'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore

"'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore"
Single by David Bowie
from the album ★
A-side "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)"
Released 10 November 2014
Format
Recorded
  • 2014 (single version)
  • 2015 (Blackstar version)
Genre Art rock
Length
  • 5:26 (single version)
  • 4:52 (Blackstar version)
Label
Songwriter(s) David Bowie
Producer(s)
David Bowie singles chronology
"Love Is Lost"
(2013)		 "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore"
(2014)		 "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)"
(2014)

"Love Is Lost"
(2013)		 "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore"
(2014)		 "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)"
(2014)

"'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" is a song by English musician David Bowie. It was originally released as a digital non-album single on 10 November 2014 and was later featured as the B-side for Bowie's next single, "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", which was released exactly one week later. A re-recorded version of the song appears as the second track on Bowie's 25th and final studio album, ★ (2016). "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" charted in multiple countries, including Bowie's home country of the UK, where it peaked at number 107.

Background and recording

"'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" was released as a single on 10 November 2014 and was later featured as one of the B-sides to "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", Bowie's following single.[1] The name of the song derives from the play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore by John Ford, an English dramatist of the 17th century.[2] Both songs were re-recorded for Bowie's 25th and final studio album, ★, released on 8 January 2016. American jazz musician Donny McCaslin provided new saxophone parts for the re-recording of "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore". Bowie had done saxophone parts himself for the original version of the song.[3]

On the sound of the song, Bowie wrote: "If Vorticists wrote Rock Music it might have sounded like this."[4]

Critical reception

Mojo critic Andrew Male described the track as "a raucous five-minute mesh of melody and discord, an art-rock anti-war romance, gasping under the pack-ice of no-wave sax-squawk."[4]

Track listing

Digital download

Digital release[5]
No.TitleLength
1."'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore"5:26

10" vinyl

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)"7:24
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore"5:27
2."Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" (Radio edit)4:01

Charts

Chart (2014–16) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[6] 78
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[7] 68
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[8] 63
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[9] 107
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[10] 34

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label Catalogue no.
Worldwide 10 November 2014 Digital download ISO none[5]
Europe 14 November 2014 10" (B-side) Parlophone 10RDB2014[1]
United States 28 November 2014 Columbia 88875028701[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "David Bowie - Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) (Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  2. ↑ The Inside Story of David Bowie's Stunning New Album, 'Blackstar', rollingstone.com, 23 November 2015
  3. ↑ Fusilli, Jim (5 January 2016). "'Blackstar' Review: Ziggy Stardust Plays Jazz". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 Male, Andrew (10 November 2014). "Hear David Bowie's New Single, 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore". Mojo. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  5. 1 2 "David Bowie – 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore (File)". Discogs. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "Ultratop.be – David Bowie – 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – David Bowie – 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – David Bowie – 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Chart Log UK - New Chart Entries - 16.01.2016". zobbel.de. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "David Bowie Chart History (Hot Rock Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "David Bowie - Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) (Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
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