David Bowie and lyrics

There’s an interesting short piece on David Bowie and lyrics on the BBC website. Producer Tony Visconti, who worked on a dozen albums with Bowie including some of his most radical (“Diamond Dogs”, “Heroes” and “Low”), gave a rare view of Bowie in studio.

“Whilst working on the album Heroes he laboured with his lyric writing. It was hard for him to go home and write lyrics. It was so important that the words matched the impact of the radical music we had already recorded. Consequently, he composed his lyrics writing and singing them two lines at a time in front of the microphone. He’d tell me to put the tape machine into record and when he finished two lines he’d say ‘stop’. Then he’d scribble two more lines and ask for them to be recorded immediately after the last two lines. I have never worked with another artist who could do that!”

For the full article, visit the BBC website.

Versions of “Heroes”

Bowie has a dozen or more songs that could be described as seminal. Yet “Heroes” seems to hold a particular fascination for other performers. On Secondhand Songs, over 200 cover versions are listed. These range from the very faithful live version of Blondie in 1980 to the frankly odd reggae/dub version by Dubby Stardust (get it?).

Other covers have been done by Oasis, King Crimson and Janelle Monae.

Any particular you want to highlight? Drop a link below.

For lyrics by Michael Leahy drop over here.