"What in the World" is a song by David Bowie released on his 1977 album Low, later making appearances as repertoire in the 1978 world tour as well as other major tours.
"What in the World" showcases some of Bowie's Berlin-era songwriting and production techniques. This song, like others on Low, shows Bowie's experiments with disjointed, non-linear lyrics with seemingly random sentences and free-associative phrases.[1]
The song makes heavy use of synthesizer and recording studio techniques, heavily influenced by the work of Brian Eno, who collaborated with the album. A "blip"-like sound comparable to the sounds later made by Pac-Man and the Nintendo Entertainment System pulses throughout the song, which, coupled with extremely rhythmic guitar solos, creates a frantic pace. The song also makes use of the Harmonizer which Tony Visconti brought to the studio which was used to Dennis Davis' drumming. The song also features Iggy Pop on backing vocals. Pop's album The Idiot was recorded back-to-back with Low at the same facility, was produced by Bowie, and featured many of the same musicians.
A live performance recorded during the Isolar II Tour was released on the album Stage. To make the song more accessible for the concert audience, it had been lengthened by some two minutes. This was achieved by first playing the entirety of the first and second verses at a much slower tempo, practically at dance speed, and then repeating the song once again at album speed with its ending reinstalled. A different live performance from the same tour was included on Welcome to the Blackout, released in 2018.
^Dorris, Jesse (23 October 2018). "A Surprising Tribute to David Bowie's Berlin Trilogy, Played in a Manhattan Mall". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
October 27, 2023
what, world, this, article, about, david, bowie, song, 1951, american, television, quiz, show, game, show, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, materia. This article is about David Bowie song For the 1951 American television quiz show see What in the World game show This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources What in the World news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message What in the World is a song by David Bowie released on his 1977 album Low later making appearances as repertoire in the 1978 world tour as well as other major tours What in the World Song by David Bowiefrom the album LowReleased14 January 1977RecordedSeptember November 1976GenreArt rock krautrock electronic rockLength2 23LabelRCASongwriter s David BowieProducer s David Bowie and Tony Visconti What in the World showcases some of Bowie s Berlin era songwriting and production techniques This song like others on Low shows Bowie s experiments with disjointed non linear lyrics with seemingly random sentences and free associative phrases 1 The song makes heavy use of synthesizer and recording studio techniques heavily influenced by the work of Brian Eno who collaborated with the album A blip like sound comparable to the sounds later made by Pac Man and the Nintendo Entertainment System pulses throughout the song which coupled with extremely rhythmic guitar solos creates a frantic pace The song also makes use of the Harmonizer which Tony Visconti brought to the studio which was used to Dennis Davis drumming The song also features Iggy Pop on backing vocals Pop s album The Idiot was recorded back to back with Low at the same facility was produced by Bowie and featured many of the same musicians Contents 1 Live versions 2 Production credits 3 Other releases 4 Cover versions 5 See also 6 ReferencesLive versions editA live performance recorded during the Isolar II Tour was released on the album Stage To make the song more accessible for the concert audience it had been lengthened by some two minutes This was achieved by first playing the entirety of the first and second verses at a much slower tempo practically at dance speed and then repeating the song once again at album speed with its ending reinstalled A different live performance from the same tour was included on Welcome to the Blackout released in 2018 A live version recorded on 12 September 1983 during the Serious Moonlight Tour was released on the concert film of the same name and on the live album Serious Moonlight Live 83 which was part of the 2018 box set Loving the Alien 1983 1988 and was released separately the following year Production credits editProducers Tony Visconti Musicians David Bowie lead vocals Carlos Alomar rhythm guitar George Murray bass Dennis Davis drums Ricky Gardiner lead guitars Brian Eno ARP synthesizers Rimmer E M I Iggy Pop backing vocals Roy Young piano FarfisaOther releases editThe live version from Stage was released as the B side of the single Star in 1978 The original album version was released as the B side of the US release of the single Boys Keep Swinging in April 1979 Cover versions editThe Blue Guitars released as a single Gary Jones released as a single Red Hot Chili Peppers live in Auckland 14 January 2013 at the Vector Arena Shearwater as part of a live performance of the entire Berlin Trilogy for WNYC 2018 2 See also editNintendocoreReferences edit See the lyrics Dorris Jesse 23 October 2018 A Surprising Tribute to David Bowie s Berlin Trilogy Played in a Manhattan Mall Pitchfork com Retrieved 2022 11 26 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title What in the World amp oldid 1162849842, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
