Artists
Musicians featured in this piece are:
David Bowie – vocals, acoustic guitar
Mick Ronson – electric guitar
Tony Visconti – bass guitar, backing vocals
Woody Woodmansey – drums, percussion
Written by David Bowie. Produced by Tony Visconti.
The track is built around a circular, repeating electric guitar riff from Mick Ronson, with David Bowie‘s acoustic guitar laid underneath. Tony Visconti has said his melodic bassline was worked out alongside Ronson’s riff against Bowie’s simple chord structure, and that the three of them, along with Woody Woodmansey, functioned almost like a self-contained band during the sessions, having just met Ronson during mixing for the earlier Space Oddity album. The record marked the first appearance of future Spiders from Mars members Ronson and Woodmansey on a Bowie album, and despite producing no hit singles at the time, it’s widely regarded as the true start of Bowie’s classic creative period.
David Bowie – The Man Who Sold The World Lyrics
We passed upon the stair
We spoke of was and when
Although I wasn’t there
He said I was his friend
Which came as some surprise
I spoke into his eyes, “I thought you died alone
A long long time ago”
Oh no, not me
I never lost control
You’re face to face
With the man who sold the world
I laughed and shook his hand
And made my way back home
I searched for form and land
For years and years I roamed
I gazed a gazeless stare
At all the millions here
We must have died alone
A long long time ago
Who knows? Not me
We never lost control
You’re face to face
With the man who sold the world
Who knows? Not me
We never lost control
You’re face to face
With the man who sold the world
To listen to other songs from the Teleskop 18 program and the full program, click here.