Big Brother (David Bowie song)
"Big Brother" is a song written by David Bowie in 1973 and intended for his never-produced musical based on George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. In 1974 it was released on the album Diamond Dogs. It segued into the final track on the record, "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family".
| "Big Brother" | |
|---|---|
| Song by David Bowie | |
| from the album Diamond Dogs | |
| Released | 24 May 1974[1] |
| Recorded | January–February 1974 |
| Studio | Olympic, London |
| Genre | Art rock, glam rock, blue-eyed soul |
| Length | 3:21 |
| Label | RCA |
| Songwriter(s) | David Bowie |
| Producer(s) | David Bowie |
Lyrically, the song reflects the ending of Nineteen Eighty-Four, where Winston Smith's brainwashing is complete, and he loves Big Brother. This was described by Bowie biographer David Buckley as "a frightening paean to the Super God",[2] while Nicholas Pegg considered that Bowie was showing how "the glamour of dictatorships is balanced with the banality".[3]
The opening trumpet line, played on a Chamberlin, has been compared to Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain.[4] The melody in the chorus was echoed in Bowie's own "Shining Star (Makin' My Love)" from Never Let Me Down (1987).[3]
Live versions
- A live version (which included "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family") from the first leg of the Diamond Dogs Tour was released on David Live. A live recording from the second leg of the same tour was released in 2017 on Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74).
- A live version of the song appears on the two-CD concert released on the Special Edition of Glass Spider (2007).
Other releases
- It also appeared in the Sound + Vision box set in 1989.
Cover versions
- Cream VIII - The Dark Side of David Bowie: A Tribute to David Bowie (1997). This version incorporates "The Chant of the Ever-Circling Skeletal Family".
- The Quiet Men - Loving the Alien: Athens Georgia Salutes David Bowie
- Danny Michel - Loving the Alien: Danny Michel Sings the Songs of David Bowie (2004)
- Michael and Spider [iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=304568492&s=143441]
- Enrique Seknadje - in "Diamond Dogs Revisited" (2014) On Sound Cloud
Notes
- "Diamond Dogs album is forty today". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- David Buckley (1999). Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story: p.214
- Nicholas Pegg (2000). The Complete David Bowie: pp.38-39
- Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record: p.64