The Width of a Circle

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"The Width of a Circle" is a song written by David Bowie in 1970 for the album The Man Who Sold the World, released later that year in the U.S. and in April 1971 in the UK. It is the opening track to the album, a hard rocker with heavy metal overtones. Bowie had performed a shorter version of the song in concerts for several months before recording it. Featuring Mick Ronson's lead guitar work and occasional choral effects from the band, this 8-minute song is divided into two parts. The music takes on a heavy R&B quality in the second half, where the narrator enjoys a sexual encounter - with God, according to some interpretations - in the depths of Hell.

In June 1973 the song was released as a single by RCA in Eastern Europe.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

  1. "The Width of a Circle" (Bowie)
  2. "Cygnet Committee" (Bowie)

[edit] Production credits for "The Width of a Circle"

[edit] Production credits for "Cygnet Committee"

  • Producer:
    • Tony Visconti

[edit] Live versions

Several live versions of the song have been released:

[edit] Other releases

The song also appeared on the Japanese compilation The Best of David Bowie in 1974

[edit] Cover versions

  • Spurge - Crash Course for the Ravers - A Tribute to the Songs of David Bowie (1996)

[edit] References