Rebel Rebel (4:30)
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“Rebel Rebel” is a song by David Bowie, released in 1974 as a single and on the album Diamond Dogs. A different version was recorded for US single release, featuring a funkier backing and looped backing vocals. Cited as his most-covered track, it was effectively Bowie’s farewell to the glam movement that had made him a star.
Music and lyrics
Originally written for a mooted Ziggy Stardust musical in late 1973, “Rebel Rebel” was Bowie’s last single in the glam rock style that had been his trademark. It was also his first hit since 1969 not to feature lead guitarist Mick Ronson; Bowie himself played guitar on this and almost all other tracks from Diamond Dogs, producing what NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray called “a rocking dirty noise that owed as much to Keith Richards as it did to the departed Ronno”.
The song is notable for its gender-bending lyrics (“You got your mother in a whirl / She’s not sure if you’re a boy or a girl”) as well as its distinctive riff, which rock journalist Kris Needs has described as “a classic stick-in-the-head like the Stones’ ‘
Satisfaction’”. Bowie himself later said, “It’s a fabulous riff! Just fabulous! When I stumbled onto it, it was ‘Oh, thank you!’”
Transsexual rock artist and former Bowie associate Jayne County claims that “Rebel Rebel” was based in part on County’s own song “Queenage Baby”, which was recorded in January of 1974 by Bowie’s Mainman Records, but not released at the time. The song later surfaced on the independent 2006 release Wayne County at the Trucks, and some critics, upon hearing the track, echoed County’s claims.
Music and lyrics
Originally written for a mooted Ziggy Stardust musical in late 1973, “Rebel Rebel” was Bowie’s last single in the glam rock style that had been his trademark. It was also his first hit since 1969 not to feature lead guitarist Mick Ronson; Bowie himself played guitar on this and almost all other tracks from Diamond Dogs, producing what NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray called “a rocking dirty noise that owed as much to Keith Richards as it did to the departed Ronno”.
The song is notable for its gender-bending lyrics (“You got your mother in a whirl / She’s not sure if you’re a boy or a girl”) as well as its distinctive riff, which rock journalist Kris Needs has described as “a classic stick-in-the-head like the Stones’ ‘
Satisfaction’”. Bowie himself later said, “It’s a fabulous riff! Just fabulous! When I stumbled onto it, it was ‘Oh, thank you!’”Transsexual rock artist and former Bowie associate Jayne County claims that “Rebel Rebel” was based in part on County’s own song “Queenage Baby”, which was recorded in January of 1974 by Bowie’s Mainman Records, but not released at the time. The song later surfaced on the independent 2006 release Wayne County at the Trucks, and some critics, upon hearing the track, echoed County’s claims.
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Albums featuring this track
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Shouts
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movement1977 wrote:
rebel rebel, always the rebel of rock.
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jo4nny wrote:
Dude makes me want to smoke a cigarette!
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JarPetNee wrote:
How do I know which version I'm listening to?
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igetnorespect wrote:
Oh my God! I freakin love this song. Brings back lots of great memories. That guitar kills me!
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keithster12 wrote:
I think Ronson went on to play with Mott the Hoople.
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HalaGorani wrote:
bowie wasn't playing with ronson by this point, the guitar is dave :)
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spacefaceinfurs wrote:
fucking awesome
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Elodave wrote:
Bowie and Ronson-brilliant.
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Wesbecher wrote:
Happy birthday man!
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jodyisanidiot wrote:
perfect :D
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shinichi_goto wrote:
omg i love this song so much
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HalaGorani wrote:
@davidbowiegirl me too, always liked it but never loved it (until I heard the US version :D)
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suikodee wrote:
This song will always have a special spot in my heart. That opening riff is sublime.
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pee-why wrote:
We all LUV U On my planet, Dave !
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davidbowiegirl wrote:
Great song that I've never got into. It just annoys me, and at the same time I like it... :D
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jlsrules wrote:
this track is hot
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morgothica wrote:
this man is a genius.
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useless45 wrote:
hey babe let's go out tonight!
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pearlgarden25 wrote:
:)
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gceleri wrote:
I like the live version better off the David Live album... Bowie ROCKS, and is still hot after all these years!
David Bowie
Rebel Rebel
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Recent Activity
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ebirth, Ulster00, fabiocatena and 12 other people loved David Bowie – Rebel Rebel. 8 minutes ago
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