Saturday, September 27, 2014

David Bowie: The Bewlay Brothers

"The Bewlay Brothers" is a song written by David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory. The last track to be written and recorded for Hunky Dory, this ballad has been described as "probably Bowie's densest and most impenetrable song". Bowie himself supposedly told producer Ken Scott that it was a track for the American market, because "the Americans always like to read things into things", even though the lyrics "make absolutely no sense". Reflecting on the song in 2008, Bowie wrote "I wouldn't know how to interpret the lyric of this song other than suggesting that there are layers of ghosts within it. It's a palimpsest, then."



We were so turned on
By your lack of conclusions...

Chris Reed  3 months ago
"If you are a true Bowie fan and know the genesis of the song in all it's torment, gorgeous symbolism and haunting style then you will know that literally everything he ever had to say subsequently has it's roots here."

7 comments:

chickelit said...

"palimpsest" is compounded from πάλιν (palin, “again”) and ψάω (psao, “I scrape”) meaning “scraped clean and used again”.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

In the record he sounded like somebody familiar.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I was young enough when David Bowie first became popular that I found his music somewhat frightening as other-worldy, if that's a real word.

The makeup and costumes didn't help, either.

chickelit said...

Here is a video from the absolute nadir of David Bowie's career. He sings a duet with Marianne Faithfull. link

I've been wanting to do a Marianne Faithfull post for a while now. It is the 50th anniversary of her hit "As Tears Go By."

Hers is such a cautionary tale.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

My sweet Lord! That makes William Shatner doing "Rocket Man" a great artistic achievement by comparison.

deborah said...

Shat's Rocket man is a great artistic achievement, damn you.

ricpic said...

I just learned from Page 6 in the NY Post that Loretta Young had the hots for Bowie, dolled herself up and propositioned him. His response? "I only do black women and Chinese men." I kid you not.