"The Supermen" is a song written by English singer-songwriter

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 ...

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 figures such as

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

and H. P. Lovecraft.

Music and lyrics

The song has been cited as reflecting the influence of German Romanticism, its theme and lyrics referencing the apocalyptic visions of

and its prominent

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

part being likened to

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

' ''

Also Sprach Zarathustra ', Op. 30 (, ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' or ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'') is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical 1883–1885 novel ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra''.

Nicholas Pegg Nicholas Pegg is a British actor, writer and director. Educated at Nottingham High School and graduating with a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Exeter, Pegg subsequently trained at the Guildford School of Acting. Acti ...

(2000). ''The Complete David Bowie'': pp.209–210 Bowie later said "I was still going through the thing when I was pretending that I understood Nietzsche... And I had tried to translate it into my own terms to understand it so 'Supermen' came out of that." Critics have also seen the influence of H. P. Lovecraft's stories of "dormant elder gods". According to Bowie himself the guitar riff was given to him by

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

when the latter, who was

Shel Talmy Sheldon Talmy (born August 11, 1937) is an American record producer, songwriter and arranger, best known for his work in the UK in the 1960s with the Who, the Kinks and many others. Talmy arranged and produced hits such as "You Really Got Me" ...

's session guitarist in the mid-1960s, played on one of Bowie's early releases, "

I Pity the Fool "I Pity the Fool" is a soul blues song originally recorded by Bobby Bland in 1961 for his first Duke Records album, '' Two Steps from the Blues''. Many music writers believe it was written by Joe Medwick, although Duke owner Don Robey (using the ...

". The riff was later used on another Bowie song, " Dead Man Walking", from the '' Earthling'' album in 1997.

Live versions

*An early performance of the song, by the Hype, on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

show ''

Sounds of the 70s ''Sounds of the 70s'' is the name of BBC radio programme, currently broadcast on Sundays by BBC Radio 2, with the ''Sounds of the Seventies'' name also having been used by BBC Television for a number of themed music compilations, now repeated ...

: Andy Ferris'', recorded in March 1970, was released for the first time in 2016 on the vinyl edition of the album ''

Bowie at the Beeb ''Bowie at the Beeb'' is a compilation album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, first released in 2000. Originally, it came in a three-CD set, the third, bonus CD being a live recording made on at the Portland BBC Radio Theatre. Later e ...

''. *Bowie and Ronson played the song on the BBC show ''Sounds of the 70s: Bob Harris'' on 21 September 1971. This was broadcast on 4 October 1971 and was released in 2000 on ''Bowie at the Beeb''. *A live version recorded at the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Music Hall on 1 October 1972 was released in 1989 on the original '' Sound + Vision'' box set, but was not included in subsequent versions of this compilation. However, the same track appeared on the bonus disc of the ''

Aladdin Sane ''Aladdin Sane'' is the sixth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 20April 1973 through RCA Records. The follow-up to his breakthrough ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (1972), it was the fi ...

– 30th Anniversary Edition'' in 2003. *Another live version recorded at

Santa Monica Civic Auditorium Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is a multi-purpose convention center at 1855 Main Street in Santa Monica, California, owned by the City of Santa Monica. It was built in 1958 and designed by Welton Becket and as a concert venue, it has a seating cap ...

on 20 October 1972 was released on ''

Santa Monica '72 ''Santa Monica '72'' is a live album by David Bowie, recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on 20 October 1972 during the Ziggy Stardust Tour. Taken from KMET (FM), KMET FM's radio broadcast,Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). ''Bowie: ...

'' and ''

Live Santa Monica '72 ''Live Santa Monica '72'' is a live album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released on in the United Kingdom and in the United States. It is the official release of KMET FM's radio broadcast, then bootleg album and – later � ...

''.

Other releases

An alternate version of the song was recorded on 12 November 1971 during sessions for ''

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (often shortened to ''Ziggy Stardust'') is the fifth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 16June 1972 in the United Kingdom through RCA Records. It was co-pr ...

''. It first appeared on the album '' Revelations – A Musical Anthology for Glastonbury Fayre'' in July 1972, compiled by the organisers of

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

at which Bowie had played in 1971. It was later released as a bonus track on the

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first Compact Disc, CD-only independ ...

CD and cassette reissue of ''

Hunky Dory ''Hunky Dory'' is the fourth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 17December 1971 through RCA Records. Following the release of his 1970 album, '' The Man Who Sold the World'', Bowie took time off from recording and tourin ...

'' in 1990, and again on the ''Ziggy Stardust – 30th Anniversary Reissue'' bonus disc in 2002. This version was sampled on "Culture Shock", from

Death Grips Death Grips is an American experimental hip hop group formed in 2010 in Sacramento, California. The group consists of Stefan Burnett, also known as MC Ride (vocals, lyrics), Zach Hill (drums, production, lyrics), and Andy Morin (keyboards, produ ...

's 2011 mixtape

Exmilitary ''Exmilitary'', also known as ''Ex Military'', is the debut mixtape by experimental hip hop group Death Grips. It was released for free on April 25, 2011, through the band's website. Background The mixtape was released for free on April 25, ...

. A November 1996 tour rehearsal recording of the song, which originally aired on a BBC radio broadcast in 1997, was released in 2020 on the album ''ChangesNowBowie''.

Cover versions

* Doctor Mix and the Remix (aka Metal Urbain) – ''Wall of Noise'' (1979) * Aquaserge – ''Repetition – A Tribute to David Bowie'' (2010)

Personnel

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session music ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

s, backing vocals *

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 ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals *

Woody Woodmansey Michael "Woody" Woodmansey (born 4 February 1950) is an English rock drummer best known for his work in the early 1970s as a member of David Bowie's core backing ensemble that became known as the Spiders from Mars in conjunction with the relea ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Supermen, The David Bowie songs 1970 songs Songs written by David Bowie Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti