For a song entitled "Queen Bitch," most peoples' first expectations as such would probably not include the word "catchy." But Bowie's 1971 gem embodies the word in much the same way as Warhol's Campbell's Tomato Soup cans. Indeed, this is pop art which is literally pop.A completely non-derivative hômage to Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, "Queen Bitch" opens with an infectious, fast acoustic guitar progression which is quickly echoed by grittily distorted electric guitars. Bass and drums are next, followed by Bowie's vocals. He sings as though he were telling a joke, either putting himself cynically above the situation or stupidly below. "I'm up on the eleventh floor, watching the cruisers below," he sings, almost hilariously condescendingly. And although the word "bitch" is never used in the lyrics, Bowie makes it clear how he feels about the "Queen":
Walk out of her heart, walk out of her mind?
Oh no, not her!
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.
Although making it in the style of the Velvet Underground, he actually ended up resembling the later sound of T. Rex (the Electric Warrior/"Bang a Gong" era) more than he did Lou Reed. The resemblance to VU is clear though, especially during the intro.
"Queen Bitch" lived a second life on iTunes recently after being featured in the trailer for the Harvey Milk biopic, "Milk." Most people who didn't already know the song, however, now know it as "that catchy song from that one movie commercial." Such are the way things are.
No comments:
Post a Comment