The David Bowie song influenced by George Orwell
From day one, David Bowie never claimed to be comfortable in his skin. Although he had tried his hand at being the traditional pop star later down the line, the best way Bowie knew to express himself was through styles that were more left-of-centre, always relating to the underdogs of the entertainment industry. So when he was going to try his hand at adapting a book into music, it was only fitting that he move into the world of dystopian fiction.
At Bowie’s beginnings, his work on albums like The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane had dystopian elements, like the idea of Ziggy coming down to earth as an alien looking to save the world from his five-year expiration date. While Bowie always had an optimistic slant to his music, he showed his darker side in the back half of Diamond Dogs.
When looking at the dystopian future ahead of him, Bowie took inspiration from the book 1984 by George Orwell. In the acclaimed novel, the lead character Winston finds himself trying to live a peaceful life on his own, away from the domineering instructions of Big Brother.
Looking at the premise, it’s not hard to see where Bowie would find inspiration for the story of a glam-rock star. Since most rock stars had been looked down upon as borderline circus performers by their labels, Bowie certainly had his experience with his version of Big Brother breathing down his neck, always making sure he was marketable enough to suit the fanbase they wanted.
Although the plan was to turn Bowie’s next massive album into a concept centred around 1984, Orwell’s wife Sonia denied him the right to use any source material. This pissed off Bowie at the time, recalling to Circus magazine (via The Guardian), “For a person who married a socialist with communist leanings, she was the biggest upper-class snob I’ve ever met in my life.”
While the album never went through, that didn’t mean that Bowie couldn’t work around the concept, creating two songs on the back half of the record entitled ‘1984’ and ‘Big Brother’, loosely based on what he had drafted. Regardless of not going through with the concept, both songs encapsulate the offputting feeling of the books, with Bowie singing from the perspective of someone on the ground floor of this inhumane version of society.
As much as Bowie may have wanted to do a bigger project around the novel, what he made on Diamond Dogs was still glam-rock perfection. Having a firm grip on the medium at this point, Bowie takes his time throughout the record, creating an entire medley based on the musical themes of the song ‘Sweet Thing’ and earning himself another chart smash with ‘Rebel Rebel’.
While Bowie had all the pieces for his conceptual album, the change to Diamond Dogs was a last-minute decision, saying, “To be quite honest with you… the whole thing was originally 19-bloody-84. She put the clappers on it by saying no. So I, at the last minute, quickly changed it into a new concept album called Diamond Dogs.”
The changes might have been forced onto the album, but Bowie didn’t let it dissuade him. After years of wowing crowds worldwide, he was already looking to move in a new direction one album later on Station to Station.
