"Speed of Life" is the first instrumental by

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 ...

. It is the opening track for his album '' Low'' from 1977. "Speed of Life" introduces the ''Low'' album, and, coupled with the instrumental "

A New Career in a New Town ''Low'' is the eleventh studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 14 January 1977 through RCA Records. After years of drug addiction when living in Los Angeles, Bowie moved to France in 1976 with his friend Iggy Pop t ...

", provides a front bookend for the A-side of the album. The track makes several immediate implications about the content of the album, with its heavy use of synthesizers as both effects and instruments, with the presence of

Dennis Davis Dennis Davis (August 28, 1949 – April 6, 2016) was an American drummer and session musician best known for his work with David Bowie, playing on ten albums - including seven successive studio albums - during the singer's classic mid- and late ...

' drums and the overlaid

harmonizer Pitch shifting is a sound recording technique in which the original pitch of a sound is raised or lowered. Effects units that raise or lower pitch by a pre-designated musical interval ( transposition) are called pitch shifters. Pitch and ti ...

creating a distinctly different mix than any previous Bowie album. The song includes the refrain from

Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again" is the title of a pop song composed by Tony Macaulay, Roger Cook, and Roger Greenaway; it became the third U.S. Top 40 hit for The Fortunes in 1971, and their fifth in Canada. Background The song uses de ...

. Lyrics were originally planned for this song, but Bowie abandoned the idea after several attempts, deciding that the piece stood better on its own.

Live versions

* Performances from the Isolar II Tour have been released on ''

Stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

'' (1978) and '' Welcome to the Blackout'' (2018). The song was also performed during the 2002 tour, in which Bowie played the ''Low'' album in its entirety on selected dates.

Other releases

* It was released as the B-side of the single "

Be My Wife "Be My Wife" is a song by English musician David Bowie. It was the second single from '' Low'' (1977), released on 17 June 1977. Its presence in ''Low'' tones down the electronic feel of the rest of the album. The song also features a more c ...

" in June 1977. * It also appeared in the '' Sound + Vision'' box set. * It was released as a picture disc in the

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 ...

''Life Time'' picture disc set.

Production credits

* Producers: **

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

Musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

s: **

ARP synthesizer ARP Instruments, Inc. was a Lexington, Massachusetts manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, founded by Alan Robert Pearlman in 1969. It created a popular and commercially successful range of synthesizers throughout the 1970s before de ...

Chamberlin The Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by the American inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced. There are severa ...

Carlos Alomar Carlos Alomar (born 7 May 1951) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican guitarist. He is best known for his work with David Bowie from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, having played on more Bowie albums than any musician other than pianist Mike Garso ...

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

** George Murray: Bass **

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s ** Roy Young:

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Cover versions

* ST-37 – ''Only Bowie'' (1995) *

Insect Surfers The Insect Surfers are an American band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1979. The group bills itself "Planet Earth’s Longest-Running Modern Surf Band," and has been based out of Los Angeles, California since 1986. Inspired by the psychedelic surf ...

– ''Ziggy Played Surf Guitar (Various Artists Compilation)'' (2011) *

Shearwater Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prions, and the shearwa ...

– as part of a live performance of the entire

Berlin Trilogy The Berlin Trilogy consists of three studio albums by English musician David Bowie: '' Low'', '' "Heroes"'' (both 1977) and '' Lodger'' (1979). The trilogy originated following Bowie's move from Los Angeles, California, to Europe to rid himsel ...

for

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that di ...

(2018)

Sources

*Greatorex, Johnathan. "Just a Mortal With Potential." Teenage Wildlife. Nov. 1996. 6 Mar. 2006
http://www.teenagewildlife.com/Interact/fc/misc/JG/index.html
. *Griffin, Roger. "Low." Bowie Golden Years. Jan. 2005. 6 Mar. 2006

. *Wilcken, Hugo, ''Low'', Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, 2005,

References

{{Authority control David Bowie songs 1977 songs Songs written by David Bowie Rock instrumentals Song recordings produced by David Bowie Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti