Neuköln
| "Neuköln" | |
|---|---|
| Instrumental by David Bowie | |
| from the album "Heroes" | |
| Released | 14 October 1977 |
| Recorded | July–August 1977 |
| Studio | Hansa Studio by the Wall, West Berlin |
| Genre | Ambient |
| Length | 4:34 |
| Label | RCA |
| Songwriter(s) | David Bowie, Brian Eno |
| Producer(s) | David Bowie, Tony Visconti |
"Neuköln" is an instrumental piece written by
Neukölln (correctly spelled with a double "L") is a district of Berlin. Bowie lived in Berlin for a time in 1977, although not in Neukölln but in Schöneberg.[1] The music has been interpreted as reflecting in part the rootlessness of the Turkish immigrants who made up a large proportion of the area's population.[2] Edgar Froese, founder of Tangerine Dream, was also from southern Neukölln. Froese's album Epsilon in Malaysian Pale, mostly played with Mellotron (just like Neuköln), was according to Bowie a big influence and a "soundtrack to his life in Berlin".[3][4][5]
NME journalists Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray described "Neuköln" as "a mood piece: the Cold War viewed through a bubble of blood or Harry Lime's last thoughts as he dies in the sewer in The Third Man.[1] The final section features Bowie's plaintive saxophone "booming out across a harbour of solitude, as if lost in fog".[2]
The main character Christiane from the film
Dylan Howe covered the piece for his album Subterranean – New Designs on Bowie's Berlin in 2014, in two parts, part one is called "Neukölln - Night" and part two "Neukölln - Day".
Cover versions
- Philip Glass – "Heroes" Symphony (1996)
- Dylan Howe – Subterranean – New Designs on Bowie's Berlin (2014)
- Shearwater – as part of a live performance of the entire Berlin Trilogy for WNYC (2018)[6]
Notes
- ^ a b Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record: p.92
- ^ a b David Buckley (1999). Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story: p.325
- ^ "CLASSIC TRACKS: David Bowie 'Heroes' |". www.soundonsound.com. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
- ^ "Bowie's Berlin: the city that shaped a 1970s masterpiece". History Extra. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
- ^ "ZEITGESCHICHTEN Tangerine Dream - Groove". Groove (in German). 2015-01-26. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
- ^ Dorris, Jesse (23 October 2018). "A Surprising Tribute to David Bowie's Berlin Trilogy, Played in a Manhattan Mall". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
