| "The Supermen" | |
|---|---|
| Song byDavid Bowie | |
| from the albumThe Man Who Sold the World | |
| Released | 4 November 1970(US) April 1971(UK) |
| Recorded | 18 April – 22 May 1970 |
| Studio | Trident and Advision, London |
| Genre | Hard rock,psychedelic rock |
| Length | 3:38 |
| Label | Mercury |
| Songwriter(s) | David Bowie |
| Producer(s) | Tony Visconti |
"The Supermen" is a song written by the English singer-songwriterDavid Bowie in 1970 and released as the closing track on the albumThe Man Who Sold the World. It was one of a number of pieces on the album inspired by the works of literary figures such asFriedrich Nietzsche andH. P. Lovecraft.
The song has been cited as reflecting the influence ofGerman Romanticism, its theme and lyrics referencing the apocalyptic visions ofFriedrich Nietzsche and its prominenttimpani part being likened toRichard Strauss'Also Sprach Zarathustra.[1] Bowie later said "I was still going through the thing when I was pretending that I understood Nietzsche... And I had tried to translate it into my own terms to understand it so 'Supermen' came out of that."[2] Critics have also seen the influence ofH. P. Lovecraft's stories of "dormant elder gods".[3]
According to Bowie himself the guitar riff was given to him byJimmy Page when the latter, who wasShel Talmy's session guitarist in the mid-1960s, played on one of Bowie's early releases, "I Pity the Fool".[1] The riff was later used on another Bowie song, "Dead Man Walking", from theEarthling album in 1997.
An alternate version of the song was recorded on 12 November 1971 during sessions forThe Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. It first appeared on the albumRevelations – A Musical Anthology for Glastonbury Fayre in July 1972, compiled by the organisers ofGlastonbury Festival at which Bowie played in 1971.[5] It was later released as a bonus track on theRykodisc CD and cassette reissue ofHunky Dory in 1990, and again on theZiggy Stardust – 30th Anniversary Reissue bonus disc in 2002. This version was sampled on "Culture Shock", fromDeath Grips's 2011 mixtapeExmilitary.
A November 1996 tour rehearsal recording of the song, which originally aired on a BBC radio broadcast in 1997, was released in 2020 on the albumChangesNowBowie.[6] TheZiggy session recordings were released on theRock 'n' Roll Star! box set in 2024.[7][8][9]
According to biographer Chris O'Leary:[10]
Technical
