"The Man Who Sold the World" is a song by David Bowie. It is the title track of his third album, released in the U.S. in November 1970 and in the UK in April 1971. The song has been covered by a number of other artists, notably by Lulu in 1974, and Nirvana in 1993.
[edit] Inspiration and explanation
The song's title is similar to that of Robert A. Heinlein's 1949 science fiction novella The Man Who Sold the Moon, with which Bowie was familiar.[1] However, the song has no similarities with the story of the book. The persona in the song has an encounter with a kind of doppelgänger, as is suggested in the second chorus where "I never lost control" is replaced with "We never lost control".[2] Beyond this, the episode is unexplained: as James E. Perone wrote,
Bowie encounters the title character, but it is not clear just what the phrase means, or exactly who this man is. … The main thing that the song does is to paint — however elusively — the title character as another example of the societal outcasts who populate the album.
[3]
In common with a number of tracks on the album, the song's themes have been compared to the horror-fantasy works of H. P. Lovecraft.[4] The lyrics are also cited as reflecting Bowie's concerns with splintered or multiple personalities, and are believed to have been partially inspired by the poem "Antigonish" by William Hughes Mearns:[5]
| “ |
Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away…
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” |
[edit] Other releases
- A re-recorded version produced by Brian Eno appears as a B-side on the 1995 CD single for the song, "Strangers When We Meet". This version also appears on the bonus disc that followed some versions of Outside - Version 3.
- A live performance appears on the 2010 CD release of A Reality Tour, which includes 33 performances recorded on his 2004 tour, and was earlier released as a concert DVD under the same title.
[edit] Cover versions
The song was covered by the Scottish singer Lulu in 1974, who, according to biographer David Buckley, performed it in "a sleazy, almost Berlin cabaret style".[6] Lulu would recall Bowie inviting her to a concert he gave after which he met her in his hotel room saying: "I want to make an MF of a record with you [because] you're a great singer." Lulu - "I didn't think it would happen but [Bowie] followed up two days later. He was übercool at the time and I just wanted to be led by him. I loved everything he did. I didn't think 'The Man Who Sold the World' was the greatest song for my voice, but it was such a strong song in itself. I had no idea what it was about. In the studio Bowie kept telling me to smoke more cigarettes, to give my voice a certain quality."[7]Bowie produced the Lulu recording of "The Man Who Sold the World" with Mick Ronson during the Pin Ups sessions and also contributed guitar, saxophone and backing vocals. The remainder of the band included Ronson on guitar, Trevor Bolder on bass, Mike Garson on piano, and Aynsley Dunbar on drums.[8]
Lulu's "The Man Who Sold the World" was released as a single on 11 January 1974 having been introduced by Lulu on the TOTP broadcast of 10 January 1974: the track only made its Top 50 debut (at #27) on the chart dated 16 January 1974 following a reprise performance by Lulu on the 24 January 1974 TOTP broadcast with a third TOTP performance by Lulu on the 7 February 1974 broadcast facilitating a boost from #13 to #5 on the chart dated 9 February 1974. In her TOTP performances in support of "The Man Who Sold the World" Lulu has been characterized as "dressed and sounding exactly like a diminutive Bowie".[9] On the UK Top 50 dated 16 February 1974 Lulu's "The Man Who Sold the World" rose to #3 which proved to be the peak position for the track which subsequently made an accelerated chart descent with its overall Top 50 tenure being a comparatively brief nine weeks. Internationally "The Man Who Sold the World" afforded Lulu a major hit hit in Ireland (#8), the Netherlands (#10) and Germany (#13): the track was also a minor chart item in Australia at #81.
[edit] Richard Barone
The song was covered by American singer Richard Barone in 1987 on his proto-Chamber Pop album, Cool Blue Halo. Using cello, acoustic guitar and symphonic percussion in an intimate live setting.
[edit] Nirvana
In his journals, Kurt Cobain of the American grunge band Nirvana ranked the album The Man Who Sold the World at number 45 in his top 50 favourite albums.[10] A live rendition of the song was recorded by the band in 1993 during their MTV Unplugged appearance, and it was released on their MTV Unplugged in New York album the following year. The song was also released as a promotional single for the album and received considerable airplay on alternative rock radio stations. It was also thrown into heavy rotation on music video stations such as MTV. Nirvana regularly covered the song during live sets after their memorable acoustic performance up until lead singer Cobain's death in 1994.
In the wake of this cover, Bowie bemoaned the fact that when he performed the number himself he would encounter "kids that come up afterwards and say, 'It's cool you're doing a Nirvana song.' And I think, 'Fuck you, you little tosser!'"[11]
- Nirvana cover chart positions
[edit] Other covers
- Lea Laven as "Mies Joka Myi Maailman" on her album Niin (1974).
- Midge Ure on the film soundtrack Party Party (film) (1982). This version is also included on No Regrets: The Very Best of Midge Ure, and the compilations The David Bowie Songbook and Starman: Rare and Exclusive Versions of 18 Classic David Bowie Songs, CD premium from the March 2003 issue of Uncut magazine.
- Here & Now on the album Fantasy Shift (1983).
- Električni Orgazam on the album Les Chansones Populaires (1983).
- Ed Kuepper on the album The Exotic Mail Order Moods of Ed Kuepper (1995).
- Simple Minds on the covers album Neon Lights (2001).
- 3 Melancholy Gypsys sampled the Nirvana version in their song "2010". which appears on the Living Legends album Legendary Music, Vol. 1.
- Jordis Unga on Rock Star INXS, also released as a digital single.
- Cocosuma on BowieMania: Mania, une collection obsessionelle de Beatrice Ardisson (2007).
- Apoptygma Berzerk uses the guitar melody for a live rendition of the song Mourn, which can be heard on the album APBL2000 (2001).
- Cross Canadian Ragweed have also covered the song on various occasions.
- Meat Puppets have also covered this song.
- Nine Inch Nails have also covered this song as well as many other David Bowie songs.
- John Cougar Mellencamp performed it as a bonus track on his album The Kid Inside (1983).
- Marcus Van Heller on the album Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to David Bowie (2007).
- Mohsen Namjoo used the main riff on the song Morq-e Sheidâ.
- ^ King, Maureen, "Future Legends: David Bowie and Science Fiction", in Morrison, Michael A. (ed.) (1997). Trajectories of the Fantastic: Selected Essays from the Fourteenth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts. Westport, CT: Greenwood. p. 131. The Man Who Sold the Moon is also the title of a collection of Heinlein's short stories. In 1975 Bowie told a reporter that he had acquired the film rights to another Heinlein novel, Stranger in a Strange Land, and would write the score and star as the character Valentine Michael Smith (see Gillman, Peter; Gillman, Leni (1986), Alias David Bowie, London: Hodder & Stoughton, p. 402 ); since then, Bowie has said he had read the novel but never intended to make the film (see Campbell, Virginia, "Bowie at the Bijou", in Movieline, April 1992, p. 35).
- ^ King, Maureen, "Future Legends: David Bowie and Science Fiction", in Morrison, Michael A. (ed.) (1997). Trajectories of the Fantastic: Selected Essays from the Fourteenth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts. Westport, CT: Greenwood. p. 131.
- ^ Perone, James E. (2007). The Words and Music of David Bowie. Westport, CT: Praeger. pp. 15–6.
- ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record: p. 38.
- ^ David Buckley (1999). Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story: p.100; Allmusic review. allmusic.com. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
- ^ David Buckley (1999). Op. cit: p. 196.
- ^ Spitz, Marc (2009). Bowie: a Biography (1st US ed.). New York: Crown Publishing Group. pp. 228. ISBN 978-0-307-39396-8.
- ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Op. cit.: p. 118.
- ^ Bartlett, Neil (1988). Who Was That Man: a present for Mr Oscar Wilde. London: Serpent's Tail. pp. 244. ISBN 978-1852421236.
- ^ Kurt's Journals - His Top 50 Albums. www.nirvanaclub.com. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
- ^ Nicholas Pegg (2000). The Complete David Bowie: pp. 138-139.
- ^ Collin, Robert. Het Belgisch Hitboek: 45 Jaar Hits in Vlaanderen: 1954-1999. Lier, Vox. ISBN 9076695016.
- ^ http://www.theofficialcharts.com/archive-chart/_/10/2012-02-18/
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