Look Back in Anger (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Look Back in Anger


Caption = Screenshot from the music video
Artist = David Bowie
from Album = Lodger
A-side =
B-side =
Released = 20 August 1979 (US)
Format = 7" single
Recorded = Mountain Studios, Montreux, September 1978; The Record Plant, New York, March 1979
Genre = Rock
Length = 3:08
Label = RCA Records
PB 11724 (US)
Writer =
Producer = David Bowie, Tony Visconti
Certification =
Chart position = Did not chart
Last single = "DJ"
1979
This single = "Look Back in Anger"
1979
Next single = "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)"
1979
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Lodger
Type = studio
prev_track = "DJ"
prev_no = 6
this_track = "Look Back in Anger"
track_no = 7
next_track = "Boys Keep Swinging"
next_no = 8

"Look Back in Anger" is a song written by David Bowie and Brian Eno for the album "Lodger" (1979). It concerns "a tatty 'Angel Of Death'",Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). "Bowie: An Illustrated Record": p.106] and features a guitar solo by Carlos Alomar.

RCA were unsure if America was ready for the sexual androgyny of "Boys Keep Swinging", [Nicholas Pegg (2000). "The Complete David Bowie": p.43] the lead-off single from "Lodger" in most territories, and "Look Back in Anger" was issued instead.Nicholas Pegg (2000). Ibid: p.131] The B-side was another track from "Lodger" called "Repetition", a story of domestic violence. The single failed to chart.

David Mallet directed a video for the song, featuring Bowie in an artist's studio. The scenario was based on the conclusion of Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Grey", as a self-portrait of the protagonist grows more handsome while he himself physically decays. [David Buckley (1999). "Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story": p.355]

"Look Back in Anger" has a mixed reputation among Bowie commentators. "NME" critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray have described it as "probably the low point" of the album, while Nicholas Pegg considers it "one of "Lodger's" dramatic highlights".

Beyond the shared title, the song has nothing to do with the John Osborne play "Look Back in Anger".

Track listing

# "Look Back in Anger" (David Bowie, Brian Eno) – 3:08
# "Repetition" (Bowie) – 2:59

Production credits

* Producers:
** Tony Visconti
** David Bowie

* Musicians:
** David Bowie: Vocals, Guitar, Backing vocals
** Dennis Davis: Percussion
** George Murray: Bass
** Carlos Alomar: Guitar
** Sean Mayes: Piano
** Brian Eno: Synthesizer, Horse trumpet, Eroica horn
** Tony Visconti: Backing vocals

Other releases

* It appeared on the following compilations:
** "Chameleon" (Australia/New Zealand 1979)
** "Christiane F." soundtrack (1981)
** "Golden Years" (1983)
** "Sound and Vision" (1989)
** "The Singles Collection" (1993)
** "The Best of 1974/1979" (1998)
* In 1988 Bowie recorded a "new, brutal version of the song" with Reeves Gabrels on guitar and Erdal Kizilcay on bass and drums; it was the first arrangement Bowie and Gabrels collaborated on, taking place shortly before the formation of the band Tin Machine. [David Buckley (1999). Ibid: pp.449-450] The recording was issued as a bonus track on the Rykodisc CD release of "Lodger" in 1991.

Cover versions

* Kaligare - ".2 Contamination: A Tribute to David Bowie" (2006)
* Swans of Avon - "The Dark Side of David Bowie: A Tribute to David Bowie" (1997)
* Tender Fury - "Thoughts of Yesterday" (1992)

Notes