Hunky Dory is the fourth studio album by English musician David Bowie, rele… Read Full Bio ↴Hunky Dory is the fourth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on December 17, 1971, through RCA Records.
Compared to the guitar-driven hard rock sound of his 1970 album, The Man Who Sold the World, Bowie opted for a warmer, more melodic piano-based pop rock and art pop style on Hunky Dory. His lyrical concerns on the record range from the compulsive nature of artistic reinvention on "Changes", to occultism and Nietzschean philosophy on "Oh! You Pretty Things" and "Quicksand"; several songs make cultural and literary references. He was also inspired by his stateside tour to write songs dedicated to three American icons: Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan and Lou Reed. The song "Kooks" was dedicated to Bowie's newborn son Duncan. The album's cover artwork, photographed in monochrome and subsequently recoloured, features Bowie in a pose inspired by actresses of the Hollywood Golden Age.
Upon release, Hunky Dory and its lead single "Changes" received little promotion from RCA who were wary that Bowie would transform his image shortly. Thus, despite very positive reviews from the British and American music press, the album initially sold poorly and failed to chart. It was only after the commercial breakthrough of Bowie's 1972 follow-up album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars that Hunky Dory itself became a commercial success, peaking at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Retrospectively, Hunky Dory has been critically acclaimed as one of Bowie's best works, and features on several lists of the greatest albums of all time. Within the context of his career, it is considered to be the album where "Bowie starts to become Bowie", definitively discovering his voice and style.
Compared to the guitar-driven hard rock sound of his 1970 album, The Man Who Sold the World, Bowie opted for a warmer, more melodic piano-based pop rock and art pop style on Hunky Dory. His lyrical concerns on the record range from the compulsive nature of artistic reinvention on "Changes", to occultism and Nietzschean philosophy on "Oh! You Pretty Things" and "Quicksand"; several songs make cultural and literary references. He was also inspired by his stateside tour to write songs dedicated to three American icons: Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan and Lou Reed. The song "Kooks" was dedicated to Bowie's newborn son Duncan. The album's cover artwork, photographed in monochrome and subsequently recoloured, features Bowie in a pose inspired by actresses of the Hollywood Golden Age.
Upon release, Hunky Dory and its lead single "Changes" received little promotion from RCA who were wary that Bowie would transform his image shortly. Thus, despite very positive reviews from the British and American music press, the album initially sold poorly and failed to chart. It was only after the commercial breakthrough of Bowie's 1972 follow-up album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars that Hunky Dory itself became a commercial success, peaking at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Retrospectively, Hunky Dory has been critically acclaimed as one of Bowie's best works, and features on several lists of the greatest albums of all time. Within the context of his career, it is considered to be the album where "Bowie starts to become Bowie", definitively discovering his voice and style.
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Hunky Dory
David Bowie Lyrics
Andy Warhol Like to take a cement fix Be a standing cinema Dress my…
Changes Oh, yeah Mmm Still don't know what I was waitin' for And my…
Eight Line Poem The tactful cactus by your window Surveys the prairie of you…
Fill Your Heart Fill your heart with love today Don't play the game of…
Kooks Will you stay in our lovers' story? If you stay you…
Life on Mars? It's a God awful small affair To the girl with the…
Oh! You Pretty Things Wake up you sleepy head Put on some clothes, shake up…
Queen Bitch Doo-pah-tum-ka-kum-bah-pah-ta-da-da Ah yeah Oh yeah I'm u…
Quicksand I'm closer to the Golden Dawn Immersed in Crowley's uniform …
Song For Bob Dylan Oh, hear this Robert Zimmerman I wrote a song for you About…
The Bewlay Brothers And so the story goes they wore the clothes They said…
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