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"Survive" is a song by the English musician
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
from his 1999 album '' Hours''. It was later released in
remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
ed form as the album's third single on 17 January 2000, reaching number 28 in the UK. Written by Bowie and
Reeves Gabrels Reeves Gabrels (born June 4, 1956) is an American guitarist, songwriter and producer. A member of The Cure since 2012, Gabrels is also known for his work with David Bowie and Tin Machine from 1988 to 1999. He also fronts the band Reeves Gabrels ...
, it is a reflective number detailing the end of a relationship. Musically, it recalls the sound of Bowie's
folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
music of the late 1960s, and 1971's ''
Hunky Dory ''Hunky Dory'' is the fourth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released in the United Kingdom on 17December 1971 through RCA Records. Following a break from touring and recording, Bowie settled down to write new songs, composi ...
''. Its
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
echoes the reflective quality of the recording, portraying Bowie levitating at a kitchen table with an egg. Critics and biographers praised "Survive" as a highlight of ''Hours''. Bowie performed the song frequently throughout 1999 and 2000.


Writing and recording

"Survive" was written by
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
and
Reeves Gabrels Reeves Gabrels (born June 4, 1956) is an American guitarist, songwriter and producer. A member of The Cure since 2012, Gabrels is also known for his work with David Bowie and Tin Machine from 1988 to 1999. He also fronts the band Reeves Gabrels ...
between late 1998 and early 1999 for a proposed solo album for the latter. Unlike other tracks written for what became the '' Hours'' album, the track was not planned for the '' Omikron: The Nomad Soul'' video game. The track was also written in a more conventional style reminiscent of Bowie's mid-1980s works, compared to the experimental cut-up nature of his other 1990s recordings. Discussing the track, Bowie said "There's something I find really authentically early seventies about the writing structure of 'Survive'." The song was recorded between February and June 1999 between Looking Glass and
Chung King Studios Chung King Studios was a recording studio that operated in New York City under that name from 1986 to 2015. It was founded by producer John King and engineer Steve Ett with financial backing from the Etches brothers, occupying three different loca ...
in New York City. Bowie and Gabrels performed most of the instruments themselves, with
overdubs Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...
by bassist
Mark Plati Mark Plati is a New York–based musician, record producer, and songwriter, best known for his work in the 1990s with David Bowie. Early life and education Plati grew up in Aurora, Colorado. He studied at Indiana University's Jacobs School of ...
and drummer Mike Levesque. "Survive" was reportedly Bowie's favourite song on the album.


Music and lyrics

Musically, "Survive" recalls the sound of Bowie's
folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...
music of the late 1960s, as well as 1971's ''
Hunky Dory ''Hunky Dory'' is the fourth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released in the United Kingdom on 17December 1971 through RCA Records. Following a break from touring and recording, Bowie settled down to write new songs, composi ...
''. Biographer
Nicholas Pegg Nicholas Pegg is a British actor, director and writer. Education 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 ...
likens the lead guitar sound to 1972's " Starman", and the "shuffling" drumbeat and "stop-start verse melodies" to the same year's " Five Years". Author James E. Perone compares its melody, arrangement, guitar lines and emotional weight to the works of principal
Moody Blues Moody may refer to: Places * Moody, Alabama, U.S. * Moody, Missouri, U.S. * Moody, Texas, U.S. * Moody County, South Dakota, U.S. * Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada * Hundred of Moody, a cadastral division in South Australia ** Moody, Sout ...
songwriter and lead singer
Justin Hayward David Justin Hayward (born 14 October 1946) is an English musician. He was the guitarist and frontman of the rock band the Moody Blues from 1966 until its dissolution in 2018. He became the group's principal vocalist and its most prolific son ...
. Biographer
Marc Spitz Marc Spitz (October 2, 1969 – February 4, 2017) was an American music journalist, writer and playwright. Spitz's writings on rock and roll and popular culture appeared in ''Spin (magazine), Spin'' (where he was a Senior Writer) as well as ''Th ...
opined that following the
drum 'n' bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre ...
stylings of ''
Earthling Earthling or Earthlings may refer to: Film and television * ''Earthling'' (film), a 2010 sci-fi film * ''Earthlings'' (film), a 2005 animal rights documentary * '' The Earthling'', a 1980 drama film * "Earthling" (''Fringe''), a 2009 TV episod ...
'' (1997), the guitar sound of "Survive" "sounds refreshingly solid and wooden". He also felt Bowie's voice was reminiscent of his old 1960s Deram recordings. Like fellow ''Hours'' track "Something in the Air", "Survive" details an ended relationship, one that, in Spitz's words, is "haunted by regret". Bowie's character in the song, who has ended the relationship either actively ("I should have kept you") or passively ("I should have tried"), concludes that he will survive while harbouring feelings of love, loss and regret. Similar to other tracks on the album, the song contains acknowledgement on the process of aging, and yearning to use the mistakes of the past to have a better future. According to biographer Chris O'Leary, the female character is abstract, rather "a place-filler used by a sad man to stand for his loss of potential". In an interview with '' Uncut'' magazine, Bowie explained:


Release

''Hours'' was first released through Bowie's website BowieNet on 21 September 1999, followed by an official CD release on 4 October through
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
; it was the first album released for download through the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
. On ''Hours'', "Survive" was sequenced as the third track, between "Something in the Air" and "If I'm Dreaming My Life". The song was subsequently released as the third
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
from the album on 17 January 2000 in a new
remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
by English producer
Marius de Vries Marius de Vries (born 1961) is an English record producer and composer. He has won a Grammy Award from four nominations, two BAFTA Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award. Education Marius de Vries was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, Bedfor ...
. According to O'Leary, the Vries' mix ditched most of Gabrels' guitar work in favour of new guitar parts by Brendan Gallagher of Karma County, who later said that Vries' intention was to "reintroduce several of David Bowie's music periods into heproduction", from the acoustic guitar of "
Space Oddity "Space Oddity" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was first released on 11 July 1969 by Philips and Mercury Records as a 7-inch single, then as the opening track of his second studio album, ''David Bowie''. Produce ...
" (1969), to
Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...
-type electric guitar akin to "
The Jean Genie "The Jean Genie" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, originally released in November 1972 as the lead single to his 1973 album '' Aladdin Sane''. Co-produced by Ken Scott, Bowie recorded it with his backing band the Spider ...
" (1972) and the guitar work of '' Lodger'' (1979) guitarist
Adrian Belew Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual approach to the instrument, his ...
. Released through
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
and featuring the album cut and the "''
Stigmata Stigmata (, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion Five Holy Wounds, wounds of Jesus in Christian ...
'' film version" of "
The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell" is a song by the English musician David Bowie from his 1999 album '' Hours''. Written by Bowie and Reeves Gabrels, its title references past songs such as "Oh! You Pretty Things" and the Stooges' ''Raw Power ...
" as the
B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
, the single reached number 28 in the UK. The
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for "Survive", directed by Walter Stern and shot in London, features Bowie sitting alone at a table waiting for an egg to boil before he, the egg, table and chair start to levitate; by the end, everything has returned to normal. According to Pegg, the video echoes the reflective quality of the recording and has subtle hints to Bowie's past work, such as the anti-gravity and kitchen scenes in " Ashes to Ashes" (1980). The first CD single contained a PC-playable version of the video. The second featured a live rendition and accompanying video recorded in Paris on 14 October 1999; both videos later appeared on the ''
Best of Bowie ''Best of Bowie'' is a greatest hits album by English recording artist David Bowie. Released in October 2002, four months after the critical and commercial success of the '' Heathen'' album, the songs range from his second album, ''David Bowi ...
'' DVD (2002). The Vries' mix was later included in the soundtrack of ''Omikron: The Nomad Soul'', on the 2004 reissued ''Hours'' bonus disc, the 2014 three-disc edition of ''
Nothing Has Changed ''Nothing Has Changed'' (stylised as ''Nothing has changed.'') is a compilation album by English musician David Bowie. It was released on 18 November 2014 through Parlophone in the United Kingdom, and Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings in t ...
'' and on ''Re:Call 5'', part of the ''
Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) ''Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)'' is a box set by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released on 26 November 2021. A follow-up to the compilations '' Five Years (1969–1973)'', ''Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976)'', '' A New Career in ...
''
box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...
in 2022.


Reception

"Survive" has received praise from critics and biographers and is acknowledged as a highlight of the ''Hours'' album. Author
Paul Trynka Paul Trynka is a British rock journalist and author. He was the editor of the music magazine ''Mojo'' from 1999 to 2003, and has also worked as editorial director of '' Q'' and editor of ''International Musician''. In 2004, he edited publisher D ...
calls the song "a gem, simple and unaffected, almost '' Scary Monsters'' in vibe without any of the overcomplexity and overthinking that seemed synonymous with 1990s Bowie." In ''The Words and Music of David Bowie'', Perone considered the song "effective" and the "product of a master songwriter who knows what connects with an audience and what can lose an audience". Pegg argues "Survive" is one of the "most beautiful" melodies Bowie ever wrote, concluding that it is "a complex, compassionate achievement and undoubtedly one of Bowie's finest songs of the 1990s". More negatively, ''
Ultimate Classic Rock Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...
'' placed the single at number 98 (out of 119) in a list ranking every Bowie single from worst to best in 2016.


Live performances

"Survive" was performed throughout the 1999
Hours Tour The Hours Tour was a small-scale promotional concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie comprising a handful of live performances and numerous television appearances in support of the album '' Hours'' in late 1999. Several live so ...
and 2000 summer shows, and again on the 2002
Heathen Tour The Heathen Tour was a 2002 concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie in support of his album, ''Heathen'', and was also notable for the performances of all songs from the 1977 ''Low'' album. History The ''Low'' album, not pre ...
. It also made appearances on several television programmes, including on Channel 4's ''TFI Friday'' on 8 October 1999 and on BBC2's ''TOTP2'' special on 3 November. Three more renditions were filmed at the BBC's Maida Vale studios on 25 October for broadcast on various radio stations. Another version was recorded at London's
BBC Radio Theatre The BBC Radio Theatre (originally named The Concert Hall) is a theatre situated within the BBC's Broadcasting House complex. It is used for live broadcast and audio recordings. History Originally named The Concert Hall, the theatre was desig ...
on 27 June 2000, which was later released on the bonus disc of ''
Bowie at the Beeb ''Bowie at the Beeb'' is a compilation album by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, first released in 2000. Originally, it came in a three-CD set, the third, bonus CD being a live recording made on at the Portland BBC Radio Theatre, pa ...
'' (2000); the full concert later appeared on ''Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)'' box set. "Survive" appeared in another BBC radio session dated 18 September 2002. Bowie's performance of the song for
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
's ''
Storytellers Storyteller, story teller, or story-teller may refer to: * A person who does storytelling Arts and entertainment Film *'' Oidhche Sheanchais'', also called ''The Storyteller''; 1935 Irish short film * '' Narradores de Javé'' (''Storytellers'') ...
'' series was later released in 2019 in the expanded edition of ''
VH1 Storytellers ''Storytellers'' is a television music series produced by the VH1 network. In each episode, artists perform in front of a (mostly small and intimate) live audience, and tell stories about their music, writing experiences and memories, somewhat ...
'' (2009).


Track listing


UK CD version 1

# "Survive (
Marius De Vries Marius de Vries (born 1961) is an English record producer and composer. He has won a Grammy Award from four nominations, two BAFTA Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award. Education Marius de Vries was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, Bedfor ...
mix)" – 4:18 # "Survive (Album version)" – 4:11 # "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell" (''
Stigmata Stigmata (, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion Five Holy Wounds, wounds of Jesus in Christian ...
'' soundtrack version) This version also includes the full length "Survive" video in QuickTime format.


UK CD version 2

# "Survive (live)" – 4:11 # " Thursday's Child (live)" – 5:37 # "
Seven 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...
(live)" – 4:06 This version also includes a full length video in QuickTime format of the live version of "Survive". All tracks are from the
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
Elysée Montmartre show on 13 October 1999.


International CD version 1

# "Survive (
Marius De Vries Marius de Vries (born 1961) is an English record producer and composer. He has won a Grammy Award from four nominations, two BAFTA Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award. Education Marius de Vries was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, Bedfor ...
mix)" – 4:18 # "Survive (Album version)" – 4:11


International CD version 2

# "Survive (
Marius De Vries Marius de Vries (born 1961) is an English record producer and composer. He has won a Grammy Award from four nominations, two BAFTA Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award. Education Marius de Vries was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, Bedfor ...
mix)" – 4:18 # "Survive (Album version)" – 4:11 # " Thursday's Child (live)" – 5:37 # "
Seven 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...
(live)" – 4:06 A promo version and a 7" vinyl version with the same track list as the "International CD version 1" was also released.


Personnel

According to Chris O'Leary: *
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
 – lead and backing vocal, keyboards, twelve-string acoustic guitar, Roland TR-707 *
Reeves Gabrels Reeves Gabrels (born June 4, 1956) is an American guitarist, songwriter and producer. A member of The Cure since 2012, Gabrels is also known for his work with David Bowie and Tin Machine from 1988 to 1999. He also fronts the band Reeves Gabrels ...
 – lead and rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar,
synthesiser A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
, drum programming *
Mark Plati Mark Plati is a New York–based musician, record producer, and songwriter, best known for his work in the 1990s with David Bowie. Early life and education Plati grew up in Aurora, Colorado. He studied at Indiana University's Jacobs School of ...
 – bass,
Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...
*Mike Levesque – drums *Brendan Gallagher – guitar on "Marius De Vries mix" Technical * David Bowie – producer * Reeves Gabrels – producer * Kevin Paul – engineer


Charts


References


Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Survive (David Bowie Song) 1999 songs 2000 singles David Bowie songs Songs written by David Bowie Songs written by Reeves Gabrels