Joe the Lion

Song infobox
Name = Joe the Lion
Artist = David Bowie
Album = "Heroes"
Released = October 14 1977
track_no = 2
Recorded = Hansa Studio by the Wall, West Berlin
July-August 1977
Genre = Rock, Krautrock
Length = 3:05
Label = RCA Records
Writer = David Bowie
Producer = David Bowie, Tony Visconti
prev = "Beauty and the Beast"
prev_no = 1
next = ""Heroes""
next_no = 3

"Joe the Lion" is a song written by David Bowie in 1977 for the album ""Heroes"". It was produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti and features lead guitar by Robert Fripp. Like the album as a whole, the song demonstrates the influence of German Krautrock.

The track is in part a tribute to performance artist Chris Burden, [David Buckley (1999). "Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story": p.320] who was famous for having himself nailed to a Volkswagen in 1974 ("Nail me to my car and I'll tell you who you are") and for having an assistant shoot him in the arm at an art gallery in 1971 ("Guess you'll buy a gun / You'll buy it secondhand"). "Joe the Lion" has also been seen as reflecting Bowie's struggle to overcome the emotional numbness that appeared to permeate his previous album "Low" ("You get up and sleep"). [Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). "Bowie: An Illustrated Record": p.92]

Bowie played the song live on the 1983 Serious Moonlight and 1995 Outside tours.

Other releases

* It was released as the B-side of the US release of "John, I’m Only Dancing (Again)" in December 1979.
* It appeared on the following compilations:
** "Golden Years" (1983)
** "Sound and Vision" box set (1989)
* A remixed version, which replaced the distorted guitars and drums of the original with those reflecting late-1980s production values, was included in the Rykodisc reissue of "Heroes" in 1991.

Notes