1984 (song)
Encyclopedia
"1984" is a song by David Bowie
, from his 1974 album Diamond Dogs
. Written in late 1973, it was inspired by George Orwell
's Nineteen Eighty-Four
and, like much of its parent album, originally intended for a never-produced stage musical based on the novel.
's imprisonment and interrogation by O'Brien
. The lyrics also bear some similarities to Bowie's earlier song "All the Madmen
", from The Man Who Sold the World
("They'll split your pretty cranium and fill it full of air").
"1984"'s wah-wah guitar sound is often likened to the "Theme from Shaft
" (1971) by Isaac Hayes
. Played by Alan Parker
, it was one of the few instances on the Diamond Dogs album where Bowie himself did not take the lead guitar part. The track's funk/soul
influence has been cited as a clear indicator of where Bowie's style was headed on his next album, Young Americans
.
", known as "1984/Dodo", on 19 October 1973 for the U.S. TV special The 1980 Floor Show (later bootlegged on record
as Dollars in Drag). A studio version of "1984/Dodo" was recorded within the month but went unreleased until it appeared on the Sound and Vision box set in 1989. This was Bowie's last recording with Mick Ronson
, Trevor Bolder
and producer Ken Scott
at Trident Studios
, London
.
In the later Diamond Dogs sessions, "1984" and "Dodo" were rerecorded separately, though only the former made it onto the album. The final version of "1984" was faster and funkier than the medley and, as described by Bowie encyclopedist Nicholas Pegg
,"'an obvious single if there ever was one". However it was only released as such in America, where it failed to chart. The track generally opened the Diamond Dogs concerts in 1974 but has not been performed live since the 1990 Sound + Vision Tour.
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, from his 1974 album Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Bowie's own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world...
. Written in late 1973, it was inspired by George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
and, like much of its parent album, originally intended for a never-produced stage musical based on the novel.
Music and lyrics
The centerpiece of Side Two of the original vinyl album, in the context of Bowie's adaptation of Orwell's story, "1984" has been interpreted as representing Winston SmithWinston Smith
Winston Smith is a fictional character and the protagonist of George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The character was employed by Orwell as an everyman in the setting of the novel, a "central eye ... [the reader] can readily identify with"...
's imprisonment and interrogation by O'Brien
O'Brien (1984)
O'Brien is a fictional character and the main antagonist in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The protagonist Winston Smith, living in a dystopian society governed by the Party, feels strangely attracted to Inner Party member O'Brien. Orwell never reveals O'Brien's first name.Winston...
. The lyrics also bear some similarities to Bowie's earlier song "All the Madmen
All the Madmen
"All the Madmen" redirects here. For the David Bowie song, see All the Madmen .All the Madmen Records was a record label started by The Mob in Yeovil, England before relocating to London...
", from The Man Who Sold the World
The Man Who Sold the World
The Man Who Sold the World is the third studio album by David Bowie. It was originally released on Mercury Records in November 1970 in the United States and in April 1971 in the UK. The album was Bowie's first with the nucleus of what would become the "Spiders from Mars", the backing band made...
("They'll split your pretty cranium and fill it full of air").
"1984"'s wah-wah guitar sound is often likened to the "Theme from Shaft
Theme from Shaft
"Theme from Shaft", written and recorded by Isaac Hayes in 1971, is the soul and funk-styled theme song to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, Shaft...
" (1971) by Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
. Played by Alan Parker
Alan Parker (musician)
Alan Parker is a British guitarist and composer. Parker was trained by Julian Bream at London’s Royal Academy of Music....
, it was one of the few instances on the Diamond Dogs album where Bowie himself did not take the lead guitar part. The track's funk/soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
influence has been cited as a clear indicator of where Bowie's style was headed on his next album, Young Americans
Young Americans (album)
Young Americans, released in 1975, shows off David Bowie’s 1970’s shift to his “obsession” with soul music . For this album, Bowie let go of the influences he had drawn from in the past, replacing them with sounds from “local dance halls”, which, at the time, were blaring with “…lush strings,...
.
Recording and release
"1984" was first recorded in a medley with "DodoDodo (song)
"Dodo" is a song written by David Bowie in 1973 and intended for his 1984 musical. Many of the songs written for this musical ended up on the album Diamond Dogs the year after, but "Dodo" remained unreleased until 1990 when it was one of the bonus track on the Rykodisc reissue of that album...
", known as "1984/Dodo", on 19 October 1973 for the U.S. TV special The 1980 Floor Show (later bootlegged on record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
as Dollars in Drag). A studio version of "1984/Dodo" was recorded within the month but went unreleased until it appeared on the Sound and Vision box set in 1989. This was Bowie's last recording with Mick Ronson
Mick Ronson
Michael "Mick" Ronson was an English guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer. He is best known for his work with David Bowie, as one of The Spiders from Mars...
, Trevor Bolder
Trevor Bolder
Trevor Bolder is an English rock bassist, 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 one-time backing band for David Bowie, although he has played alongside a variety of musicians since the...
and producer Ken Scott
Ken Scott
Ken Scott is an English record producer and recording engineer.-Career:Scott started at the age of 16 working in the tape library at Abbey Road Studios. He became a recording engineer working with such acts as The Beatles, Jeff Beck, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and Procol Harum...
at Trident Studios
Trident Studios
Trident Studios was a British recording facility, originally located at 17 St. Anne's Court in London's Soho district. It was constructed in 1967 by Norman Sheffield a drummer of former 1960's group The Hunters and his Brother Barry....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
In the later Diamond Dogs sessions, "1984" and "Dodo" were rerecorded separately, though only the former made it onto the album. The final version of "1984" was faster and funkier than the medley and, as described by Bowie encyclopedist Nicholas Pegg
Nicholas Pegg
Nicholas Pegg is a British actor, director and writer.A graduate of the University of Exeter, Pegg trained at the Guildford School of Acting. His acting work in the theatre includes productions for Nottingham Playhouse, Scottish Opera, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Theatre Royal, Plymouth...
,"'an obvious single if there ever was one". However it was only released as such in America, where it failed to chart. The track generally opened the Diamond Dogs concerts in 1974 but has not been performed live since the 1990 Sound + Vision Tour.
Live versions
- A live version from the 1974 tour was released on David LiveDavid LiveDavid Live is David Bowie’s first official live album, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Recorded on the initial leg of Bowie’s US tour supporting Diamond Dogs in July of that year , it has been cited as one of the best live...
and another recording from the 1974 tour was released on the semi-legal album A Portrait in Flesh. - A live in-studio performance of "1984" is included on the DVD set The Dick Cavett ShowThe Dick Cavett ShowThe Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including:* ABC daytime ...
: Rock Icons
Other releases
- It was released as a single in the U.S. in July 1974, backed with "Queen BitchQueen Bitch"Queen Bitch" is a song written by David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory. Bowie was a great Velvet Underground fan and wrote the song in tribute to the band and Lou Reed...
" from Bowie's 1971 album Hunky DoryHunky DoryHunky Dory is the fourth album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1971. It was Bowie's first release through RCA, which would be his label for the next decade...
. - It appeared on several compilations:
- Chameleon (Australia/New Zealand 1979)
- ChangestwobowieChangestwobowieChangestwobowie, released in 1981, was a David Bowie compilation album issued by RCA Records. Its title and packaging followed the format of RCA's first Bowie compilation, Changesonebowie in 1976. As well as post-1976 singles, the album collected songs from earlier in Bowie's career that had not...
(1981) - Fame and FashionFame and Fashion-Side one:# "Space Oddity" – 5:15# "Changes" – 3:33# "Starman" – 4:10# "1984" – 3:24# "Young Americans" – 5:10# "Fame" – 4:00-Side two:# "Golden Years" – 4:03# "TVC 15" – 5:29# " "Heroes" " – 6:07...
(1984) - The Best of 1974/1979The Best of 1974/1979The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979 is a compilation album by David Bowie released in 1998 . This album was also included as the second disc of the compilation The Platinum Collection .-Track listing:...
(1998)
- The "1984/Dodo" version was released in the Sound and Vision box set in 1989, and in 2004 on the bonus disc of the 30th Anniversary Edition of Diamond DogsDiamond DogsDiamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Bowie's own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world...
.
Appearances in popular culture
- The song has appeared in the Flip SkateboardsFlip SkateboardsFlip Skateboards is a US-based international skateboard company, owned by Jeremy Fox, Ian Deacon, and Geoff Rowley. The company produces skateboard decks, wheels, and clothing. Flip is distributed by NHS Distribution in the US.- History :...
video Sorry in Arto SaariArto SaariArto Saari is a professional skateboarder. He lives in Huntington Beach, California. He was selected as the "2001 Skater of the Year" by Thrasher magazine. His skating stance is regular. He is known for his big and aggressive skating style and also for his lipslides...
's part.