Actors - The Width of a Circle

Home > Listing Index > Actors > The Width of a Circle

	Actors - The Width of a Circle

"The Width of a Circle" is a song written by David Bowie in 1970 for the album The Man Who Sold the World
, released later that year in the U.S. and in April 1971 in the UK. It is the opening track to the album, a hard rocker with heavy metal overtones. Bowie had performed a shorter version of the song in concerts for several months before recording it. Featuring Mick Ronson's lead guitar work and occasional choral effects from the band, this 8-minute song is divided into two parts. The music takes on a heavy R&B quality in the second half, where the narrator enjoys a sexual encounter - with God, according to some interpretations - in the depths of Hell.

In June 1973 the song was released as a single by RCA in Eastern Europe.

Track listing

# "The Width of a Circle" (Bowie) # "Cygnet Committee" (Bowie)

Production credits for "The Width of a Circle"

Producer:
* Tony Visconti

Musicians:
* David Bowie: Vocals, guitar
* Mick Ronson: Guitar
* Tony Visconti: Bass
* Mick Woodmansey: Drums
* Ralph Mace: Synthesizer

Production credits for "Cygnet Committee"

Producer:
* Tony Visconti

Musicians:
* David Bowie: Vocals, guitar
* Keith Christmas: Guitar
* Herbie Flowers: Bass
* Terry Cox: Drums

Live versions

Several live versions of the song have been released:

A version recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, October 20th, 1972 was released on Santa Monica '72
.
A version recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, July 3rd, 1973 was released on Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture in 1983.
A version from the 1974 tour was released on David Live
in 1974.

Other releases

The song also appeared on the Japanese compilation The Best of David Bowie from 1974.

Cover versions

Spurge - Crash Course for the Ravers - A Tribute to the Songs of David Bowie (1996)

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Width of a Circle ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article The Width of a Circle; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay