The Bewlay Brothers
| The Bewlay Brothers | |
|---|---|
| David Bowie | |
| publication | 17th December 1971 |
| length | 5:27 |
| Genre (s) | Folk rock , psychedelic rock |
| Author (s) | David Bowie |
| Publisher (s) | Rykodisc |
| album | Hunky Dory |
The Bewlay Brothers is a song by David Bowie from 1971, which appeared on the album Hunky Dory and marks the end of the album.
In the late 1970s, Bowie named his publisher, based on the song, Bewlay Bros. and also used that name as a multi-pseudonym for himself, Iggy Pop , Eduard Meyer and Colin Thurston as the maker of Pop's album Lust for Life in 1977 Bowie first played The Bewlay Brothers live in 2002 ( BBC Radio 2 ).
Lyrics and reception
The album Hunky Dory is marked by tributes to artists who Bowie pays tribute to because they have had a lasting influence on his work, such as Andy Warhol , Bob Dylan and The Velvet Underground ( Queen Bitch ) or because they are simply meaningful to him, according to his son Duncan in Kooks . In contrast to these titles, the 5:27 minute ballad The Bewlay Brothers is considered a lyrically strongly condensed, but also inscrutable piece in Bowie's oeuvre.
When Bowie himself was interviewed, he is said to have mentioned to his producer Ken Scott that he had produced the piece specifically for the US market and does not deny the ironic background. The Americans therefore have a tendency to want to read something into all things ("the Americans always like to read things into things"), even if the title texts make no sense. When Bowie was encouraged to reflect on the song again in 2008 - he had just included it on a compilation of his favorite songs ( iSelect ) - he emphasized that he still did not know how to interpret the song. He offered an interpretation aid to the effect that one should imagine that various ghosts were hidden in the song and could be peeled off, similar to a repeatedly written, scraped, antique manuscript page, a palimpsest .
It was inevitable that attempts to interpret the text were made. Some commentators recognize allusions to Bowie's half-brother , Terry, who suffered from schizophrenia . Tom Robinson Band founder Robinson even assumed excursions into a gay tactic and fighting program, a gay agenda .
By means of audio-technical distortion and change in pitch , Bowie's voice is presented in Mickey Mouse style in the song's coda . Carr and Murray (critic at the New Musical Express ) find that parallels to an earlier Bowie song are recognizable, to The Laughing Gnome from 1967. However, The Bewlay Brothers presented themselves in a considerably darker guise.
Staffing
- David Bowie - vocals , guitar , saxophone , piano
- Mick Ronson - guitar
- Rick Wakeman - piano
- Trevor Bolder - electric bass
- Mick Woodmansey - drums
more publishments
- The song was released in 1989 in the box set Sound and Vision , as was a song from the 1977 album Low .
- An alternative recording is available as a bonus track on the CD version of Hunky Dory, published by Rykodisc , 1990.
- The song was recorded in 2008 in the compilation iSelect , which only contains David Bowie's favorite songs.
Cover versions
- John Howard on his 2007 album Kid in a Big World .
- The music project Replicants , which specializes in cover versions , brought the song out on his album Replicants in 1995.
- The Texan musician Rhett Miller included the song in his album The Interpreter .
Individual evidence
- ^ Review by Mark Deming, AllMusic
- ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray, Bowie: An Illustrated Record , p. 41 (1981)
- ↑ Christopher Sandford, Bowie: Loving The Alien / Buddha of Suburbia , p. 15
- ↑ David Buckley, Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story , pp. 114–115 (1999)
- ↑ DAVID BOWIE: I went to buy some shoes - and I came back with Life On Mars / in Daily Mail / 28. June 2008
- ↑ edited by James E. Perone, The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and important creations , Volume 1
- ↑ Nicholas Pegg, The Complete David Bowie, p. 37 (2000)
- ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray, Bowie: An Illustrated Record , p. 24 (1981)
- ^ David Buckley, Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story , pp. 35 f .; 43 f. (1999)
- ↑ Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic
- ↑ Mike Schiller, David Bowie: iSelect / October 23, 2008