Wednesday 20 April 2016

Q - Queen Bitch

She's so swishy in her satin and tat
In her frock coat and bipperty-bopperty hat
Oh God, I could do better than that

"Queen Bitch" is the fifth track on side two of David Bowie's fourth album Hunky Dory.  Recorded at London's Trident Studios in the summer of 1971, Bowie wrote the song in tribute to friend Lou Reed's band Velvet Underground.  It never was released as its own single, but appeared as the B-side of "Rebel Rebel" in the UK and the B-side of "1984" in the U.S.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5P63qGTm_g

Bowie's performance in this song is rather understated, but shows the template for the glam rock style that he embraces in his followup albums Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane.  The main guitar riff reportedly was lifted from the song "Three Steps to Heaven" by Eddie Cochran.

Gamers using Playstation and Xbox consoles would be able to play and/or sing "Queen Bitch" in the series Rock Band, as it's available through downloadable content in a 3-song pack along with the songs "Moonage Daydream" and "Heroes".

For those not familiar with British slang, to be "swish" means to be effeminate and/or with girly interests, and is usually used in a derogatory fashion.  "Tat" probably refers to decorative lace on clothing.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for clarifying the swish! You know what I wish you'd do next - the EDM scene! I read a funny article on it the other day and I love dance music (and not just EDM but even old school pop like BSB and Jessica Simpson and Mandy Moore). I can see you totally covering it really well! If you like it, that is.

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  2. interesting lyrics. sometimes I think I love a song until I really listen to the lyrics and other times it's just ok until I understand the meaning behind it- and then it's more appealing. Thanks for the education! ;)

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    1. I totally understand. There were many songs that I simply enjoyed the sound of; being hearing impaired I often mistook the lyrics so it would be quite a shock to find out what the song really meant.

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  3. Its NOT about a GIRL girl. Its about a cross dresser guy. About drag queens and one upping each other. Yeah I was part of the scene which we cslked GLITTER NOT GLAM. Glam is a label none of us in the scene would use. Media used it. Same for Goth. We originals hate that term. Its DEATH ROCK. Not Goth.

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