- Future Legend
Infobox Song
Name = Future Legend
Artist =David Bowie
Album =Diamond Dogs
Released =April 24 1974
track_no = 1
Recorded = Olympic and Island Studios, London
Ludolf Studios,Hilversum ,Netherlands
October 1973 - February 1974
Genre =Glam rock
Length = 1:01
Writer =David Bowie
"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered " byRichard Rodgers
Label =RCA Records
Producer = David Bowie
prev =
next = "Diamond Dogs"
next_no = 2"Future Legend" is the opening track of
David Bowie 's 1974 album "Diamond Dogs ". Its spoken narrative introduces the album's setting in a "glitter apoocalyse". [cite book|last=Carr|first=Roy|authorlink=Roy Carr|coauthors=Murray, Charles Shaar |year=1981|title=Bowie: An Illustrated Record|publisher=Avon|id=ISBN 0-3807-7966-8|page=p.14]Music and lyrics
Barely a minute in length, "Future Legend" begins with a distorted howl and features Bowie's spoken-word vision of a post-apocalyptic
Manhattan , now renamed Hunger City. He describes "fleas the size of rats" and "rats the size of cats", and compares the humanoid inhabitants to "packs of dogs".Halfway through the narration, the
Richard Rodgers ' tune "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered " strikes up (the song and its composer appear on the track list of the original vinyl album but this credit is omitted on CD releases). "Future Legend" then morphs into the album's title track, with the cry "This Ain't Rock and Roll, This Is Genocide!".The narrative has been compared to the writings of William Burroughs, particularly such phrases as "a baying pack of people" in "
Naked Lunch ". [cite book|last=Buckley|first=David|year=1999|title=Strange Fascination: David Bowie - The Definitive Story|publisher=Virgin Books|id=ISBN 0-7535-0457-X|page=p.213]Live versions
A backing tape of the track was played as the lead-in to "Diamond Dogs" at some performances on Bowie's North American tour in 1974. [cite book|last=Pegg|first=Nicholas|title=The Complete David Bowie|year=2000|id=ISBN 1-903111-73-0|page=p.80|publisher=Reynolds & Hearn Ltd]
Cover versions
*Rancid Vat - "Bowiecide" single
Notes
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