"Look Back in Anger" is a song written by English artists

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

for the album '' Lodger'' (1979). It concerns "a tatty 'Angel of Death'",

Roy Carr Roy Carr (1945 – 1 July 2018) was an English music journalist, covering pop, rock and jazz. He joined the ''New Musical Express (NME)'' in the late 1960s, and edited ''NME'', '' Vox'' and ''Melody Maker'' magazines. Biography Born in Blackpo ...

Charles Shaar Murray Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English music journalist and broadcaster. He has worked on the ''New Musical Express'' and many other magazines and newspapers, and has been interviewed for a number of ...

(1981). ''Bowie: An Illustrated Record'': p.106 and features a guitar solo by

Carlos Alomar Carlos Alomar (born 7 May 1951) is a Puerto Rican guitarist. He is best known for his work with David Bowie from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, having played on more Bowie albums than any musician other than pianist Mike Garson. He has also ...

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

was unsure if America was ready for the sexual androgyny of " Boys Keep Swinging", the lead-off single from ''Lodger'' in most territories, and "Look Back in Anger" was issued instead.

Nicholas Pegg Nicholas Pegg is a British actor, writer and director. Educated at Nottingham High School and graduating with a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Exeter, Pegg subsequently trained at the Guildford School of Acting. Ac ...

(2000). ''The Complete David Bowie'': p.131 The B-side was another track from ''Lodger'' called "

Repetition Repetition may refer to: *Repetition (rhetorical device), repeating a word within a short space of words * Repetition (bodybuilding), a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in strength training *Working title for the 1985 slasher film '' ...

", a story of domestic violence. The single failed to chart. Beyond the shared title, the song has nothing to do with the

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play '' Look Back in Anger'' tr ...

play ''

Look Back in Anger ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...

''. Bowie performed the song on his 1983 Serious Moonlight Tour (it is the opening number on the ''Serious Moonlight'' film) and reworked it in the mid-1990s as a heavy rock song for the Outside, Earthling, Heathen tours.

Critical reception

"Look Back in Anger" has a mixed reputation among Bowie commentators. '' NME'' critics

and

described it as "probably the low point" of the album, while

considers it "one of ''Lodger's'' dramatic highlights" and Chris O'Leary has called it "one of Bowie's strongest songs of the late Seventies".

Track listing

# "Look Back in Anger" (

) – 3:08 # "

" (Bowie) – 2:59

Personnel

* Producers: **

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of many ...

* Musicians: ** David Bowie: vocals, guitar **

Dennis Davis Dennis Davis (August 28, 1949 – April 6, 2016) was an American drummer and session musician best known for his work with David Bowie, playing on ten albums - including seven successive studio albums - during the singer's classic mid- and late ...

: drums ** George Murray: bass **

: guitar ** Sean Mayes: piano **

: synthesizer, horse trumpet, Eroica horn **

: backing vocals

Music video

David Mallet directed a music video for the song, featuring Bowie in an artist's studio. The scenario was based on the conclusion of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

's ''

The Picture of Dorian Gray ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is a philosophical fiction, philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine''.''Th ...

'', as a self-portrait of the protagonist grows more handsome while he himself physically decays.

Other releases

"Look Back in Anger" has appeared on the following compilations: ''Chameleon'' (Australia/New Zealand 1979), '' Christiane F.'' soundtrack (1981), '' Golden Years'' (1983), ''

Sound + Vision In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by ...

'' (1989), '' The Singles Collection'' (1993), '' The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979'' (1998), and '' The Platinum Collection'' (2005/2006). A concert performance recorded on 12 September 1983 may be heard on the live album ''Serious Moonlight (Live '83)'', which was part of the 2018 box set '' Loving the Alien (1983-1988)'' and was released separately the following year. The filmed performance appears on the concert video '' Serious Moonlight''. In summer 1988 Bowie recorded a "new, brutal version of the song" with

Reeves Gabrels Reeves Gabrels (born June 4, 1956) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. A member and guitarist of British band the Cure since 2012, Gabrels worked with David Bowie from 1987 to 1999, and was a member of the band Tin Machine. ...

on lead guitar, Kevin Armstrong on rhythm guitar, and Erdal Kizilcay on bass and drums; it was the first arrangement Bowie and Gabrels collaborated on, taking place shortly before the formation of the band

Tin Machine Tin Machine were a British–American rock band formed in 1988, and fronted by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The band consisted of Bowie on lead vocals, saxophone and guitar; Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals; Tony Fox Sales on ba ...

.Chris O'Leary (2019). ''Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie, 1976–2016'': pp.126, 128, 278–279 The recording was issued as a bonus track on the

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record la ...

release of ''Lodger'' in 1991. Bowie subsequently performed the song on several of his later tours, including the 1995 Outside Tour, the 1997 Earthling Tour, and his 2002

Heathen Tour The David Bowie Heathen Tour was a 2002 concert tour in support of the album, ''Heathen'', and was also notable for the performances of all songs from the 1977 ''Low'' album. History The ''Low'' album, not previously performed live in its ent ...

. Live versions from the 1995 tour were included on '' Ouvrez le Chien (Live Dallas 95)'' and '' No Trendy Réchauffé (Live Birmingham 95)'' (both released in 2020).

References

{{authority control David Bowie songs 1979 songs Songs written by David Bowie Songs written by Brian Eno Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti Song recordings produced by David Bowie Music videos directed by David Mallet (director)