Song: “The Man Who Sold the World”
The ultimate tortoise vs. hare song, it remains a favorite
The title track of David Bowie’s third studio album, “The Man Who Sold the World” was never released as single by Bowie. Instead, it was relegated to B-sides in 1973 reissues of the songs “Space Oddity” and “Life on Mars?”
In 1974, Bowie and Mick Ronson — his producer and guitarist at this time — co-produced a cover by Scottish singer Lulu. Her version hit #3 on the UK charts, and gave the song legs. It was covered again in 1983 by Midge Ure (for the soundtrack of a British comedy called Party Party), and in 1993 by Nirvana — the cover featured today.
For Bowie, this was an intensely personal song about his own “angels and demons,” and about his discomfort selling his stories to the public through music.
When asked what the song meant, Lulu said, “I have no idea.”
Over the decades, “The Man Who Sold the World” has become renowned as one of Bowie’s finest songs.
When Nirvana performed the song on MTV Unplugged in 1993, they helped introduce it to a new generation. It was performed after one rehearsal that didn’t go well, so there was some sense of a high wire act when they dove in.
Their version is noted for its haunting and stripped-down arrangement, differing significantly from Bowie’s original. One critic noted that Kurt Cobain may have identified with the song better than anyone, given Bowie’s original misgivings that led to it:
Cobain sang the track like someone broken, hopeless, and haunted. He inhabited the role of the narrator who’s shocked to confront a part of himself he thought lost, at the moment he comes “face to face with the man who sold the world.” Perhaps, to Kurt, the man who sold the world was his younger self, who unwittingly sold his soul when he unleashed Nevermind and became an international youth icon, a mainstream figure, public property, and all the rest. Perhaps the loss of part of himself was the reason for his psychological turmoil and feelings of alienation
This cover was included on the MTV Unplugged in New York album in November 1994 and on Nirvana’s self-titled “best of” compilation in 2002.
Enjoy!