Breaking Glass (song)

"Breaking Glass" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was co-written by Bowie, bassist George Murray and drummer Dennis Davis in September 1976. Originally a track on Bowie's 1977 album Low, a reworked version of the song was a regular on the Isolar II Tour. A live version from that tour was used as the lead track on a 7-inch EP to promote his second live album, Stage in 1978. The EP reached number 54 on the UK Singles Chart in December 1978.

In the US, the track "Star" was chosen as the lead track for the live EP (with "What in the World" and "Breaking Glass" as B-sides), but failed to chart, while in Japan, "Soul Love" was released to promote Stage (with "Blackout" as the B-side).

Bowie performed "Breaking Glass" on his Isolar II, Serious Moonlight, Outside, Heathen, and A Reality tours.

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Transcription

Lyrics

The original song was uncompromising even by Low's standards. The fractured lyrics are, like several songs written during Bowie's stay in Berlin, introspective of his dark, drug-filled period living in America in 1975–1976. Its lyrics, when written out, look potentially more like a paragraph than a song, and when separated into phrases, the song has a disjointed feeling. The song is also curiously short, not spanning two minutes and only going through one verse.

The lines "Don't look at the carpet; I drew something awful on it" refer to Bowie's practice of drawing the Tree of Life on the floor during that period, as he was interested in Aleister Crowley and Qabalah at the time.

Track listing

"Breaking Glass" (David Bowie, Dennis Davis, George Murray) – 3:28
"Art Decade" (Bowie) – 3:10
"Ziggy Stardust" (Bowie) – 3:32

Personnel

David Bowie – vocals, production
Carlos Alomar – lead guitar
Ricky Gardiner – rhythm guitar
George Murray – bass
Dennis Davis – drums
Brian Eno – Minimoog synthesizer
Tony Visconti – production

Live versions

A spring 1978 live version recorded on the Isolar II Tour was released on Stage and on the above-mentioned single. This live version was also released as the B-side of the single "Star" in 1978. A summer 1978 performance from the same tour was included on Welcome to the Blackout, released in 2018.
A live performance during the Serious Moonlight Tour, filmed on 12 September 1983, was included on the Serious Moonlight concert video (1984) and the identically-named live album included with the Loving the Alien (1983–1988) box set (2018) and released separately in 2019.
Two separate live recordings of the song, performed during Bowie's 1995–96 Outside Tour, appear on the live albums Ouvre le Chien (Live Dallas 95) (2020) and No Trendy Réchauffé (Live Birmingham 95) (2020).
A November 2003 live version recorded on the A Reality Tour was released on the A Reality Tour album, in 2010.

Other releases

The song appeared on the following compilations:
Chameleon (Holland 1979) (studio version)
The Best of Bowie (1980) (1978 live version)
Sound + Vision box set (1989) (1978 live version)
The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979 (1998) (studio version)
The Platinum Collection (2005/2006) (studio version)
It was released as a picture disc in the RCA Life Time picture disc set.
An extended version of the studio recording of the song, originally released as a single in Australia, was made available in digital and CD formats for the first time in 2017, on Re:Call 3, part of the A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982) compilation.^[1]

References

Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5
Wilcken, Hugo, Low, Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, 2005, ISBN 0-8264-1684-5

Specific

^ "A NEW CAREER IN A NEW TOWN (1977–1982) – David Bowie Latest News". DavidBowie.com. 22 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2017.

v t e David Bowie singles
Discography Songs
1960s	"Liza Jane" "I Pity the Fool" "You've Got a Habit of Leaving" "Baby Loves That Way" "Can't Help Thinking About Me" "Do Anything You Say" "I Dig Everything" "Rubber Band" "The London Boys" "The Laughing Gnome" "Love You till Tuesday" "Space Oddity"
1970s	"The Prettiest Star" "Memory of a Free Festival" "Holy Holy" "Moonage Daydream" "Hang On to Yourself" "Changes" "Starman" "John, I'm Only Dancing" "The Jean Genie" "Drive-In Saturday" "Time" "Life on Mars" "Let's Spend the Night Together" "Sorrow" "Rebel Rebel" "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" "Diamond Dogs" "1984" "Knock on Wood" "Rock 'n' Roll with Me" "Young Americans" "Fame" "Golden Years" "Station to Station" (French promo) "TVC 15" "Suffragette City" "Stay" "Sound and Vision" "Be My Wife" "'Heroes'" "Beauty and the Beast" "Breaking Glass" "Boys Keep Swinging" "D.J." "Yassassin" "Look Back in Anger" "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)"
1980s	"Alabama Song" "Crystal Japan" "Ashes to Ashes" "Fashion" "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" "Up the Hill Backwards" "Under Pressure" "Wild Is the Wind" "The Drowned Girl" "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" "Let's Dance" "China Girl" "Modern Love" "Without You" "White Light/White Heat" "Blue Jean" "Tonight" "This Is Not America" "Loving the Alien" "Dancing in the Street" "Absolute Beginners" "Underground" "When the Wind Blows" "Magic Dance" "Day-In Day-Out" "Time Will Crawl" "Never Let Me Down" "Under the God" "Heaven's in Here" "Tin Machine" / "Maggie's Farm (live)" "Prisoner of Love"
1990s	"Fame '90" "You Belong in Rock n' Roll" "Baby Universal" "One Shot" "Real Cool World" "Jump They Say" "Black Tie White Noise" "Miracle Goodnight" "The Buddha of Suburbia" "Ziggy Stardust" "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" "Strangers When We Meet" / "The Man Who Sold the World (live)" "Hallo Spaceboy" "Telling Lies" "Little Wonder" "Dead Man Walking" "Seven Years in Tibet" "Pallas Athena" "I'm Afraid of Americans" "I Can't Read" "Without You I'm Nothing" "Thursday's Child" "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell"
2000s	"Survive" "Seven" "Slow Burn" "Everyone Says 'Hi'" "I've Been Waiting for You" "Shadow Man" "New Killer Star" "Just for One Day (Heroes)" "Rebel Never Gets Old"
2010s	"Where Are We Now?" "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" "The Next Day" "Valentine's Day" "Love Is Lost" "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" "Blackstar" "Lazarus" "I Can't Give Everything Away"
Other songs	"Silly Boy Blue" "Let Me Sleep Beside You" "Karma Man" "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" "Cygnet Committee" "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" "The Width of a Circle" "All the Madmen" "Black Country Rock" "After All" "She Shook Me Cold" "The Man Who Sold the World" "The Supermen" "Oh! You Pretty Things" "Kooks" "Quicksand" "Andy Warhol" "Song for Bob Dylan" "Queen Bitch" "The Bewlay Brothers" "Bombers" "Five Years" "Soul Love" "Lady Stardust" "Velvet Goldmine" "Sweet Head" "Amsterdam" "Round and Round" "Watch That Man" "Aladdin Sane" "Panic in Detroit" "Cracked Actor" "Lady Grinning Soul" "All the Young Dudes" "Future Legend" "Sweet Thing" "Big Brother" "Can You Hear Me?" "Right" "Fascination" "Word on a Wing" "Speed of Life" "What in the World" "Always Crashing in the Same Car" "Warszawa" "Art Decade" "Weeping Wall" "Subterraneans" "Joe the Lion" "Sons of the Silent Age" "Blackout" "V-2 Schneider" "Sense of Doubt" "Neuköln" "Fantastic Voyage" "It's No Game" "Teenage Wildlife" "Scream Like a Baby" "As the World Falls Down" "Girls" "Nite Flights" "I'm Deranged" "Nature Boy" "Cactus" "Pablo Picasso" "The Loneliest Guy" "Try Some, Buy Some" "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon" "Bring Me the Disco King" "Girl Loves Me" "Dollar Days"

This page was last edited on 12 March 2024, at 08:50

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