Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud

"Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" is a song written by David Bowie in 1969 and first released as B-side to his single "Space Oddity". It was later included in his second eponymous album (released in the U.S. as Man of Words, Man of Music by Mercury and reissued by RCA in 1972 as Space Oddity). The album version features a full orchestral arrangement and is also notable for the debut on a Bowie record of Mick Ronson, who contributed uncredited lead guitar and handclaps midway through the track.^[1]

Bowie himself said of the song: "It was about the disassociated, the ones who feel as though they're left outside, which was how I felt about me. I always felt I was on the edge of events, the fringe of things, and left out. A lot of my characters in those early years seem to revolve around that feeling. It must have come from my own interior puzzlement at where I was".^[2]

Other releases

• The single version for guitar (played by Bowie) and cello (by Paul Buckmaster) was released as the B-side to "Space Oddity" and "Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola", prior to the album version. The B-side cut later appeared on the Sound and Vision box set in 1989. One release of "Space Oddity" mistakenly rendered the B-side's title as "Wild Eyed Boy from Freedom".^[3]

• Bowie played this song on Sound of the 70s with Andy Ferris on 25 March 1970. The show was broadcast on 4 April 1972 and in 2000 was released on Bowie at the Beeb.

• A live version recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, on 3 July 1973 was released on Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture (1983). The song was played as a part of a medley with "Oh! You Pretty Things" and "All the Young Dudes".

• The track appeared on the Japanese compilation The Best of David Bowie in 1974.

Cover versions

• Cristina Donà

Notes