Original version
David Bowie wrote "The Prettiest Star" as a love song for Angie Barnett, reputedly playing it down the telephone as part of his proposal to her on Christmas 1969. Following the release of his second studio album David Bowie (Space Oddity), it was the only new song he wrote over the winter of 1969. Discussing the lyrics, commentators noted the line "you and I will rise up all the way" anticipated the couple's fame during the next decade. Set in the key of F major, the song is in the style of the Greek hasapiko dance as a tribute to Angie's Cypriot ethnic origin. Similar to Bowie's other compositions of the time, it was musically influenced by songwriter Biff Rose's The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side (1968), particularly the track "Angel Tension", which contains a similar tempo, phrasing, chord changes and lyrics to "The Prettiest Star" (Bowie's "staying back in your memory" compared to Rose's "going back in memory"). Author Paul Trynka describes the track as "languid, uncharacteristically simple" and "an almost unique (addition) to Bowie's canon". Biographer Chris O'Leary finds the song "hummable, warm and sweet", although felt "its dragging tempo made its sentimentality leaden".
Recording for the song began at Trident Studios in London, in tandem with a new version of Bowie's Deram-era track "London Bye Ta-Ta", on 8 January 1970—Bowie's 23rd birthday—and completed on 13 and 15 January. It was produced by Tony Visconti, who hired drummer Godfrey McLean and bassist Delisle Harper of Gass, a funk Santana-like band, for the session; he had produced Gass's recent single, although he found Harper's playing inadequate and overdubbed a bass part himself. Visconti also brought Marc Bolan to guest on guitar, having produced Bolan's works with T. Rex; Bowie and Bolan would spend the next few years as rivals during the glam rock era. Bolan rehearsed his part extensively beforehand, as he wanted to showcase his newfound electric guitar skills. The recording atmosphere was reportedly fraught, Bolan being jealous at the success of "Space Oddity". Bowie recalled of the session: "I don't think we were talking to each other that day. I can't remember why, but I remember a strange atmosphere in the studio. We were never in the same room at the same time. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife." The guitarist was accompanied by his wife June, who voiced her disapproval, saying "the only good thing about this record is Marc's guitar". The couple left the studio shortly after.
After its recording, Bowie premiered "The Prettiest Star" live at a BBC radio session on 5 February 1970. To the displeasure of his manager Kenneth Pitt, Bowie chose the song as his next single, Pitt favouring "London Bye Ta-Ta"; it ultimately marked the end of Pitt's influence on the artist. Bowie's label, Mercury Records, hoped the song would demonstrate Bowie's range as a songwriter. Issued as the follow-up single to "Space Oddity" in the United Kingdom only on 6 March 1970, with "Conversation Piece" as the B-side, its release coincided with The World of David Bowie compilation, which collected several songs and unreleased material from Bowie's time with Deram. The single received praise from music journalists. The NME hailed it as "a thoroughly charming and wholly fascinating little song ... the self-penned lyric is enchanting, if somewhat enigmatic – and the melody is haunting and hummable ... I like it immensely". Music Business Weekly described it as "an immediately infectious number and a very strong follow-up", Record Mirror commended "a melodic and interesting production", and Disc & Music Echo found it "a lovely, gentle, gossamer piece ... the most compact, catchy melody I've ever heard. A hit indeed."
Despite its acclaim, the single sold fewer than 800 copies and failed to chart. Bowie later said, "I think a lot of people were expecting another 'Space Oddity'."With the assistance of Space Oddity photographer Vernon Dewhurst, he sent a promotional copy to French singer Sacha Distel, whose hit "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" was high in the charts, in hopes he would cover "The Prettiest Star", although he declined. Two weeks after the single's release, Bowie and Angie married on 19 March 1970. When the single flopped, Mercury suggested he rerecord the Space Oddity track "Memory of a Free Festival" for release as his next single, although this also failed to chart. By April, he began recording his next studio album, the hard rock and heavy metal-influenced The Man Who Sold the World (1970).
In subsequent decades, AllMusic's Ned Raggett opines that while "The Prettiest Star" itself does not stand as one of Bowie's best compositions, the recording itself is notable as the only properly recorded and released collaboration between Bowie and Bolan. The original mono single was included in the Sound + Vision box set in 1989 and on Re:Call 1, part of the Five Years (1969–1973) compilation, in 2015. A previously unreleased 1987 stereo mix by Tris Penna appeared on The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974 in 1997, the 2003 reissue of Sound + Vision, and the 2009 expanded edition of Space Oddity. Apart from Bowie compilations, the original recording of "The Prettiest Star" was included on the 2002 career-spanning Bolan box set 20th Century Superstar, the 2007 compilation The Record Producers: Tony Visconti and the soundtrack of the 2005 film Kinky Boots.
Aladdin Sane version
Bowie recorded a more glam-influenced version of "The Prettiest Star" during the sessions for his 1973 album Aladdin Sane. Sources list the recording date and location as either in December 1972 at RCA Studios in New York City or January 1973 at Trident in London. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, the remake featured contributions from his backing band the Spiders from Mars—guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Woody Woodmansey—as well as Mike Garson on piano, David Sanborn on tenor saxophone and Warren Peace on backing vocals and handclaps. On the album, released on 13 April 1973, the remake appeared as the second track on side two of the original LP, sequenced between "Time" and Bowie's version of the Rolling Stones' "Let's Spend the Night Together".
The more widely-known remake boasts elements of British music hall and 1950s doo-wop backing vocals, and Ronson recreates Bolan's original guitar part almost note-for-note. O'Leary opines that Ronson gave the remake "more grit" than the original, further saying that "if the first 'Prettiest Star' was a valentine, its remake was a rowdy engagement party". Guitarist Marco Pirroni said of Ronson's part in 1999 as "the best guitar sound ever ... (he) has got this brilliant, overdriven, mad guitar sound. I'm still trying to get that sound today." It is unclear why Bowie rerecorded it for Aladdin Sane, although the track's lyrical references to screen starlets and "the movies in the past" all fit the nostalgic Hollywood themes found throughout the rest of the album. Biographer David Buckley finds the remake superior to the original.
The Prettiest Star
David Bowie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You will be my rest and peace, child
I moved up to take a place
Near you
So tired, it's the sky that makes you feel tried
It's a trick to make you see wide
It can all but break your heat
Staying back in your memory
Are the movies in the past?
How you moved is all it takes
To sing a song of when I loved
The prettiest star
One day, though it might as well be someday
You and I will rise up all the way
All because of what you are
The prettiest star
Staying back in your memory
Are the movies in the past?
How you moved is all it takes
To sing a song of when I loved
The prettiest star
One day, though it might as well be someday
You and I will rise up all the way
All because of what you are
The prettiest star
David Bowie's The Prettiest Star is a love ballad that expresses a deep yearning for a lover. The poetic lyrics of the song convey that the lover has won over the heart of the singer, and despite everything they have, they are missing that one spark that makes their love complete - the "cold fire" that their lover possesses. The lyrics suggest that the singer's lover brings peace and rest, and it's their presence that completes them.
The imagery used in the song is remarkable, especially in the second verse, where the sky is metaphorically used to represent the agony and weariness that the singer feels without their lover. The lines, "It's a trick to make you see wide, it can all but break your heart in pieces" depicts the singer's struggles against the vast emptiness and their desire for the one thing that will forever light up their life.
The chorus of The Prettiest Star is significant, as it creates a message of hope that the two lovers will rise up together someday because of the beauty of the unnamed lover, who the singer refers to as 'the prettiest star.' The lyrics show that the singer's love is strong enough to withstand the test of time and that the memory of their lover will forever be etched in their mind, keeping them close despite physical distance.
Line by Line Meaning
Cold fire, you've got everything but cold fire
You are everything to me, except for distance and coldness.
You will be my rest and peace, child
I find solace and comfort in your presence.
I moved up to take a place near you
I've put myself in a position closer to yours.
So tired, it's the sky that makes you feel tried
You're exhausted because the vastness of the endless sky dwarfs you.
It's a trick to make you see wide
It's a deception that makes you aware of the immensity of the universe.
It can all but break your heart in pieces
You feel overwhelmed and crushed by the magnitude of it all.
Staying back in your memory, are the movies in the past?
Do you still hold on to memories of our shared experiences?
How you moved is all it takes to sing a song of when I loved the prettiest star
Your way of moving and being is a reminder of a time when I was enamored with you.
One day, though it might as well be someday
At some point in the future, possibly distant.
You and I will rise up all the way
We will ascend together and reach new heights.
All because of what you are, the prettiest star
It's all because of your radiance and magnificence, the most beautiful star.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DAVID BOWIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
DrJKintobor
on I Can't Give Everything Away
I can totally imagine this being the end theme of Sabrina Online, when Sabrina marries Richard and they drive off into the sunset...
Peter Bonney
on Diamond Dogs
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