The Hearts Filthy Lesson

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“The Hearts Filthy Lesson”
Single by David Bowie from the album 1. Outside
B-side	"I Am with Name"
Released	September 1995 (1995-09)
Format	7"/12"/CD single
Recorded	Mountain Studios, Montreux, March 1994
Genre	Rock
Length	3:32
Label	RCA - 74321 307034
Producer	David Bowie, Brian Eno, David Richards
David Bowie singles chronology
"The Buddha of Suburbia" (1993) "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" (1995) "Strangers When We Meet"/"The Man Who Sold the World (Live Version)" (1995)

"The Hearts Filthy Lesson" is a song by David Bowie, from his 1995 album 1. Outside, and issued as a single ahead of the album. It showcased Bowie's new, industrial-influenced sound. The lack of an apostrophe in the title is deliberate.

Lyrically, the single connects with the rest of the album, with Bowie offering a lament to "tyrannical futurist" Ramona A. Stone, a theme continued in subsequent songs. The song is also meant to confront Bowie's own perceptions about the creation and degradation of art: following this theme, the video featured a montage of art-style mutilations and gory objets d'art and was subsequently edited when shown on MTV. The clip was directed by Samuel Bayer, the man behind Nirvana's classic "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video.

Interestingly, the video seems to accentuate a certain topical subtlety of the lyrics: HIV/AIDS. Bowie's longtime friend and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury had recently died of the disease. The lyrics of the song can be interpreted around this, that the "filthy lesson" "in our blood" "falls upon deaf ears," noting the progression of the disease over time ("I'm already five years older / I'm already in my grave") into weakness ("Will you carry me?"), and lamenting that "I've lost my way" into a "death abyss," the loss of life ("if there was only some kind of future"), and urging the listener to "tell the others" in hopes of increasing awareness. The video features images such as: a man pushing hypodermic needles through the skin of his forehead, referencing drug users sharing needles and thereby transmitting HIV; a woman gleefully spilling milk (or some other white liquid) onto her lips, cheeks, and chin, simulating a facial, thus underscoring the sexual transmission of the disease; and other such scenes.

Critical reception to the song was generally tepid, though it would be re-evaluated by many critics when heard in the context of the Outside soon afterwards. Considering its defiantly noncommercial sound (the release of it as the opening single was Bowie throwing down the gauntlet in itself, as opposed to choosing one of the album's more conventional songs as a lead song), the song did well to reach UK #35, also breaking Bowie's US chart drought (which stretched back to "Never Let Me Down" in 1987) by briefly peaking at US #92.

An immediate live favorite at Bowie's live concerts, "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" had its cult status sealed when it was featured over the closing titles of David Fincher's 1995 film Seven, a film which mirrored the video's grimy visuals.

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 7" version 1.2 CD version 1.3 US CD version 1.4 US promo CD version 1.5 European Shaped CD version 1.6 UK 12" version 1.7 UK 12" 1 track promo version 1.8 UK 12" 3 track promo version 1.9 UK 12" picture disc version 1.10 US 12" promo version 2 Production credits 3 Live versions 4 Other releases 5 Cover versions 6 References

[edit] Track listing

• All songs credited to Bowie/Eno/Gabrels/Kizilcay/Campbell. Except "Nothing to be Desired" credited to Bowie/Eno.

[edit] 7" version

1. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Radio Edit)"–3:32
2. "I Am With Name"–4:06

[edit] CD version

1. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Radio Edit)"–3:32
2. "I Am With Name"–4:06
3. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Bowie Mix)"–4:56
4. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Alt. Mix)"–5:19

[edit] US CD version

1. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Album version)"–4:57
2. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Simenon Mix)"–5:01
3. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Alt. Mix)"–5:19
4. "Nothing to be Desired"–2:15

[edit] US promo CD version

1. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Radio Edit)"–3:32
2. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Simenon Mix)"–5:01
3. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Alt. Mix)"–5:19
4. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Album version)"–4:57

[edit] European Shaped CD version

1. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Alt. Mix)"–5:19
2. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Bowie Mix)"–4:56

[edit] UK 12" version

1. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Alt. Mix)"–5:19
2. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Bowie Mix)"–4:56
3. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Rubber Mix)"–7:41
4. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Simple Text Mix)"–6:38
5. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Filthy Mix)"–5:51

[edit] UK 12" 1 track promo version

1. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Alt. Mix)"–5:19

[edit] UK 12" 3 track promo version

1. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Rubber Mix)"–7:41
2. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Simple Text Mix)"–6:38
3. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Filthy Mix)"–5:51

[edit] UK 12" picture disc version

1. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Alt. Mix)"–5:19
2. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Bowie Mix)"–4:57
3. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Rubber Mix)"–7:41
4. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Simple Text Mix)"–6:38
5. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Filthy Mix)"–5:51

[edit] US 12" promo version

1. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Good Karma Mix)"–5:01
2. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Alt. Mix)"–5:19
3. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Bowie Mix)"–4:57
4. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Rubber Mix)"–7:41
5. "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Filthy Mix)"–5:51

[edit] Production credits

• Producers:
  • David Bowie
  • Brian Eno
  • David Richards
• Musicians:
  • David Bowie: Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Saxophone
  • Brian Eno: Synthesizers
  • Reeves Gabrels: Guitar
  • Erdal Kizilcay: Bass, Keyboards
  • Mike Garson: Piano
  • Sterling Campbell: Drums

[edit] Live versions

• A version recorded in 1997 at the Phoenix Festival in England was released on the live album LiveAndWell.com in 2000.

[edit] Other releases

• It was released on the European release of the single "Hallo Spaceboy".
• The "Rubber Mix" was released on the Japanese version of the single "Hallo Spaceboy", the Japanese release of Outside - Version 2 and on the bonus disc of the 2004 limited 2CD edition of Outside.
• The "Good Karma mix" was released on a limited UK version of the single "Dead Man Walking" in April 1997.
• Several of the remixes was released on the 2004 limited 2CD edition of Outside.
• The song was also featured in the 1997 television movie House of Frankenstein.

[edit] Cover versions

• Lunasect - Spiders from Venus: Indie Women Artists and Female-Fronted Bands Cover David Bowie (2003)
• Ahab Rex - .2 Contamination: A Tribute to David Bowie (2006)

[edit] References

• Pegg, Nicholas (2000). The Complete David Bowie. Reynolds & Hearn. ISBN 1-903111-14-5. 

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