The Supermen
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"The Supermen" is a song written by David Bowie in 1970 for the album The Man Who Sold the World.
The track 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] Commentators 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.
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[edit] Live versions
- Bowie played the song at the BBC show Sounds of the 70s with Bob Harris on 21 September 1971. This was broadcast on 4 October 1971 and in 2000 was released on the album Bowie at the Beeb.
- A live version recorded at the Boston Music Hall on 1 October 1972 was released with the Sound + Vision box set in 1989. It also 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 the album Santa Monica '72.
[edit] 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 a free festival at which Bowie had played in 1971. It was later released on as a bonus track on the Rykodisc CD reissue of Hunky Dory in 1990, and again on the Ziggy Stardust - 30th Anniversary Reissue bonus disc in 2002.
[edit] Cover versions
- Human Drama – PinUps (1993)
- Ventilator – Crash Course for the Ravers - A Tribute to the Songs of David Bowie (1996)
- The Mission – Goth Oddity - A Tribute to David Bowie (1996)
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b 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
