Quicksand (song)
| The Bewlay Brothers | |
|---|---|
| David Bowie | |
| publication | 17th December 1971 |
| length | 5:03 |
| Genre (s) | Folk rock , art rock |
| Author (s) | David Bowie |
| Publisher (s) | Rykodisc |
| album | Hunky Dory |
Quicksand is a 1971 David Bowie track that appeared on the album Hunky Dory and completes the A-side of the album. Quicksand also appeared on the B-side of the single Rock 'n' Roll Suicide of the follow-up album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972).
Music and conception
The ballad was recorded on July 14, 1971. The instrumental conception is based on an arrangement of acoustic guitars and strings put together by Mick Ronson . The song represents a mixture of folk , classic and in hints of upcoming hard rock . The song was produced by Ken Scott , who wanted a powerful unplugged song. He had tried something similar for George Harrison's album All Things Must Pass the year before.
Lyrically, Buddhist and occult influences and Friedrich Nietzsche's superman doctrine from Also sprach Zarathustra can be felt. A tragic “figure” is depicted who has lost all hope in the future and who deals with death in the metaphysical sense after the chances of realization have been wasted (“ I'm not a prophet or a stone age man; Just a mortal with the potential of a Superman; I'm living on "). In the introduction there are allusions to the ancient revelation and secret teachings of the Golden Dawn and its influential member Aleister Crowley (" I'm closer to the Golden Dawn; Immersed in Crowley's uniform Of Imagery "). Bowie himself later reported in interviews that he was well influenced by the mystical traditions of Kabbalah and Crowleyism. Influential figures of the Second World War also appear , Heinrich Himmler , Winston Churchill and Joan Pujol García (the latter under the code name Garbo ). Bowie wrestles with thelemic ideas against and for his traditional consciousness.
Staffing
- David Bowie - vocals , guitar
- Mick Ronson - guitar
- Rick Wakeman - piano
- Trevor Bolder - electric bass
- Mick Woodmansey - drums
Cover versions
The song has been covered by numerous artists, such as the independent band Dinosaur Jr. , Seu Jorge (in the film Die Tiefseetaucher ), Seal , Robert Smith from The Cure along with Bowie, End of Fashion , Aslan , Abbeyvein , Rainbow Arabia and Züri West from Switzerland.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kevin Cann, Any Day Now - David Bowie: The London Years: 1947-1974 , pp. 223 f. (2010)
- ↑ James E. Perone, The Words and Music of David Bowie , 22
- ^ David Buckley, Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story , 115
- ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray, Bowie: An Illustrated Record page 41
- ↑ David Huckvale, The Occult Arts of Music: An Esoteric Survey from Pythagoras to Pop Culture - Ten. Satan Rocks , page 187
- ↑ Manuel Trummer, Sympathy for the Devil? , Page 223
- ^ David Sheppard, Wishful Beginnings, MOJO 60 Years of Bowie, p. 24