Joe the Lion

"Joe the Lion"
Song by David Bowie
from the album "Heroes"
Released14 October 1977 (1977-10-14)
RecordedJuly–August 1977
StudioHansa Studio by the Wall, West Berlin
GenreArt rock, krautrock
Length3:05
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)David Bowie
Producer(s)David Bowie, Tony Visconti

"Joe the Lion" is a song by David Bowie in 1977 for the album "Heroes". It was produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti and features lead guitar by Robert Fripp.

The track is in part a tribute to performance artist Chris Burden, who was famous for having himself crucified 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").

Bowie rehearsed the song for the Isolar II tour of 1978, but it ultimately was not performed live until the first two dates on the 1983 Serious Moonlight Tour and more frequently on the 1995 Outside Tour.

"Joe the Lion" has been described by critic Chris O'Leary as "phenomenal" and "one of the high peaks of Bowie's late Seventies". Mojo magazine listed it as Bowie's 94th best track in 2015.

Personnel

According to Chris O'Leary:

Technical

  • David Bowie – producer
  • Tony Visconti – producer, engineer
  • Colin Thurston – engineer

Other releases

  • The song 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:
  • 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.
  • A previously unreleased live soundcheck rehearsal of the song from the Isolar II Tour was released in February 2020, backing a picture disc, featuring a live recording of “Alabama Song“.
  • Momus performed a cover version of "Joe the Lion" for his 2015 album Turpsycore.

Live versions


This page was last updated at 2023-10-28 02:27 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari