"Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" is a song by the English singer-songwriter

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, originally released as the closing track on the album ''

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 the English musician David Bowie, released on 16June 1972 in the United Kingdom through RCA Records. It was ...

'' on 16 June 1972. Co-produced by Ken Scott, Bowie recorded it with his backing band the Spiders from Mars – comprising

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 musici ...

Trevor Bolder Trevor Bolder (9 June 1950 – 21 May 2013) was an English rock musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his long association with Uriah Heep and his tenure with the Spiders from Mars, the backing band for David Bowie, ...

and

Mick Woodmansey Michael "Woody" Woodmansey (born 4 February 1950) is an English rock music, 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 conjuncti ...

. It detailed Ziggy's final collapse like an old, washed-up rock star and, as such, was also the closing number of the Ziggy Stardust live show. In April 1974

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

issued it as a single.

Music and lyrics

Bowie saw the song in terms of the French

chanson A (, ; , ) is generally any Lyrics, lyric-driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval music, medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of ...

tradition, while biographer David Buckley has described both "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" and the album's opening track " Five Years" as "more like

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

show songs than actual rock songs". Critic

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

similarly found it to have "a grand sense of staged drama previously unheard of in rock & roll". Although Bowie has suggested

Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics, an ...

as his source, the lyrics "Time takes a cigarette..." are somewhat similar to the poem "Chants Andalous" by Manuel Machado: "Life is a cigarette / Cinder, ash and fire / Some smoke it in a hurry / Others savour it". The exhortation "Oh no, love, you're not alone" references the

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world ...

song "You're Not Alone" ("Jef") that appeared in the musical '' Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris''. Bowie performed Brel's "My Death" during some Ziggy Stardust live shows, and performed "Amsterdam" live on the BBC. In 2003 Bowie described the

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

songs 'Try Me' and 'Lost Someone' as "loose inspiration" for the song. Bowie's handwritten lyrics for the song were included in the '' David Bowie Is'' travelling exhibit from 2013 to 2018, and were put up for auction by the owner, who had been gifted the lyrics by Bowie, in late 2023.

Release and aftermath

"Rock 'n' Roll Suicide", recorded on 4 February 1972, was one of the last songs recorded for ''Ziggy Stardust'', along with " Suffragette City" and " Starman" which was soon after issued as a single. As the final song on the album and climax to the Ziggy Stardust live shows throughout 1972–73, it soon became a slogan, appearing on many fans' jackets. In April 1974 RCA, impatient for new material and having already rush-released " Rebel Rebel" from the ''

Diamond Dogs ''Diamond Dogs'' is the eighth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 24 May 1974 through RCA Records. Bowie produced the album and recorded it in early 1974 in London and the Netherlands, following the disbanding o ...

'' sessions, arbitrarily picked the song for single release. Two years old, and already in the possession of most Bowie fans through ''Ziggy Stardust'', its release has been labelled simply a " dosh-catching exercise". It stalled at No. 22 in the UK charts – Bowie's first RCA single to miss the British Top 20 since "

Changes Changes may refer to: Books * '' Changes: A Love Story'', 1991 novel by Ama Ata Aidoo * ''Changes'' (The Dresden Files) (2010), the 12th novel in Jim Butcher's ''The Dresden Files'' Series * ''Changes'', a 1983 novel by Danielle Steel * ''Chan ...

" in January 1972.

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

played the song on the "Death and Taxes" episode of Season 1 of his ''Theme Time Radio Hour'' show in 2007. Afterwards Dylan recalled how Bowie "told everyone he was going to retire after the

Ziggy Stardust Tour The Ziggy Stardust Tour was a 1972–73 concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, to promote the studio albums '' Hunky Dory'', '' The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' and '' Aladdin Sane''. Bowie was ...

" then added, "I remember that. I told him not to do it".

Live versions

Bowie played the song on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

show ''

Sounds of the 70s ''Sounds of the 70s'' is the name of a BBC radio programme, currently broadcast on Sundays on 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 repeate ...

'' with Bob Harris on 23 May 1972. This was broadcast on 19 June 1972 and in 2000 released on the album '' Bowie at the Beeb''. A live version recorded during the

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 ca ...

on 20 October 1972 was released on '' Santa Monica '72'' and ''

Live Santa Monica '72 ''Live Santa Monica '72'' is a live album by the 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), KMET FM's radio broadcast, then bootleg recordi ...

''. The version played at the final Ziggy Stardust concert at the

Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

, London, on 3 July 1973 was released on '' Ziggy Stardust – The Motion Picture''. Before beginning the song, Bowie announced: "This is the last show we'll ever do." This was later understood as the retiring of Ziggy Stardust. This version also appeared in the '' Sound + Vision'' boxed set. In 1974, Bowie recorded a

blue-eyed soul Blue-eyed soul (also called white soul) is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly black Motown and St ...

version of the song for his live album '' David Live''. Another live recording, from the second leg of the same tour (previously available on the unofficial album ''A Portrait in Flesh''), was released in 2017 on '' Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74)''. A live version from the third leg of the tour was released in 2020 on '' I'm Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74)''. Bowie performed the song for the final times during his 1990

Sound+Vision Tour In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

, retiring it from his live repertoire at the conclusion of the tour.

Other releases

"Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" was released as a picture disc in the

''Life Time'' picture disc set, and has appeared on a variety of compilation albums, including ''The Best of David Bowie'' (Japan 1974), '' The Best of Bowie'' (1980), '' The Singles Collection'' (1993), '' The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974'' (1997), and '' The Platinum Collection'' (2006).

Track listing

All tracks written by

. # "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" – 2:57 # "

Quicksand Quicksand (also known as sinking sand) is a colloid consisting of fine granular material (such as sand, silt or clay) and water. It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. When water in the sand cannot escape, it crea ...

" – 5:03

Personnel

According to Chris O'Leary: *

– lead vocal, 12-string acoustic guitar *

– lead and rhythm guitars, ARP synthesiser, backing vocal, string arrangement *

– bass guitar *

– drums * Unknown musicians – two trumpets, two trombones, two tenor saxophones, baritone saxophone, eight violins, four violas, two cellos, two double basses Technical * Ken Scott – producer * David Bowie – producer

Charts

References

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rock 'N' Roll Suicide Songs about rock music 1972 songs 1974 singles 1970s ballads David Bowie songs Songs written by David Bowie RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Ken Scott Song recordings produced by David Bowie Rock ballads