“The Man Who Sold the World” (9) is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The title track of Bowie’s third studio album, it was released in November 1970 in the US and in April 1971 in the UK by Mercury Records. Produced by Tony Visconti, it was recorded at Trident and Advision Studios in London in May 1970, towards the end of the album’s sessions; Bowie recorded his vocal on the final day of mixing for the album, reflecting his generally dismissive attitude during the sessions. Musically, it is based around a “circular” guitar riff from Mick Ronson. Its lyrics are cryptic and evocative, being inspired by numerous poems including the 1899 “Antigonish” by William Hughes Mearns. Bowie’s vocals are heavily “phased” throughout and have been described as “haunting”. “The Man Who Sold the World” went relatively unnoticed upon initial release in 1970. It was not released as a single by Bowie, though appeared as a B-side on the 1973 reissues of “Space Oddity” in the US and “Life on Mars?” in the UK by RCA Records.
The song was covered by the Scottish singer Lulu in 1974, who, according to biographer David Buckley, performed it in “a sleazy, almost Berlin cabaret style”. O’Leary categorises her rendition as “glam-disco” and calls it “loud, captivating and distorting.” Lulu would recall Bowie inviting her to a concert he gave after which he met her in his hotel room saying: “I want to make a record with you [because] you’re a great singer.” Lulu – “I didn’t think it would happen but [Bowie] followed up two days later. He was übercool at the time and I just wanted to be led by him. I loved everything he did. I didn’t think ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ was the greatest song for my voice, but it was such a strong song in itself. I had no idea what it was about. In the studio Bowie kept telling me to smoke more cigarettes, to give my voice a certain quality.” Lulu’s version of “The Man Who Sold the World” was released as a single in January 1974 by Polydor Records. Her performances on TOTP helped the single peak at No. 3 in the UK, as well as No. 8 in the Ireland, and No. 24 and 10 on the Belgian and Netherlands Singles Charts, respectively.
The Man Who Sold The World was covered by Scottish musician Midge Ure in 1982. This cover of the song was featured in the 2015 video game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The track also appeared on the re-mastered 2010 edition of his 1985 album, The Gift.
In his journals, Kurt Cobain of the American grunge band Nirvana ranked the album The Man Who Sold The World at number 45 in his top 50 favourite albums. Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic were introduced to The Man Who Sold the World by one of their drummers Chad Channing, who bought a used LP version and converted it to cassette. Cobain found great interest in the title track and was surprised to learn it was by Bowie. Nirvana subsequently recorded a live rendition of the song during their MTV Unplugged appearance at Sony Music Studios in New York City on 18 November 1993 and included it on their MTV Unplugged in New York album the following year. Nirvana’s cover received considerable airplay on alternative rock radio stations and was also placed into heavy rotation on MTV, peaking at number 3 on MTV’s most played videos in February 1995; it also peaked for two weeks at number 7 on Canada’s MuchMusic Countdown in March 1995.
NOVA breathes new life into the sounds of classic Bossa Nova and Samba, delivering an unforgettable musical experience that charms and captivates audiences. Whether playing lively Samba classics or sultry Bossa Nova, NOVA delivers a fresh musical perspective with a voice of their own that surrounds the audience with that extra taste of elegance and timeless class. Their 2022 version of the Bowie song exemplifies this.
Finally, an interesting variation of the song is to be hear from thr French band Ollebirde, who although having announced their demise in 2020, still left us with this stark version for the song from 2018.
