hunky Dory in 1990, and again on the Ziggy Stardust – 30th Anniversary Reissue bonus disc in 2002. This version was sampled on "Culture Shock", from Death Grips 's 2011 mixtape Exmilitary .
A November 1996 tour rehearsal recording of the song, which originally aired on a BBC radio broadcast in 1997, was released in 2020 on the album ChangesNowBowie . [6]
Cover versions
- Doctor Mix and the Remix (aka Metal Urbain ) – Wall of Noise (1979)
- Aquaserge – Repetition – A Tribute to David Bowie (2010)
Personnel
- David Bowie : lead and backing vocals
- Mick Ronson : electric guitars , backing vocals
- Tony Visconti : bass guitar , backing vocals
- Woody Woodmansey : drums
Notes
- 1 2 Nicholas Pegg (2000). The Complete David Bowie : pp.209–210
- ↑ David Buckley (1999). Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story : p.267
- ↑ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record : p.38
- ↑ "Bowie At The Beeb vinyl box out now" . davidbowie.com . 2016-02-26 . Retrieved 2016-02-27 .
- ↑ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Ibid: p.49
- ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (25 April 2020). " ChangesNowBowie – David Bowie" . Pitchfork . Archived from the original on 29 April 2020 . Retrieved 1 December 2020 .