| "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon" | |
|---|---|
| Song byDavid Bowie | |
| from the albumReality | |
| Released | 15 September 2003 |
| Recorded | January–May 2003 |
| Studio | Looking Glass (New York City) |
| Genre | Alternative rock |
| Length | 4:04 |
| Label | ISO/Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | David Bowie |
| Producer(s) | David Bowie,Tony Visconti |
"Fall Dog Bombs the Moon" is a song written byDavid Bowie in2003 for his albumReality. According to Bowie himself at the time of the album release, "It came from reading an article aboutKellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary ofHalliburton, the company thatDick Cheney used to run. Basically, Kellogg Brown & Root got the job of cleaning upIraq. What tends to happen is that a thing like an issue or a policy manifests itself as a guide. It becomes a character of some kind, like the one in Fall Dog. There's this guy saying, 'I'm goddamn rich'. You know, 'Throw anything you like at me, baby, because I'm goddamn rich. It doesn't bother me.'."[1]
BiographerNicholas Pegg wrote his own interpretation of the song: "The key on this occasion is the fearful predicament of global politics at the time of theReality sessions. The album was recorded during the preamble to, and the prosecution of, theIraq War, and it's impossible to hear lyrics like 'I don't care much, I'll win anyway.../I'm goddamn rich, an exploding man/When I talk in the night, there's oil on my hands' without pondering their most obvious resonance. It wouldn't be particularly extravagant to surmise that the 'Moon' of the title suggests theCrescent Moon of Islam, thereby narrowing down the candidates for 'Fall Dog' fairly decisively."[1]
Pegg concludes writing that the song cocks a "contemptuoussnook at the increasing predilection of political parties to find 'someone to hate' while jumping into bed with business corporations" and that dialogue with other Bowie's songs like "Fantastic Voyage", "Loving the Alien" and "I'm Afraid of Americans".[1]
"Fall Dog Bombs the Moon" is based on short melodic motifs, the kind that seemed to permeate his previous album,Heathen.[2]
A live performance of the song, recorded in November 2003 during theA Reality Tour, is included on theA Reality Tour album, released in 2010.
According to Chris O'Leary:[3]
Production
