Some additional thoughts/corrections: 1) One interesting thing about relative phrygian is that, unlike relative minor, most of the chords behave differently in the two keys. Whether you're in F major or D minor, for instance, the chord G minor is a subdominant sound. As we saw with C, though, many chords in F major have different functions in A phrygian and vice versa, so by putting you in both tonal spaces at the same time, it becomes hard to establish exactly what any given chord is trying to do. 2) On the guiro part, that strike may not actually be played on the guiro itself. In the guiro notation guides I found there was no indication of that sort of sound, so it may have been on a separate wood block or something. Hard to tell from digitally separated stems, but not super relevant either way. 3) I didn't have enough to say about it to justify making room in the script, but the bass in the verses is interesting too. Instead of just playing roots or whatever, Visconti's line walks around in this disjointed rhythmic pattern. It makes it feel like a journey. 4) This hopefully goes without saying, and I already said it in the video anyway, but to be clear, the "weight of manufactured authenticity" reading is just one interpretation. There are others, and they're equally valid, I just personally find them less compelling (Possibly because, as a professional UA-camr, I can personally relate to the struggles of art-as-product) and it's my video. 5) There's maybe even an argument to be made that the chorus is in C mixolydian: It starts on C major, the prechorus sits on that chord for a long time, and the short vocal phrases are D-C so there's some melodic resolution too. If you then take Db as a tritone sub of G, you've got basically a I-IV-V-IV progression. It doesn't really fit with the way I naturally hear it, but I can convince myself of it if I try. Makes more sense to me than F in the verse, at least. 6) Relatedly, if you're wondering why I bothered specifically arguing against F major there, it's because that's what Wikipedia says it is and I'm salty about it.
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I played a mixture of Bowie's and Nirvana's versión with a band for about 5 years (in Nirvana's key) and I always think of this song like being in a constant 'flow' between E Major and C#minor (F Major and D minor in Bowie's) a common feature in songs. However for me the interesting part is the G# and B Major chords (A & C in Bowie's) at the begining of the verse and the chorus respectively, a thing I've always percieved like starting on the V something I didn't see a lot on rock music but it's pretty common in mexican folk music, also in songs like Korobeiniki (at least the Tetris version) and in some themes in classical pieces. So for me is on E Major - C# minor (F Major and D minor on Bowie's), and not just because Mirvana end it in E, for my ear those are the resting points.
I suspect that's just the major tonality bias. You made a compelling case for the piece shifting tonal centers. With that A major chord, there is just no way a basic F major analysis makes sense
@ yeah. 12 tone is way off here. It's a song in D- that starts on the V. Sure I guess you can explain it all sorts of different ways but right interpretation is always the one that's the simplest and makes it easiest to play.
LOVE your channel. You're unique, interesting & you play the music I love too! Thank you for _all_ of your hard work, time & attention to detail. You rock man! XO
I’ll never forget seeing David Bowie perform this song when he toured with NiN in 1995 and all the kids around us were like “(gasp!) He’s covering a Nirvana song!” That was the first time I realized I was old.
My Intellectual Property teacher in law school explained how Nine Inch Nails covered Hurt, by Johnny Cash. After class, I explained to her that, no, Johnny Cash covered the NIN song and it was among the greatest covers of all time.
@Sam it definitely is one of the greatest covers of all time. I’m generally not a big fan of Rick Rubin, but credit goes where credit’s due. That song was *perfect* for Johnny Cash, especially at that point of his life.
2019 I lived with this guy, 3 times in that year he played Nirvana's cover and complained there was no album version to which I reminded him Kurt Cobain died, to which he replied, 'Great song anyway, not like their other stuff.' to which I reminded him it was a Bowie song and he was sceptical every time until I played him the Bowie version. Then, each time, he'd say 'Why would Bowie cover Nirvana?'
@@danielatherton1631 Lol. Almost the entire album is covers, which he says several times during the album. But I guess nobody listens to albums anymore, just individual songs. I prefer to listen to that album start to finish.
That was exactly how I was introduced and why I like the Midge Ure cover a bit better than Nirvana's. MgsV is also why I like the song She Blinded Me Science by Thomas Dolby, which I always have as my helicopter music in the game.
Hideo Kojima's undeniable love for David Bowie introduced me to The Man Who Sold The World. The story interpretation for the song is on another level, so much so that Kojima created a video game based around it (MGSV) that takes the themes/subtext/meta and moulds it into something... more beautiful. He uses Midge Ure's 'cover' -a copy (my personal favourite) in the game and the meaning behind it skyrockets. The song can even be interpreted to be about Kojima's life or anyone's! God damn I love this song and this video explaining it on a musical and abstract sense just makes me love it more.
I also don't think we can ever forget the influence Terry Burns (David's older half brother, who suffered from schizophrenia and was living in a sanitarium at the time) had on a lot of Bowie's lyrics and themes on these early recordings
and "Jump they say " and "All the Madman" I have heard that Mr Bowie said about Bewlay Brothers that the words don't mean much and "Americans like to read things into things"
@@christopherlawley1842 Yeah, but... If you read the lyrics of his earlier albums, there's some clear messages. Like the 2nd self-titled David Bowie album (1969, aka "space oddity) he's got some pretty damning lyrics about some contemporary issues. As far as him saying "Americans read things into things", I think he was mainly talking about what we now call "shipping", prurient sexual judgements, etc.
@@christopherlawley1842 I say this a lot about Kurt Cobain but it applies to Bowie as well: I'll never understand why people assume that everything an artist says about their work is true. Not even in a "death of the author" sort of way but in a "people lie all t he time and especially to avoid talking about their feelings way".
Honestly speaking, I never truly paid attention to the lyrics, and the subtle meanings of harmony always eluded me despite having attended music school for six years; I just liked the music, and played the bass parts every now and then. Now that you broke this beautiful piece of music down, I can truly appreciate just how much of a downer this song actually is, and also how much it resonates with today's artists as well. Thanks, 12tone.
I love listening to someone explain technically Why I love a song, even tho I have almost no idea what is going on. I like to hear that there Is a reason why these songs are provably amazing.
The whole Blackstar hits different. I get a hollow pit in my stomach every time I listen to it. It's a gut-wrenching swan song. He knew it was his last. He was saying goodbye. He knew it. We didn't want to know it.
I love the way that this channel doesn't dumb music theory down but makes it really accessible by telling us how the musical techniques can make us feel. There's such a genuine enjoyment and appreciation for music evident in every second.
@@sluttyMapleSyrup Yeah the song really lends itself to that oppressive sound that you can truly realize with synths. It's not surprising considering how fond bowie was of synths especially in the berlin years.
I hope that you don't feel the crushing weight of manufactured authenticity nearly as hard as these two did, but remember there's folks out there to talk to about it if you do :)
The Nirvana Unplugged albums is one of my favorites, and I love the fact that they chose songs, presumably, based on how good they would sound acoustic, instead of just chosing hits like everyone else. Love the album, and MWSTW is an excellent cover
I wonder what goes through the minds of older musicians who know they had a direct and profound influence on a younger musician, but they out live the younger musician for some reason or another.
This song is famously influenced by Antigonish, a poem by William Hughes Mearns. "Yesterday upon the stair/I met a man who wasn't there/He wasn't there again today/Oh how I wish he'd go away."
The poem would have been widely known in the UK during Bowie's childhood due to the Glen Miller recording of "The little man who wasn't there", which used Antigonish as a lyric.
The best thing about masterful music is that what takes so long to explain from a technical and logical perspective can be intuitively percieved right at the spot.
This is my favorite song and has been a major inspiration for my art for a while. The otherworldly vibe and deep lyrics with different possible interpretations are just phenomenal.
Wow, that is the most sophisticated explanation of a very complex, and for me favorite, rock song I've ever seen! Thanks for adding another layer to how much I love Bowie's music and that song in particular. Not being a musician I could barely keep up with the details on how the instruments, vocals and mixing work but you've somehow made it accessible. "keep on rockin"
Today in old: The Nirvana version of this song has now been "the mainstream version" of the song longer than the Bowie version was. Bowie released it in 1970. Nirvana's version was released in 1993. That's a 23 year "Bowie" reign. It has been 28 years since the Nirvana version was released.
It depends another version got popular because it was used in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which had a few references to David Bowie like a group called Diamond Dogs. But the version used in that game was from Midge Ure which released in 1982. The game is from 2015.
@@HALberdier17 each "popular version" gets 22-23 years to reign supreme. Therefore, the next one will ascend sometime between 2037-2038 (based on 2015-2016, when the game's version took over). So it is written.
I'd say almost every time I listen to this song I get something more out of it. And the two most popular covers of it I know of by Nirvana and Midge Ure maintain so much of the original while bringing their own story to the song.
I love that since i've started watching your videos i've become able to process the information without stopping to think about it. Before i needed to pause often to try digest what you were saying, now i can analyse it all as free flowing thought. Nice to see those definitive milestones of improvement :) This video was great, i love this song. Nirvana, Bowie and Hideo Kojima are all massive parts of my life, as are your videos, thank you my friend.
An interesting song for you to study would be Justin Timberlake’s “Cry me a river”. I think you would do a good job illustrating just how the mix of notes ends up making a set of keys that sound “upset”, but never sinks far into “sad”.
I’m 23 and I’ve heard the Nirvana version of this song my whole life and never realized it was a cover until now. Time to go listen to the original after this video is over.
If you don't know that was a cover, boy do I have news for you! I'd bet that an easy 20% of all the big hits you can think of, just off the top of your head, are covers.
And? What’d you think? I didn’t really like the song as a kid, then when I was about 19 I was really stoned one night and BOY that outro is a haunting, splashy experience, one of my favourite outros in a pop song
Thanks to that _Garfield_ illustration in the thumbnail this video sat on my Watch Later playlist for months under the impression that it was titled Jim Davis: The Man Who Sold the World, and was about Davis corporatizing his artistic endeavors as an exact inverse of Bill Watterson.
The version by Richard Barone, of The Bongos, on his chamber-rock live album “Cool Blue Halo” is the one that first stuck this song solidly in my head. If pressed, I’ll admit that both the Bowie and Nirvana versions are more compelling, but I really dig the way Jane Scarpantoni makes the riff sing out on the cello
Your "otherworldly" view of the intro riff is interesting to me. I always saw it as Cold or detached. Frigid, if you'll pardon the pun. It's like the guitar knows where it wants/needs to be but is stumbling just trying to stay in place, kinda like a fisherperson in the arctic sea. Part of my assessment comes from the very thin distorted tone that sounds like the guitar is being played through a telephone, but it also is influenced by the vocals and lyrics, which have a distant sound and melody and tell a tale of disconnection from reality. Just about all the musicianship outside of the chorus seems largely disconnected but coherent. I guess that's more or less the same analysis, but a different metaphor, but "otherworldly" sound more purposeful than "Cold" to me Keep in mind i know just enough to use flowery language and know what i mean by it, but not enough to expand beyond that and dissect melodies like you do.
I think you're both correct. If you ARE otherworldly, to be in this world could feel cold. If you behold the otherworldly, and it isn't pleasant, it could feel cold to you. I think either way, the feelings are NOT mutually exclusive.
13:54 His follow-up efforts to Space Oddity were failing? I know you're not the first person to say that, but that's exaggerated. True, he hadn't *sold* much between November 1969 and November 1970. A couple of singles and the rest of the album weren't successful but Space Oddity still was. He wrote The Man Who Sold The World less than a year after Space Oddity was released. The record executives may have given up on him but I sincerely doubt Bowie considered himself a one-hit-wonder has-been at 23 years old. That's why he didn't quit. He never lost control.
The eponymous TMWSTW album isn't an easy listen, even now. Unless you were a fan or followed the rock press you wouldn't know it happened. My dad liked SpaceOddity. The BBC played it on the radio. For the casual listener Bowie more or less disappeared until the astonishing TOTP performance of Starman in 72: full Ziggy make up, red hair and arm round Mick Ronson. My parents were pretty relaxed, but they were concerned for their kids even seeing him.
To me the song is about survival. Most people I remeet I meet in a previous phase in my life. A fair number of them assume I am dead. Or they are super stoked about me still being alive.
WHAT!!!?? Sum Arbor's still alive?! Like everyone else who was watching that day, I just assumed.... some things, you think no human could possibly survive, and then, next thing you know, you see them commenting on UA-cam, just like nothing at all happened, and you wonder, how could that be? But, that's life!
Man who sold the world for me, is Bowie’s best song, it’s just such a story being told, it’s an absolutely incredible song, and without Nirvana, I wouldn’t be as well known as it is now, and that just blows my mind, Bowie was perfection, every song was absolutely incredible, talk about reinventing himself every single time, but someone sticking to his true self, love the man, and Cobain done this song so much justice.
I don’t hear A as ever being the root. I hear the tonality as changing between D minor and F major. The A major chords are the V of D minor. So the parts where the chords go A to Dm are a V > i resolution.
I think the lyrics also speak to a kind of imposter syndrome of the artist. The lyrics open with Bowie speaking to a man who sold the world before he becomes the man who sold the world. He's surprised to be called a friend because he wasn't there. A young artist must often contend with their own lack of experience with subjects they attempt to portray. After succeeding at their craft and meming on things they've been told about life, the self aware artist questions if they've actually done an art. The journey of their life is, in a sense, trying to join a conversation across time and space. One day, if they're lucky, they will become the personification of art to welcome the new artist. I agree with the interpretation presented in the video, I just think it misses the tension that there's a joy to joining an iterative process of men who sold the world, even as doing so demands selling ones own world. This also doubles the meaning of the nirvanna cover, as cobain wasn't just questioning his fame, but his relationship to his art.
To me, it makes a lot more sense to think of the song as alternating back and forth between two different tonalities: whenever we hear C major or F major chords we’re firmly in the diatonic scale and it probably makes the most sense to think of it as being in the Ionian mode, where the tonic is F. But whenever we hear A major and D minor chords, we’re no longer in the diatonic scale but in that scale that most people think of as “harmonic minor”, because that is (at least to western ears) its most familiar mode, although here it’s somewhat ambiguous which mode of that scale we’re in - D harmonic minor or A Phrygian Dominant. If you’re interpreting that opening as being some kind of Phrygian, it’s definitely not regular old diatonic Phrygian, because there’s clearly a major third in the harmony. If A is the tonic, it’s Phrygian dominant. The only moment when we are not in one or the other of those two places is on “never lost control”, where we briefly visit the Db chord, a chromatic mediant relative to the current key of F Ionian.
Surprised I never realized that Cobain's version was a cover of Bowie despite Kurt literally saying in the unplugged album that it was after he performed it 😅
Love this song. Introduced to it through Nirvana’s Unplugged in New York. Really appreciate the musical breakdown. The lyrics, though, I don’t believe had a truly intended message. I think Bowie wrote something ambiguous for the sake of being ambiguous, which is cool.
Another great analysis! I don't comment offer as I watch videos on my TV and I need to get out my phone and search for the video to type something, but I loved the obscure Sonic Underground reference! I haven't even thought about that show in ages
I'll tell you what makes this song a sad song: This song is about David Bowie himself talking to himself in the past, getting lost in his way and struggling to find his identity. So, the base guitar (a 12-strings, I believe) is strumming an A and a Dm and the sitar playing the riff is picking a G on the A chord, (which makes it A7 instead of just A) and on the 12-string's Dm, the sitar plays A, which is the 5th degree, and that progression creates tension and release, that means, the sitar picks a G note on the V chord and picks A on the i chord. When we go to the verse, it firstly goes back to the same V7-i chord progression, and in Bowie's voice, on "we passed upon the stairs, we spoke of was and when", while the A chord still is played, the 5th in "stairs", the minor 7th in "spoke", the flat 2nd in "was", and, on the Dm, the 5th in "when" gives the song a very depressing and haunting tone to it. Then it goes to A again, and then the listener would expect it to go back to Dm again, but it goes to F, then C, then A, and THEN back to Dm. By the way, there is a part in which he says that he died alone a long long time ago, and since it's about dying alone a long long time ago, on the "died a..." part, it changes to a time signature of 2/4 and on the "...lone" part on, it goes back to 4/4, which is a really dramatic signature change. Then, after Dm, it goes to C. On that chord, the listener would expect it to go to F, and it actually does. After that, it goes to Bbm and back to F. And then, C, F, Bbm again, but to go immediately to the 2nd verse, it goes back to the A chord. So, it's really that V7-i progression cycling around the song, the different intervals on the voice, the dramatic signature change on the 2nd half of the verses, the Bbm on the happy sounding F key change and, most importantly, the deep meaning behind the lyrics is really what does make it a sad song, right?
I've been listening to this song all morning long to many of its versions. SNL one with Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias is pretty good. BBC another one of my favorites. But the one on the Jools Holland's show is just pure perfection. Now, this vid wrapped it up. Cheers, man. Greetings from Zapopan Jalisco Mexico.
I think I’m the chorus I heard the distortion(probably not the right term) on his voice lessen, symbolizing him no longer battling with the personalities, because the crowd is only supposed to see the show personality, or the producer is only supposed to see the human personality, but there’s still the distortion, meaning it’s not his true personality, not him.
I love Nirvana Unplugged in New York. One of my favorite albums. When a band does something out of the ordinary, it is usually because it is so meaningful to them that you know it will be good. Or... it could be a gimmick. But when good bands do it, its usually pretty damn good.
I LOVE your assessment of "the riff" as I play with some bozos who CANNOT play it right and it drives me ( a life long Bowie fan - met him once) CRAZY...I had them retire the song as it was too depressing. And Visconti is so underrated on bass.
I always thought "The Man who Sold the World" was about a endless cycle that humamity traps itself in. Like a parody of our culture. The man sells the world to someone, just to sell it again. Continuing forever.
One of the best songs from my favorite Bowie album. The recent remaster (named "the metrobolist" which was the original name) is well worth listening to, though i think i still prefer the original
I like watching these videos about breaking down parts of songs and explaining them. It's interesting to find out why all these songs are so appealing and popular. I have no understanding of music theory. I don't play an instrument. What's a step. Who's misconti. What.
Typed in to watch nirvana, clicked on your video. Was not disappointed. Been suppressing my own music background for so long. Love your way of storytelling along with the theory. Also your right to left model, no smudging for lefties! Yes!
12tone I love ya but this one I'm afraid you got... different than every musician I've played this track with. It's in D minor. It starts on the 5th as a big tension, shifts to the relative major of D - the F - then lands on the tonic chord Dm at the end of the intro.
I've always assumed it was in Dm (except for the chorus), but watching this I was prepared to consider that my earlier analysis might have been somewhat oversimplified.
@@coldanimal5107 I think whether your analysis is oversimplified (for you) depends on whether or not it matches your listening experience. I’ve always heard Dm (when it arrived) as the tonic chord, so for me it’s not :). This is especially true in the verses.
Yeah, I totally agree. It's just V i progression in D minor, and then it visits the relative major. Very basic stuff. This also easily explains why the A is a major chord - it's the dominant of Dm. I don't think there's any reason to use the blues explanation here, since this song is diatonic-based, not blues-based (and I would also question the "borrowed from major" explanation, since it's an A7 - the G is pretty prominent over that chord, so I would consider it to be a chord tone). The melody is completely diatonic.
To be fair, you're looking at it from a "what works to play it" standpoint, whereas this analysis approaches it from a "what are all of the notes and harmonies saying in the most minute detail". Calling it Dm and just calling it done works because that's the map for what will and will not work when you play it. But if you wanna get into the nitty-gritty of how everything plays out in relation to eachother, Cory's analysis makes sense. It's also one of those "I did it cause it sounds cool" moments where none of the Theoretical Stuff is Necessarily Intended, but for that it sounded good. Theory, analysis, they aren't so much about what the artist was thinking when they made something, but rather, how and why what they did affects us the way it does.
D minor and A phrygian are relative keys as well though, so again, all the same notes just working in different ways. It's true then that the A major chord could just mean its using D Harmonic Minor not D Natural Minor, but that C# is hardly ever used as a leading tone to the D which is what it usually does in harmonic minor songs. I certainly think the argument could be made that the song plays around with all three modes, rather than just the two 12Tone uses, but I've always heard the song in A (and there are plenty of blues songs that play around in the space between the natural minor and relative phrygian scales.)
There are few creators who can capture my full attention for very long. These are people I'd pay if I could because the content is so well crafted and I can tell the creator is interested. I'd join your patreon if I could, but alas. I have no money. Maybe sometime in the near future I'll acquire the funds to do so.
I played in a jazz ensemble, and learned to play the guiro part on a couple Latin songs, in a rhythm basically identical to this one. The trick I was taught is to do a full stroke in one direction, two short sharp back and forth strokes on the end of the ribs, then a full stroke back, and the two short strokes again on that end. The whole pattern is a continuous motion, easy to zone out to. The guiro is an instrument perfectly suited to this rhythm, the kitchen unitasker of the jazz ensemble, you pull it out only when you need that exact sound and rhythm lol
Another excellent vid. It almost seems like everyone's becoming like a midway carny trying to attract custies to their booth, so your approach, or schtick, or whatever you want to call it, what you do, seems refreshingly almost quaint and old-fashioned in comparison, but then if I think about it of course it does, with hand drawn doodles on antique-y notation paper, it's obviously not by accident, but it's like you said about David Bowie's personas or avatars showing one aspect, and then there's a reason opera and theater gestures are "over the top", and "reality" shows have to be edited, or else no-one would watch...
As it's coming up to Christmas, it'd be good to hear your take on Joni Mitchell's River. I know the story behind the song but would love to hear how you view that's been incorporated into the music itself. A subverted Jingle Bells motif is surely what 2021 needs and that album is 50 this year, so all the more reason! Love your content, keep up the stellar work, you awesome human!
7:01 completely disagree. The guiro fits perfectly with the beat. It’s lands on the snare and adds extra swing to it since it stretches out till the next bass drum hit. It also fits with the bend of the guitar riff
With myself and most musicians (interviews with the famous ones and personal friends and such) - he probably thought so far as “I want this to sound kinda dreamy and not go anywhere” and played something that made him feel that way. “I want the chorus to feel more like a normal song cause that’s the two character faces in the story” Those more basic thoughts, and it’s the beauty of creativity and what makes a musician themselves that turn them into what we can then pick apart.
I swear for the most part of the video I understood basically nothing. I am a complete ignorant regarding music theory but I stayed on this video expecting some interpretation of the lyrics and it was worth it. I mean, I love this music and I always like to hear people talking about it and hearing their interpretation since it is really vague. Anyways, great video!
Might be late to say this, and I'm pretty sure at least some of it is the fever, but the use of SWAT KATS as a visual touchstone for being forgotten makes me feel intensely complicated things, and I just want you to know that.
![David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World [2020 Mix] [Official Lyric Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/u3MX-rUtS6M/mqdefault.jpg)
Some additional thoughts/corrections:
1) One interesting thing about relative phrygian is that, unlike relative minor, most of the chords behave differently in the two keys. Whether you're in F major or D minor, for instance, the chord G minor is a subdominant sound. As we saw with C, though, many chords in F major have different functions in A phrygian and vice versa, so by putting you in both tonal spaces at the same time, it becomes hard to establish exactly what any given chord is trying to do.
2) On the guiro part, that strike may not actually be played on the guiro itself. In the guiro notation guides I found there was no indication of that sort of sound, so it may have been on a separate wood block or something. Hard to tell from digitally separated stems, but not super relevant either way.
3) I didn't have enough to say about it to justify making room in the script, but the bass in the verses is interesting too. Instead of just playing roots or whatever, Visconti's line walks around in this disjointed rhythmic pattern. It makes it feel like a journey.
4) This hopefully goes without saying, and I already said it in the video anyway, but to be clear, the "weight of manufactured authenticity" reading is just one interpretation. There are others, and they're equally valid, I just personally find them less compelling (Possibly because, as a professional UA-camr, I can personally relate to the struggles of art-as-product) and it's my video.
5) There's maybe even an argument to be made that the chorus is in C mixolydian: It starts on C major, the prechorus sits on that chord for a long time, and the short vocal phrases are D-C so there's some melodic resolution too. If you then take Db as a tritone sub of G, you've got basically a I-IV-V-IV progression. It doesn't really fit with the way I naturally hear it, but I can convince myself of it if I try. Makes more sense to me than F in the verse, at least.
6) Relatedly, if you're wondering why I bothered specifically arguing against F major there, it's because that's what Wikipedia says it is and I'm salty about it.
I played a mixture of Bowie's and Nirvana's versión with a band for about 5 years (in Nirvana's key) and I always think of this song like being in a constant 'flow' between E Major and C#minor (F Major and D minor in Bowie's) a common feature in songs. However for me the interesting part is the G# and B Major chords (A & C in Bowie's) at the begining of the verse and the chorus respectively, a thing I've always percieved like starting on the V something I didn't see a lot on rock music but it's pretty common in mexican folk music, also in songs like Korobeiniki (at least the Tetris version) and in some themes in classical pieces. So for me is on E Major - C# minor (F Major and D minor on Bowie's), and not just because Mirvana end it in E, for my ear those are the resting points.
Eh, wikipedia is written by the lowest bidder, I wouldn't get too worked up about it :D
I suspect that's just the major tonality bias. You made a compelling case for the piece shifting tonal centers. With that A major chord, there is just no way a basic F major analysis makes sense
@ yeah. 12 tone is way off here. It's a song in D- that starts on the V. Sure I guess you can explain it all sorts of different ways but right interpretation is always the one that's the simplest and makes it easiest to play.
LOVE your channel. You're unique, interesting & you play the music I love too! Thank you for _all_ of your hard work, time & attention to detail. You rock man! XO
I’ll never forget seeing David Bowie perform this song when he toured with NiN in 1995 and all the kids around us were like “(gasp!) He’s covering a Nirvana song!” That was the first time I realized I was old.
My Intellectual Property teacher in law school explained how Nine Inch Nails covered Hurt, by Johnny Cash. After class, I explained to her that, no, Johnny Cash covered the NIN song and it was among the greatest covers of all time.
@Sam it definitely is one of the greatest covers of all time. I’m generally not a big fan of Rick Rubin, but credit goes where credit’s due. That song was *perfect* for Johnny Cash, especially at that point of his life.
2019 I lived with this guy, 3 times in that year he played Nirvana's cover and complained there was no album version to which I reminded him Kurt Cobain died, to which he replied, 'Great song anyway, not like their other stuff.' to which I reminded him it was a Bowie song and he was sceptical every time until I played him the Bowie version. Then, each time, he'd say 'Why would Bowie cover Nirvana?'
@@danielatherton1631 Lol. Almost the entire album is covers, which he says several times during the album. But I guess nobody listens to albums anymore, just individual songs. I prefer to listen to that album start to finish.
@@Sam_on_UA-cam I don't understand how people can miss it, at the end of tmwstw on unplugged kurt literally says "that is a david bowie song"
I've been obsessed with Midge Ure's cover of this. Hideo Kojima reintroduced a generation to this song like Cobain did, with Metal Gear Solid V.
Couldn't have said it better
The man has a knack for bringing old things back when they're obviously the best choice.
everytime I hear Midge Ure's cover, I think of myself watching sunset smoking an habano after I did something greater than me.
That was exactly how I was introduced and why I like the Midge Ure cover a bit better than Nirvana's. MgsV is also why I like the song She Blinded Me Science by Thomas Dolby, which I always have as my helicopter music in the game.
Even better is that Kojima used a cover in his game because you aren't actually playing the real Big Boss, just a copy of sorts..
The most important thing is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you have it made.
We don't lie to people. We believe invalid truths.
A quote from George Burns. I've once heard that comedy is just telling people the truth when they don't expect it.
@@SavageGreywolf ah, I found this quote in American Gods and always wondered if it came from someone
And Authenticity. If you can perfect faking sincerity and authenticity, you've got it made!
@@planepantsgames1791 tru that's why laughter is the best medicine, and heroin is the best joke
Hideo Kojima's undeniable love for David Bowie introduced me to The Man Who Sold The World. The story interpretation for the song is on another level, so much so that Kojima created a video game based around it (MGSV) that takes the themes/subtext/meta and moulds it into something... more beautiful. He uses Midge Ure's 'cover' -a copy (my personal favourite) in the game and the meaning behind it skyrockets. The song can even be interpreted to be about Kojima's life or anyone's!
God damn I love this song and this video explaining it on a musical and abstract sense just makes me love it more.
When that song started…man. Yeah his use of that song is incredible.
Yes everything you said.
I absolutely adore the choice to use a cover in the game. Taking the allegory and pushing it even further beyond
I was introduced the same way. Kojima has a crazy way of using abstract music that feels very similar to Tarantino but in video games. True master
Really is phenomenal
oh no. not me. we never lost control.
kurt sang that part especially hard
I just finished reading Dave Grohl's book, and... yeah. Hoo boy.
So did Lulu.
Nice pfp, where is it from
.
wheres your profile picture from
I also don't think we can ever forget the influence Terry Burns (David's older half brother, who suffered from schizophrenia and was living in a sanitarium at the time) had on a lot of Bowie's lyrics and themes on these early recordings
Huh... didn't know about that. Puts a new spin on "Bewley Brothers".
and "Jump they say " and "All the Madman"
I have heard that Mr Bowie said about Bewlay Brothers that the words don't mean much and "Americans like to read things into things"
@@christopherlawley1842 Yeah, but...
If you read the lyrics of his earlier albums, there's some clear messages.
Like the 2nd self-titled
David Bowie album (1969, aka "space oddity) he's got some pretty damning lyrics about some contemporary issues.
As far as him saying "Americans read things into things", I think he was mainly talking about what we now call "shipping", prurient sexual judgements, etc.
@@christopherlawley1842 I say this a lot about Kurt Cobain but it applies to Bowie as well: I'll never understand why people assume that everything an artist says about their work is true. Not even in a "death of the author" sort of way but in a "people lie all t he time and especially to avoid talking about their feelings way".
Everyone knows the man is Big Boss. I actually like the UltraVox cover.
I do to
Honestly speaking, I never truly paid attention to the lyrics, and the subtle meanings of harmony always eluded me despite having attended music school for six years; I just liked the music, and played the bass parts every now and then. Now that you broke this beautiful piece of music down, I can truly appreciate just how much of a downer this song actually is, and also how much it resonates with today's artists as well.
Thanks, 12tone.
I love listening to someone explain technically Why I love a song, even tho I have almost no idea what is going on. I like to hear that there Is a reason why these songs are provably amazing.
In a way I feel like "I can't give myself away" from blackstar is his final meditations on these themes
"I can't give everything away"
@@mehmed6529 thanks for the assist
The whole Blackstar hits different. I get a hollow pit in my stomach every time I listen to it. It's a gut-wrenching swan song. He knew it was his last. He was saying goodbye. He knew it. We didn't want to know it.
I love the way that this channel doesn't dumb music theory down but makes it really accessible by telling us how the musical techniques can make us feel. There's such a genuine enjoyment and appreciation for music evident in every second.
Personally, I love Midge Ure's cover of the song, preferring it to the original and Nirvana's cover.
Same
It’s the best song to wake up from a 9 year coma
@@andybhoy1916It makes me think of a feeling I can't express. A sort of Phantom Pain if you will.
Big shout-out to Mick Ronson who not only played the great riff, but wrote it as well
he never gets enough credit for his role in Bowie's early 70's albums, especially The Man Who Sold the World album
Mick was a top tier player and arranger! TOTALLY under appreciated for his contributions to Bowie and as an arranger
on so many other epic songs.
@@ZeroMod He arranged the strings and played the piano on "Perfect Day"
I definitely love the Midge Ure version too
I prefer it personally.
Midge Ure's is my favourite. Every version is great, but the haunting tone of the song is much stronger in Midge's.
@@sluttyMapleSyrup Yeah the song really lends itself to that oppressive sound that you can truly realize with synths. It's not surprising considering how fond bowie was of synths especially in the berlin years.
Midge Ure's voice and the synths give it special depth. It's my favorite cover version.
I hope that you don't feel the crushing weight of manufactured authenticity nearly as hard as these two did, but remember there's folks out there to talk to about it if you do :)
The Nirvana Unplugged albums is one of my favorites, and I love the fact that they chose songs, presumably, based on how good they would sound acoustic, instead of just chosing hits like everyone else.
Love the album, and MWSTW is an excellent cover
I wonder what goes through the minds of older musicians who know they had a direct and profound influence on a younger musician, but they out live the younger musician for some reason or another.
Comparable to when you hear of a patent outliving their own child, to be blunt
This song is famously influenced by Antigonish, a poem by William Hughes Mearns. "Yesterday upon the stair/I met a man who wasn't there/He wasn't there again today/Oh how I wish he'd go away."
The poem would have been widely known in the UK during Bowie's childhood due to the Glen Miller recording of "The little man who wasn't there", which used Antigonish as a lyric.
I like to think that in an alternative universe there's no an actual song but Garfield indeed was the man who sold the world
Gotta love chords connected by common tones in an augmented relationship (F, A, C#/Db). Certainly otherworldly.
Great analysis as always!
holy shit the amount of effort in editing just 20 seconds of this is insane, that's a sub
The best thing about masterful music is that what takes so long to explain from a technical and logical perspective can be intuitively percieved right at the spot.
In other words this came from the Bowie's and the other musician's souls, rather than being constructed theoretically.
This is my favorite song and has been a major inspiration for my art for a while. The otherworldly vibe and deep lyrics with different possible interpretations are just phenomenal.
Wow, that is the most sophisticated explanation of a very complex, and for me favorite, rock song I've ever seen! Thanks for adding another layer to how much I love Bowie's music and that song in particular. Not being a musician I could barely keep up with the details on how the instruments, vocals and mixing work but you've somehow made it accessible. "keep on rockin"
Literally my favorite cover of anything ever.
This vid renewed my love of Bowie.
Today in old: The Nirvana version of this song has now been "the mainstream version" of the song longer than the Bowie version was.
Bowie released it in 1970. Nirvana's version was released in 1993. That's a 23 year "Bowie" reign. It has been 28 years since the Nirvana version was released.
It depends another version got popular because it was used in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which had a few references to David Bowie like a group called Diamond Dogs.
But the version used in that game was from Midge Ure which released in 1982.
The game is from 2015.
@@HALberdier17 each "popular version" gets 22-23 years to reign supreme. Therefore, the next one will ascend sometime between 2037-2038 (based on 2015-2016, when the game's version took over). So it is written.
Happy birthday Bowie! May you still be rocking everyday up there!
This is wonderful. Thank you. Made me think a lot about a wide variety of things…Thanks for bringing so much clarity to the world!
I'd say almost every time I listen to this song I get something more out of it.
And the two most popular covers of it I know of by Nirvana and Midge Ure maintain so much of the original while bringing their own story to the song.
Yes, he is indeed bending up to the B flat in the intro riff 12tone. Great stuff per usual, thx for the wholesome entertainment.
It's a slide
I knew this was going to get deep.
But holy moly, that ending made my creative self stuck in marianas trench
I love that since i've started watching your videos i've become able to process the information without stopping to think about it. Before i needed to pause often to try digest what you were saying, now i can analyse it all as free flowing thought. Nice to see those definitive milestones of improvement :)
This video was great, i love this song. Nirvana, Bowie and Hideo Kojima are all massive parts of my life, as are your videos, thank you my friend.
An interesting song for you to study would be Justin Timberlake’s “Cry me a river”.
I think you would do a good job illustrating just how the mix of notes ends up making a set of keys that sound “upset”, but never sinks far into “sad”.
I think the steady rhythm and quick cut to the phrases also contributes to that. It's choppy like someone stomping.
This is the song that got me into starting to figure out how music works, not that I ever got super deep into theory, but it changed how I listened.
David Bowie was a freaking legend. I used to listen to this song a lot for that opening riff
The 1969 version of Space Oddity is my favorite from Bowie ⚡️❤️
I’m 23 and I’ve heard the Nirvana version of this song my whole life and never realized it was a cover until now. Time to go listen to the original after this video is over.
If you don't know that was a cover, boy do I have news for you!
I'd bet that an easy 20% of all the big hits you can think of, just off the top of your head, are covers.
Lake of fire and plateau are covers of the meat puppets and where did you sleep last night is Leadbellys
Jesus don’t want me for a sunbeam is a vaselines cover, which itself is a cover of an old Christian song
And? What’d you think? I didn’t really like the song as a kid, then when I was about 19 I was really stoned one night and BOY that outro is a haunting, splashy experience, one of my favourite outros in a pop song
This level of nerd-out over music is what i need more of in life, especially Bowie
The fact you drew the minimalist form of Lost is what sold me
Thanks to that _Garfield_ illustration in the thumbnail this video sat on my Watch Later playlist for months under the impression that it was titled Jim Davis: The Man Who Sold the World, and was about Davis corporatizing his artistic endeavors as an exact inverse of Bill Watterson.
I’ll be honest. I’m so hooked to how you make the video. It’s so compelling.
The version by Richard Barone, of The Bongos, on his chamber-rock live album “Cool Blue Halo” is the one that first stuck this song solidly in my head. If pressed, I’ll admit that both the Bowie and Nirvana versions are more compelling, but I really dig the way Jane Scarpantoni makes the riff sing out on the cello
Your "otherworldly" view of the intro riff is interesting to me. I always saw it as Cold or detached. Frigid, if you'll pardon the pun. It's like the guitar knows where it wants/needs to be but is stumbling just trying to stay in place, kinda like a fisherperson in the arctic sea. Part of my assessment comes from the very thin distorted tone that sounds like the guitar is being played through a telephone, but it also is influenced by the vocals and lyrics, which have a distant sound and melody and tell a tale of disconnection from reality. Just about all the musicianship outside of the chorus seems largely disconnected but coherent. I guess that's more or less the same analysis, but a different metaphor, but "otherworldly" sound more purposeful than "Cold" to me
Keep in mind i know just enough to use flowery language and know what i mean by it, but not enough to expand beyond that and dissect melodies like you do.
You lost me at "fisher person"
Cold or detached, or maybe alienated? Otherworldly.
I think you're both correct. If you ARE otherworldly, to be in this world could feel cold.
If you behold the otherworldly, and it isn't pleasant, it could feel cold to you.
I think either way, the feelings are NOT mutually exclusive.
@@montycantsin8861 That actually makes a lot of sense
@@RubyRoks Thanks. I'm glad I'm not alone in seeing that.
Feels kinda.... warm!
13:54 His follow-up efforts to Space Oddity were failing? I know you're not the first person to say that, but that's exaggerated. True, he hadn't *sold* much between November 1969 and November 1970. A couple of singles and the rest of the album weren't successful but Space Oddity still was. He wrote The Man Who Sold The World less than a year after Space Oddity was released. The record executives may have given up on him but I sincerely doubt Bowie considered himself a one-hit-wonder has-been at 23 years old. That's why he didn't quit. He never lost control.
"Believe in yourself" !
The eponymous TMWSTW album isn't an easy listen, even now. Unless you were a fan or followed the rock press you wouldn't know it happened.
My dad liked SpaceOddity. The BBC played it on the radio. For the casual listener Bowie more or less disappeared until the astonishing TOTP performance of Starman in 72: full Ziggy make up, red hair and arm round Mick Ronson. My parents were pretty relaxed, but they were concerned for their kids even seeing him.
Thank you for making this video. I just played along and sang because of it. This is definitely one of the best songs ever written.
It's a great song based on one of my favorite poems. Thanks for the video.
Wow! I love this analysis! Thank you so much!
To me the song is about survival.
Most people I remeet I meet in a previous phase in my life. A fair number of them assume I am dead. Or they are super stoked about me still being alive.
I'm stoked you're alive. Rock on Sum Arbor
WHAT!!!?? Sum Arbor's still alive?! Like everyone else who was watching that day, I just assumed.... some things, you think no human could possibly survive, and then, next thing you know, you see them commenting on UA-cam, just like nothing at all happened, and you wonder, how could that be? But, that's life!
How have I never seen one of these videos before? I love how he does this. New sub for sure
An analysis of this song was long-overdue. I’m glad it’s finally happened!
Wonderful script on this one. Thank you.
I’m so glad you made this awesome video on this amazing song! David Bowie will live on forever!
Man who sold the world for me, is Bowie’s best song, it’s just such a story being told, it’s an absolutely incredible song, and without Nirvana, I wouldn’t be as well known as it is now, and that just blows my mind, Bowie was perfection, every song was absolutely incredible, talk about reinventing himself every single time, but someone sticking to his true self, love the man, and Cobain done this song so much justice.
Great stuff my man! I’ve been curious about this song since the 90’s.
Swat cats drawing at 13:56 had me dead lol. Gargoyles would also been acceptable 🤣 🤣 awesome video subbed instantly, the work you put in shows👍🏼
I don’t hear A as ever being the root. I hear the tonality as changing between D minor and F major. The A major chords are the V of D minor.
So the parts where the chords go A to Dm are a V > i resolution.
I think the lyrics also speak to a kind of imposter syndrome of the artist. The lyrics open with Bowie speaking to a man who sold the world before he becomes the man who sold the world. He's surprised to be called a friend because he wasn't there. A young artist must often contend with their own lack of experience with subjects they attempt to portray. After succeeding at their craft and meming on things they've been told about life, the self aware artist questions if they've actually done an art. The journey of their life is, in a sense, trying to join a conversation across time and space. One day, if they're lucky, they will become the personification of art to welcome the new artist.
I agree with the interpretation presented in the video, I just think it misses the tension that there's a joy to joining an iterative process of men who sold the world, even as doing so demands selling ones own world. This also doubles the meaning of the nirvanna cover, as cobain wasn't just questioning his fame, but his relationship to his art.
To me, it makes a lot more sense to think of the song as alternating back and forth between two different tonalities: whenever we hear C major or F major chords we’re firmly in the diatonic scale and it probably makes the most sense to think of it as being in the Ionian mode, where the tonic is F. But whenever we hear A major and D minor chords, we’re no longer in the diatonic scale but in that scale that most people think of as “harmonic minor”, because that is (at least to western ears) its most familiar mode, although here it’s somewhat ambiguous which mode of that scale we’re in - D harmonic minor or A Phrygian Dominant. If you’re interpreting that opening as being some kind of Phrygian, it’s definitely not regular old diatonic Phrygian, because there’s clearly a major third in the harmony. If A is the tonic, it’s Phrygian dominant.
The only moment when we are not in one or the other of those two places is on “never lost control”, where we briefly visit the Db chord, a chromatic mediant relative to the current key of F Ionian.
"The Man Who Sold The World" is not a song about legacy, its a song about big boss
You mean Venom Snake.
@@ltb1345 He is Big Boss, and so am I
No... he is the two of us together
@@odd-eyes6363 now do you remember?
We are all Diamond Dogs
@@ltb1345 The songs fits Big Boss (real one) better. Venom's song would be The phantom pain
I have no idea how this got in my recommended, but damn am I glad it did.
Surprised I never realized that Cobain's version was a cover of Bowie despite Kurt literally saying in the unplugged album that it was after he performed it 😅
That was incredible! Thank you! 🙏🏼
I like the little Alphonse!
Love this song. Introduced to it through Nirvana’s Unplugged in New York. Really appreciate the musical breakdown. The lyrics, though, I don’t believe had a truly intended message. I think Bowie wrote something ambiguous for the sake of being ambiguous, which is cool.
Another great analysis! I don't comment offer as I watch videos on my TV and I need to get out my phone and search for the video to type something, but I loved the obscure Sonic Underground reference! I haven't even thought about that show in ages
I'll tell you what makes this song a sad song:
This song is about David Bowie himself talking to himself in the past, getting lost in his way and struggling to find his identity.
So, the base guitar (a 12-strings, I believe) is strumming an A and a Dm and the sitar playing the riff is picking a G on the A chord, (which makes it A7 instead of just A) and on the 12-string's Dm, the sitar plays A, which is the 5th degree, and that progression creates tension and release, that means, the sitar picks a G note on the V chord and picks A on the i chord.
When we go to the verse, it firstly goes back to the same V7-i chord progression, and in Bowie's voice, on "we passed upon the stairs, we spoke of was and when", while the A chord still is played, the 5th in "stairs", the minor 7th in "spoke", the flat 2nd in "was", and, on the Dm, the 5th in "when" gives the song a very depressing and haunting tone to it. Then it goes to A again, and then the listener would expect it to go back to Dm again, but it goes to F, then C, then A, and THEN back to Dm. By the way, there is a part in which he says that he died alone a long long time ago, and since it's about dying alone a long long time ago, on the "died a..." part, it changes to a time signature of 2/4 and on the "...lone" part on, it goes back to 4/4, which is a really dramatic signature change. Then, after Dm, it goes to C. On that chord, the listener would expect it to go to F, and it actually does. After that, it goes to Bbm and back to F. And then, C, F, Bbm again, but to go immediately to the 2nd verse, it goes back to the A chord.
So, it's really that V7-i progression cycling around the song, the different intervals on the voice, the dramatic signature change on the 2nd half of the verses, the Bbm on the happy sounding F key change and, most importantly, the deep meaning behind the lyrics is really what does make it a sad song, right?
I've been listening to this song all morning long to many of its versions.
SNL one with Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias is pretty good.
BBC another one of my favorites.
But the one on the Jools Holland's show is just pure perfection.
Now, this vid wrapped it up.
Cheers, man.
Greetings from Zapopan Jalisco Mexico.
The SNL one with Klaus Nomi sounds more like a horror movie than the psychedelic original.
I think I’m the chorus I heard the distortion(probably not the right term) on his voice lessen, symbolizing him no longer battling with the personalities, because the crowd is only supposed to see the show personality, or the producer is only supposed to see the human personality, but there’s still the distortion, meaning it’s not his true personality, not him.
I love Nirvana Unplugged in New York. One of my favorite albums. When a band does something out of the ordinary, it is usually because it is so meaningful to them that you know it will be good. Or... it could be a gimmick. But when good bands do it, its usually pretty damn good.
I’m beside myself, loved this song for a long time. Thanks
I LOVE your assessment of "the riff" as I play with some bozos who CANNOT play it right and it drives me
( a life long Bowie fan - met him once) CRAZY...I had them retire the song as it was too depressing.
And Visconti is so underrated on bass.
I rarely enjoy listening to podcasts, but your podcast with Polyphonic is really cool! I enjoy it! :)
That was FASCINATING. I stumbled upon this and it got me hooked. Superb
I always thought "The Man who Sold the World" was about a endless cycle that humamity traps itself in. Like a parody of our culture. The man sells the world to someone, just to sell it again. Continuing forever.
That certainly can work on the selling out context. It's essentially the same idea but on a wider scale
Your notation is flawless and the theory presented behind it is invaluable. Really glad I found your channel! Keep up the great work! 🙏👏✌️🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎹
One of the best songs from my favorite Bowie album. The recent remaster (named "the metrobolist" which was the original name) is well worth listening to, though i think i still prefer the original
Did you mean Metrobolist?
@@RapidsLurker15 yes
I just love getting the little references you scribble on the side
My favorite content on yt keep it up
I like watching these videos about breaking down parts of songs and explaining them. It's interesting to find out why all these songs are so appealing and popular.
I have no understanding of music theory.
I don't play an instrument.
What's a step. Who's misconti. What.
I really like Midge Ures take on this song like it is perfection.
Typed in to watch nirvana, clicked on your video. Was not disappointed. Been suppressing my own music background for so long. Love your way of storytelling along with the theory. Also your right to left model, no smudging for lefties! Yes!
12tone I love ya but this one I'm afraid you got... different than every musician I've played this track with.
It's in D minor.
It starts on the 5th as a big tension, shifts to the relative major of D - the F - then lands on the tonic chord Dm at the end of the intro.
I've always assumed it was in Dm (except for the chorus), but watching this I was prepared to consider that my earlier analysis might have been somewhat oversimplified.
@@coldanimal5107 I think whether your analysis is oversimplified (for you) depends on whether or not it matches your listening experience. I’ve always heard Dm (when it arrived) as the tonic chord, so for me it’s not :). This is especially true in the verses.
Yeah, I totally agree. It's just V i progression in D minor, and then it visits the relative major. Very basic stuff. This also easily explains why the A is a major chord - it's the dominant of Dm. I don't think there's any reason to use the blues explanation here, since this song is diatonic-based, not blues-based (and I would also question the "borrowed from major" explanation, since it's an A7 - the G is pretty prominent over that chord, so I would consider it to be a chord tone). The melody is completely diatonic.
To be fair, you're looking at it from a "what works to play it" standpoint, whereas this analysis approaches it from a "what are all of the notes and harmonies saying in the most minute detail".
Calling it Dm and just calling it done works because that's the map for what will and will not work when you play it. But if you wanna get into the nitty-gritty of how everything plays out in relation to eachother, Cory's analysis makes sense.
It's also one of those "I did it cause it sounds cool" moments where none of the Theoretical Stuff is Necessarily Intended, but for that it sounded good. Theory, analysis, they aren't so much about what the artist was thinking when they made something, but rather, how and why what they did affects us the way it does.
D minor and A phrygian are relative keys as well though, so again, all the same notes just working in different ways. It's true then that the A major chord could just mean its using D Harmonic Minor not D Natural Minor, but that C# is hardly ever used as a leading tone to the D which is what it usually does in harmonic minor songs. I certainly think the argument could be made that the song plays around with all three modes, rather than just the two 12Tone uses, but I've always heard the song in A (and there are plenty of blues songs that play around in the space between the natural minor and relative phrygian scales.)
If I watch enough 12Tone, Adam Neely and Rick Beato I can create the perfect music piece! I'll know everything I need to know
There are few creators who can capture my full attention for very long. These are people I'd pay if I could because the content is so well crafted and I can tell the creator is interested. I'd join your patreon if I could, but alas. I have no money. Maybe sometime in the near future I'll acquire the funds to do so.
Awesome! I love your music theory videos the best
I like how the commets has 3 different fanbases. Bowie's, Nirvana's and MGSV
1:58 I believe it is a hammer on-pull off
New to your channel and boy am I happy that I happened to have headphones on.
I played in a jazz ensemble, and learned to play the guiro part on a couple Latin songs, in a rhythm basically identical to this one. The trick I was taught is to do a full stroke in one direction, two short sharp back and forth strokes on the end of the ribs, then a full stroke back, and the two short strokes again on that end. The whole pattern is a continuous motion, easy to zone out to. The guiro is an instrument perfectly suited to this rhythm, the kitchen unitasker of the jazz ensemble, you pull it out only when you need that exact sound and rhythm lol
Another excellent vid. It almost seems like everyone's becoming like a midway carny trying to attract custies to their booth, so your approach, or schtick, or whatever you want to call it, what you do, seems refreshingly almost quaint and old-fashioned in comparison, but then if I think about it of course it does, with hand drawn doodles on antique-y notation paper, it's obviously not by accident, but it's like you said about David Bowie's personas or avatars showing one aspect, and then there's a reason opera and theater gestures are "over the top", and "reality" shows have to be edited, or else no-one would watch...
Very master like way of bringing things over ✌🏼
I love Bowie’s original but my favorite is the first time I heard it (in a game, gta, or sumshi) Midge Ure’s version is still the best to my ear
QUALITY thumbnail. I saw it. And I got it. And STILL. ooooooooo. Just like....hrmmmmmmm....Emotions.
As it's coming up to Christmas, it'd be good to hear your take on Joni Mitchell's River. I know the story behind the song but would love to hear how you view that's been incorporated into the music itself. A subverted Jingle Bells motif is surely what 2021 needs and that album is 50 this year, so all the more reason!
Love your content, keep up the stellar work, you awesome human!
anyone here from pyro's video?
7:01 completely disagree. The guiro fits perfectly with the beat. It’s lands on the snare and adds extra swing to it since it stretches out till the next bass drum hit. It also fits with the bend of the guitar riff
I've never studied music before, the algorithm brought me here. All I can say is neat.
I often wonder if Bowie was thinking of all this when he wrote the song, or did he just do it because it sounded cool?
With myself and most musicians (interviews with the famous ones and personal friends and such) - he probably thought so far as “I want this to sound kinda dreamy and not go anywhere” and played something that made him feel that way.
“I want the chorus to feel more like a normal song cause that’s the two character faces in the story”
Those more basic thoughts, and it’s the beauty of creativity and what makes a musician themselves that turn them into what we can then pick apart.
Am I the only one that got chills JUST from the first time the riff was played 'cause *damn*
I swear for the most part of the video I understood basically nothing. I am a complete ignorant regarding music theory but I stayed on this video expecting some interpretation of the lyrics and it was worth it. I mean, I love this music and I always like to hear people talking about it and hearing their interpretation since it is really vague. Anyways, great video!
Might be late to say this, and I'm pretty sure at least some of it is the fever, but the use of SWAT KATS as a visual touchstone for being forgotten makes me feel intensely complicated things, and I just want you to know that.