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Teenage Wildlife
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song|
| name = Teenage Wildlife
| cover =
| alt =
| caption = 'Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)' cover
| type =
| artist = David Bowie
| album = Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
| released = September 12, 1980
| format =
| recorded = The Power Station, New York, February 1980; Good Earth, London, April 1980
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 6:56
| label = RCA
| writer = David Bowie
| producer = David Bowie, Tony Visconti
}}
"'Teenage Wildlife'" is a song written by David Bowie in 1980 for the album 'Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)'. Running at almost seven minutes, the song was the longest track on 'Scary Monsters', and Bowie's longest composition since "Station to Station" (1976), although it was surpassed in length by later tracks such as 2003's "Bring Me the Disco King" and 2016's "Blackstar".
The song is structurally similar to "Heroes" but does not feature a refrain; its verses only end with the title being sung over Fripp's guitar breaks. Its backing vocals are reminiscent of the Ronettes, while piano is provided by Roy Bittan. The song's lyrics have been widely interpreted. One interpretation is they are an attack on Bowie imitators who emerged in the late 1970s, such as Gary Numan, who personally believed himself a target. Carr and Murray state that the song is Bowie reflecting on his younger self, while Pegg considers it a confrontation to critics who tried to prevent Bowie from evolving throughout the 1970s. Bowie himself wrote in 2008 that the lyrics are about "taking a short view of life, not looking too far ahead and not predicting the oncoming hard knocks".
Music and lyrics
The song's original title was "It Happens Everyday". Producer Tony Visconti said "Instead of singing 'Not another teenage wildlife' [Bowie] would sing 'It happens everyda-a-ay.'"
Against a musical backdrop that owed much to his classic song "Heroes", including textural guitar work from both Robert Fripp and Chuck Hammer, and adds wandering phrases following his lyrical paragraphs, Bowie appeared to take aim squarely at his post-punk artistic godchildren, particularly Gary Numan:
A broken-nosed mogul are you
One of the new wave boys
Same old thing in brand new drag
Comes sweeping into view
As ugly as a teenage millionaire
Pretending its a whiz-kid world
In a 1980 interview, Bowie commented on Numan and his "whiz-kid world", saying "What Numan did he did excellently but in repetition, in the same information coming over again and again, once you've heard one piece.... It's that false idea of hi-tech society and all that which is... doesn't exist. I don't think we're anywhere near that sort of society. It's an enormous myth that's been perpetuated unfortunately, I guess, by readings of what I've done in that rock area at least, and in the consumer area television has an awful lot to answer for with its fabrication of the computer-world myth." Singer Boy George has said that his all-time favourite lyric was "As ugly as a teenage millionaire".'Smash Hits' flexi-disc, 1985 Boy George interview
Other releases
The song appeared on the compilation album 'The Collection' (2005).
Live versions
The song was performed regularly during Bowie's 1995-96 Outside Tour, and two separate live recordings were released on the live albums 'Ouvre le Chien (Live Dallas 95)' (2020) and 'No Trendy Rchauff (Live Birmingham 95)' (2020).
Personnel
*David Bowie: Lead vocals
*Tony Visconti: Backing vocals
*Robert Fripp: Guitar
*Carlos Alomar: Guitar
*Chuck Hammer: Guitar synthesizer
*Roy Bittan: Piano
*George Murray: Bass guitar
*Dennis Davis: Drums
References
Sources
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Category:Songs about teenagers
Category:David Bowie songs
Category:1980 songs
Category:Songs written by David Bowie
Category:Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti
Category:Song recordings produced by David Bowie
Category:Diss tracks
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