"Dead Man Walking" is a song by English musician

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, released as the third single from his 21st album, '' Earthling'' (1997). Written by Bowie and

Reeves Gabrels Reeves Gabrels (born June 4, 1956) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. A member and guitarist of British band the Cure since 2012, Gabrels worked with David Bowie from 1987 to 1999, and was a member of the band Tin Machine. ...

, it was a number 32 hit in the UK.

Background

The guitar riff used in the intro dates back to the mid-1960s when Jimmy Page taught it to Bowie."Changes 2.1" by Joe Gore, Guitar Player magazine, June 1997, pp 45–58 "Jimmy said, 'I've got this riff and I can't do anything with it. Do you want it?'" Guitarist

related: "It does sound fairly Page-y, like a mutated

Johnny Burnette Trio John Joseph Burnette (March 25, 1934 – August 14, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter of rockabilly and pop music. In 1952, Johnny and his brother, Dorsey Burnette, and their mutual friend Paul Burlison formed the band that became k ...

thing." Bowie used the riff for "

The Supermen "The Supermen" is a song written by English singer-songwriter David Bowie in 1970 and released as the closing track on the album '' The Man Who Sold the World''. It was one of a number of pieces on the album inspired by the works of literary figur ...

" in 1970, and revived it 25 years later for "Dead Man Walking".

Critical reception

British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated "Dead Man Walking" five out of five, declaring it as "without doubt the best track" on the '' Earthling'' album. The reviewer noted that it "demonstrates that Bowie retains a keener ear for contemporary music and a hunger greater than many artists half his age."

Live versions

Bowie played an acoustic version of the song on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

'' with Reeves Gabrels. This was later released on the show's ''Live from 6A'' compilation album. When Bowie died in January 2016, Conan O'Brien broadcast the performance at the end of his show in remembrance. Another live version recorded at Fort Apache Studios, 8 April 1997, was broadcast at WBCN. The year after this version appeared on the album ''WBCN Naked Too''. Bowie played a different live acoustic version of "Dead Man Walking" at a concert at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta, Georgia on 4 August 1997, which was hosted by Atlanta alternative rock radio station 99X. 99X later included it as a track on their 99X Live X IV "Home" CD. A July 1997 performance at the

Phoenix Festival The Phoenix Festival was set up by John Vincent Power of the Mean Fiddler Music Group in 1993 as an alternative to the established Glastonbury and Reading Festivals. It was held at Long Marston Airfield near Stratford-upon-Avon and was one of t ...

was released in 2021 on '' Look at the Moon! (Live Phoenix Festival 97)''.

Versions and remixes

Singles

* 2-track CD # "Dead Man Walking (edit)" – 4:01 # "Dead Man Walking (Album version)" – 6:50 Released 21 March 1997 in the Netherlands by BMG. * Arista / 74321 47480 2 (EU) # "Dead Man Walking (Moby mix)" – 7:31 # "Dead Man Walking (Album version)" – 6:50 # "I'm Deranged (Jungle mix)" – 7:00 Released 21 March 1997 in the Netherlands by BMG. * CD: Arista / 74321 47614 2 (EU) # "Dead Man Walking (Moby mix)" – 7:31 # "Dead Man Walking (House mix)" – 6:00 # "Dead Man Walking (This One's Not Dead Yet Remix)" – 6:28 # "Dead Man Walking (Vigor Mortis Remix)" – 6:29 Released 24 March 1997 in the Netherlands by BMG. * CD: RCA / 74321 47584 2 (UK) # "Dead Man Walking (Single edit)" – 4:01 # "I'm Deranged (Jungle mix)" – 7:00 # "The Hearts Filthy Lesson (Good Karma mix)" – 5:00 Released 14 April 1997 in UK by

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

and BMG. * CD: RCA / 74321 47585 2 (UK) # "Dead Man Walking (Album version)" – 6:50 # "Dead Man Walking (Moby mix 1)" – 7:31 # "Dead Man Walking (House mix)" – 6:00 # "Dead Man Walking (This One's Not Dead Yet Remix)" – 6:28 Released 14 April 1997 in UK by

and BMG. * CD: Arista / 74321 47614 2 (Australia) # "Dead Man Walking (Single edit)" – 4:01 # "Dead Man Walking (Moby mix 1)" – 7:31 # "Dead Man Walking (House mix)" – 6:00 # "Dead Man Walking (This One's Not Dead Yet Remix)" – 6:28 # "Dead Man Walking (Vigor Mortis Remix)" – 6:29 Released 28 April 1997 in Australia by BMG. * Arista / BVCA-8845 (Japan) # "Dead Man Walking (Single edit)" – 4:01 # "Dead Man Walking (House mix)" – 6:00 # "Dead Man Walking (This One's Not Dead Yet Remix)" – 6:28 # "I'm Deranged (Jungle mix)" – 7:00 Released May 1997 in Japan. * UK 12" vinyl version # "Dead Man Walking (House mix)" – 6:00 # "Dead Man Walking (Vigor Mortis Remix)" – 6:29 # "Telling Lies (Paradox mix)" * Italian 12" vinyl version # "Dead Man Walking (Moby mix 1)" – 7:31 # "Dead Man Walking (House mix)" – 6:00 # "Dead Man Walking (This One's Not Dead Yet Remix)" – 6:28 # "Dead Man Walking (Vigor Mortis Remix)" – 6:29 At least six additional promo singles were released.

Group members

*David Bowie – production, writing credits, vocals, sampling ;Session musicians *

Gail Ann Dorsey Gail Ann Dorsey (born November 20, 1962) is an American musician. With a long career as a session musician mainly on bass guitar, she is perhaps best known for her lengthy residency in David Bowie's band, from 1995 to Bowie's death in 2016. Asid ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals *

Zachary Alford Zachary "Zack" Alford is a professional drummer, known for his work with the B-52's, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie and Tomoyasu Hotei. Alford was brought in by Danny Kortchmar to drum on Billy Joel's ''River of Dreams'' album. Alford contrib ...

Discogs - ''Zachary Alford'' - (profile & discography)
/ref> – drums *

Mike Garson Michael David Garson (born July 29, 1945) is an American pianist, who has worked with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Duran Duran, Free Flight and The Smashing Pumpkins. Early career Garson went to Lafayette High School in Brookly ...

– keyboards, piano *

Mark Plati Mark Plati is a New York–based musician, record producer, and songwriter, best known for his work in the 1990s with David Bowie. Plati also has worked with Spookey Ruben, The Cure, Duncan Sheik, Hooverphonic, Robbie Williams, Joe McIntyre, D ...

– drum loops, electronic percussion, production, programming, samples *

– production, writing credits, programming, guitar, vocals

Charts

Other releases

* It was featured in the 1997 film '' The Saint''. * Two Moby mixes were released on the bonus disc of the 2004 ''Digibook Expanded Edition'' of ''Earthling''.

Use in other media

* "Dead Man Walking" was used as introduction for ''Lo Que Queda del Día'', a late-afternoon news programme from Chilean

Radio Cooperativa Radio Cooperativa is a radio station in Chile, based in Santiago. It is operated by ''Compañía Chilena de Comunicaciones S.A.''. The station is notable for opposing the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973–1990) and denouncing its human rights v ...

. It was also included in the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

to '' The Saint''. * Used as theme music for early episodes of MTV's ''

Making the Video ''Making the Video'' is an MTV show, consisting of half-hour episodes, which chronicles the process of filming various music videos. Usually the director outlines the concept of the video (or treatment) and the show often includes light-hearted ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dead Man Walking (Song) David Bowie songs 1997 singles Music videos directed by Floria Sigismondi Songs written by David Bowie Songs written by Reeves Gabrels Song recordings produced by David Bowie 1997 songs