NIRVANA - THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD

THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD

DAVID BOWIE/EX-GRUPO NIRVANA

SONGWRITER: DAVID BOWIE

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: MTV UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK

LABEL: MERCURY RECORDS

GENRE: ROCK

YEAR: 1970

 

       David Robert Jones(8 January 1947–10 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie(/ˈboʊi/BOH-ee), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, Bowie is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, and his music and stagecraft had a significant impact on popular music.

           Bowie developed an interest in music as a child. He studied art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. "Space Oddity", released in 1969, was his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart. After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The character was spearheaded by the success of Bowie's single "Starman" and álbum The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which won him widespread popularity. In 1975, Bowie's style shifted towards a sound he characterised as "plastic soul", initially alienating many of his UK fans but garnering him his first major US crossover success with the number-one single "Fame" and the álbum Young Americans. In 1976, Bowie starred in the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth and released Station to Station. In 1977, he again changed direction with the electronic-inflected album Low, the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno that came to be known as the "Berlin Trilogy". "Heroes" (1977) and Lodger(1979) followed; each album reached the UK top five and received lasting critical praise.

          After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s, Bowie had three number-one hits: the 1980 single "Ashes to Ashes", its álbum Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and "Under Pressure" (a 1981 collaboration with Queen). He reached his peak commercial success in 1983 with Let's Dance: its title track topped both the UK and US charts. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including industrial and jungle. He also continued acting: his roles included Major Jack Celliers in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence(1983), Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth(1986), Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ(1988), and Nikola Tesla in The Prestige(2006), among other film and television appearances and cameos. He stopped touring after 2004 and his last live performance was at a charity event in 2006. In 2013, Bowie returned from a decade-long recording hiatus with The Next Day. He remained musically active until his death from liver cancer at his home in New York City. He died two days after both his 69th birthday and the release of his final album, Blackstar(2016).

         During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at over 100 million records worldwide, made him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In the UK, he was awarded ten platinum, eleven gold and eight silver album certifications, and released 11 number-one albums. In the US, he received five platinum and nine gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Rolling Stone named him among the greatest artists in history and – after his death – the "greatest rock star ever".

        "The Man Who Sold the World" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The title track of Bowie's third studio album, it was released in November 1970 in the US and in April 1971 in the UK by Mercury Records. Produced by Tony Visconti, it was recorded at Trident and Advision Studios in London in May 1970, towards the end of the album's sessions; Bowie recorded his vocal on the final day of mixing for the album, reflecting his generally dismissive attitude during the sessions. Musically, it is based around a "circular" guitar riff from Mick Ronson. Its lyrics are cryptic and evocative, being inspired by numerous poems including the 1899 "Antigonish" by William Hughes Mearns. Bowie's vocals are heavily "phased" throughout and have been described as "haunting".

         "The Man Who Sold the World" went relatively unnoticed upon initial release in 1970. It was not released as a single by Bowie, though appeared as a B-side on the 1973 reissues of "Space Oddity" in the US and "Life on Mars?" in the UK by RCA Records. It wasn't until it was covered by Scottish singer Lulu, whose 1974 recording, produced by Bowie and Ronson, peaked at Nº 3 on the UK Singles Chart, that the song gained mainstream attention. In subsequent decades, the song has been covered by Scottish musician Midge Ure in 1982, and the American rock band Nirvana in 1993, whose performance of the song for the television programme MTV Unplugged introduced it to a new audience.

           Retrospectively, Bowie's original recording has been named one of his best songs, with reviewers praising its haunting and unsettling atmosphere. Bowie performed the track live later in his career in different renditions than the original, including in a darker style during 1995's Outside Tour; a studio recording of the tour's arrangement appeared as a B-side in 1995. He again rerecorded the song in an acoustic arrangement in 1996 for the documentar ChangesNowBowie; this version was released in 2020 on the digital version of the EP Is It Any Wonder? and on the álbum ChangesNowBowie. The original recording has appeared on multiple compilation albums and has been remastered multiple times, including in 2015 as part of the box set Five Years (1969–1973).

We passed upon the stair

We spoke of was and when

Although I wasn't there

He said I was his friend

Which came as a surprise

I spoke into his eyes

I thought you died alone

A long long time ago

 

Oh no, not me

We never lost control

You're face to face

With the man who sold the world

 

I laughed and shook hand

And made my way back home

I searched for form and land

For years and years I roamed

I gazed a gazeless stare

We walked a million hills

I must have died alone

A long, long time ago

 

Who knows?

Not me

I never lost control

You're face to face

With the man who sold the world

 

Who knows?

Not me

We never lost control

You're face to face

With the man who sold the world

 

Thanks, that was a David Bowie song

What's next?

I didn't screw it up, did I?

Okay, but here's another one I could screw up

What is it?

Am I gonna do this by myself?

Yeah, he should do it by himself

Do it by yourself

Okay, well

I think I'll try it in a different key, I'll try it in a normal key

Yeah

If it sounds bad, these people are just gonna have to wait

Do you have a smoke?

Okay.