The Supermen

Song infobox
Name = The Supermen


Artist = David Bowie
Album = The Man Who Sold the World
Released = November 4 1970 (U.S.)
April 1971 (UK)
track_no = 9
Recorded = Trident and Advision Studios, London
18 April - 22 May 1970
Genre = Heavy metal
Length = 3:38
Label = Mercury Records
Writer = David Bowie
Producer = Tony Visconti
prev = "The Man Who Sold the World"
prev_no = 8
next =
next_no =

"The Supermen" is a song written by David Bowie in 1970 and released as the closing track on the album "The Man Who Sold the World". It was one of a number of pieces on the album inspired by the works of literary figures such as Friedrich Nietzsche and H. P. Lovecraft.

Music and lyrics

The song has been cited as reflecting the influence of German Romanticism, its theme and lyrics referencing the apocalyptic visions of Friedrich Nietzsche and its prominent timpani part being likened to Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra".Nicholas Pegg (2000). "The Complete David Bowie": pp.209-210] 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." [David Buckley (1999). "Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story": p.267] Critics have also seen the influence of H. P. Lovecraft's stories of "dormant elder gods". [Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). "Bowie: An Illustrated Record": p.38]

According to Bowie himself the guitar riff was given to him by Jimmy Page when the latter, who was Shel Talmy's session guitarist in the mid-1960s, played on one of Bowie's early releases, "I Pity the Fool". The riff was later used on another Bowie song, "Dead Man Walking", from the "Earthling" album in 1997.

Live versions

*Bowie played the song at the BBC show "Sounds of the 70s" with Bob Harris on 21 September 1971. This was broadcast on 4 October 1971 and in 2000 was released on the album "Bowie at the Beeb".
*A live version recorded at the Boston Music Hall on 1 October 1972 was released with the "Sound and Vision" box set in 1989. It also appeared on the bonus disc of the "Aladdin Sane - 30th Anniversary Edition" in 2003.
*Another live version recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on 20 October 1972 was released on the album "Santa Monica '72".

Other releases

An alternate version of the song was recorded on 12 November 1971 during sessions for "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars". It first appeared on the album "Revelations - A Musical Anthology for Glastonbury Fayre" in July 1972, compiled by the organisers of Glastonbury Festival at which Bowie had played in 1971. [Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Ibid: p.49] It was later released on as a bonus track on the Rykodisc CD and cassette reissue of "Hunky Dory" in 1990, and again on the "Ziggy Stardust - 30th Anniversary Reissue" bonus disc in 2002.

Cover versions

*Human Drama – "PinUps" (1993)
*Ventilator – "Crash Course for the Ravers - A Tribute to the Songs of David Bowie" (1996)
*The Mission – "Goth Oddity - A Tribute to David Bowie" (1996)

Notes