What in the World

"What in the World" is a song by David Bowie released on his 1977 album Low, later making appearances as repertoire in the 1978 world tour as well as other major tours.

"What in the World" exposes some of Bowie's Berlin-era songwriting and production techniques. The song is, like other songs on the Low album, disjointed, with seemingly random sentences and free-associative phrases appearing throughout the lyrics. "What in the World" makes reference to a small motif in some of Bowie's music - a girl with gray eyes who arguably symbolizes Bowie's anima. Notably, this girl may also appear in the songs Life on Mars? and Wishful Beginnings.

The song makes heavy use of synthesizer and recording studio techniques, heavily influenced by the work of Brian Eno, who collaborated with the album. A "blip"-like sound comparable to the sounds later made by Pac-man and the Nintendo Entertainment System pulses throughout the song, which, coupled with extremely rhythmic guitar solos, creates a frantic pace. The song also makes use of the Harmonizer which Tony Visconti brought to the studio through the sound of Dennis Davis' drumming. The song also features Iggy Pop on backing vocals near the end.

[edit] Live versions

A live version recorded on the Heroes tour at the Philadelphia Spectrum, April 28-29th, 1978, was released on the live album Stage. To make the song more accessible, it had been lengthened from 2 minutes and 23 seconds to 4 minutes and 24 seconds. This was achieved by first playing the entirety of the first and second verses at a much slower tempo, practically at dance speed, and then repeating the song once again at album speed with the its ending reinstalled.
Another live version can be viewed in the home-video of the "Serious Moonlight" Tour.

[edit] Other releases

The live version from Stage, was released as the B-side of the single "Star" in 1978.
The original album version was released as the B-side of the US release of the single "Boys Keep Swinging" in April 1979.