Rock Songs Changes David Bowie

Rock Songs Changes David BowieShow more

"Changes" is a song by David Bowie, originally released on the album Hunky Dory in December 1971 and as a single in January 1972. Despite missing the Billboard top 40, "Changes" became one of Bowie's best-known songs. The lyrics are often seen as a manifesto for his chameleonic personality, the frequent change of the world today, and frequent reinventions of his musical style throughout the 1970s.[1] This single is cited as David Bowie's official North American debut, despite the fact that the song "The Man Who Sold the World" was released in North America two years prior.[2] This was the last song Bowie performed live on stage before his retirement from live performances at the end of 2006.[3]

It charted for the first time on the UK Singles Chart on 15 January 2016 at number 49 following Bowie's death.

Contents [hide]
1 Music and lyrics
2 Release and aftermath
3 Track listing
4 Production credits
5 Charts
6 Live versions
7 Other releases
8 Cover versions
9 Notes
10 References
11 External links

Music and lyrics[edit]

Bowie has said that the track "started out as a parody of a nightclub song, a kind of throwaway".[4][5] The musical arrangement featured the composer's saxophone, Rick Wakeman's keyboards and Mick Ronson's strings, while the stuttering chorus has been compared to The Who.[6][7]

David Bowie "Changes" (1971)

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21 second sample from David Bowie's "Changes".

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The lyrics focused on the compulsive nature of artistic reinvention ("Strange fascination, fascinating me / Changes are taking the pace I'm going through") and distancing oneself from the rock mainstream ("Look out, you rock 'n' rollers").[1] The song has also been interpreted as touting "Modern Kids as a New Race",[6] a theme echoed on the following album track, "Oh! You Pretty Things". Rolling Stone's contemporary review of Hunky Dory considered that "Changes" could be "construed as a young man's attempt to reckon how he'll react when it's his time to be on the maligned side of the generation schism".[8]

Release and aftermath[edit]

The composer having agreed to Peter Noone covering "Oh! You Pretty Things", which later commentators have argued was the obvious single from Hunky Dory,[6] "Changes" was chosen for a 45 release in January 1972. Like the album, it generated good reviews but negligible chart action, peaking just outside the US Top 40 and failing in Britain.[6]

The song was a regular feature of Bowie's live performances as Ziggy Stardust in 1972–73, appearing again on the Diamond Dogs tour in 1974 and the Station to Station tour in 1976. According to Bowie, "it turned into this monster that nobody would stop asking for at concerts: 'Dye-vid, Dye-vid – do Changes!' I had no idea it would become such a popular thing."[5] The song is ranked at number 127 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2004 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Track listing[edit]
1."Changes" (Bowie) – 3:33
2."Andy Warhol" (Bowie) – 3:58

Production credits[edit]
Producer: Ken Scott
David Bowie

Musicians: David Bowie: vocals, saxophone
Mick Ronson: string arrangement, Mellotron
Trevor Bolder: bass guitar
Mick Woodmansey: drums
Rick Wakeman: piano