Be My Wife

"Be My Wife"
"Be My Wife"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Low
B-side	"Speed of Life"
Released	17 June 1977
Recorded	September–November 1976
Studio	Château d'Hérouville (Hérouville, France)
Genre	Art rock
Length	2:55
Label	RCA
Songwriter(s)	David Bowie
Producer(s)	David Bowie; Tony Visconti;
David Bowie singles chronology
Spanish cover
Music video
	"Be My Wife" on YouTube

"Be My Wife" is a song by English musician David Bowie from the 1977 album Low. It was released as the second single of the album on 17 June 1977.

"Be My Wife" became the first new Bowie release since "Changes" to fail to break into the UK chart. The song reached number 57, at that time the official list only compiled the top 50 positions, but it appeared on Breakers for 2 weeks. It was frequently played live on the various tours after its release and Bowie is said to have repeatedly announced this song during live performances as "one of my favourites," as may be seen or heard in such concert footage or audio recordings.

Background

Its presence in Low tones down the electronic feel of the rest of the album. The song also features a more conventional lyric which is closer to a traditional rock song than the more fragmented lyrics elsewhere on that album. The song features a ragtime piano opening, which serves the somewhat retro lyrics some justice, although it is soon set against a backdrop of guitars and drums. The song repeats its lyrics, changing the spacing of the lyrics amongst the song's verse. The song closes simply with a fadeout, as the song returns to the introductory ragtime riff repeating indefinitely, with the rest of the band playing behind it.

Reception

Cash Box said that it "demonstrates the rock and roll side of 'Low.'" and that there is also "a shrill organ, unusual guitar and synthesizer lines, and the creative use of a barrelhouse piano."^[1]

Music video

"Be My Wife" apparently was Bowie's first official video since "Life on Mars?". The video is in fact rather similar: Bowie stands alone against a white backdrop singing the song alone. However, Stanley Dorfman's new clip featured a Bowie in make-up and clothing influenced by Buster Keaton and giving an irreverent, detached performance on a guitar, which does gel with the candid feeling generated by the song.

Track listing

All tracks written by David Bowie.^[2]

"Be My Wife" – 2:55
"Speed of Life" – 2:45

Personnel

Producers:
- Tony Visconti
- David Bowie
Musicians:
- David Bowie: lead vocals, lead guitars, pump bass
- Carlos Alomar: rhythm guitar
- George Murray: bass
- Dennis Davis: drums
- Roy Young: pianos
- Brian Eno: synthesizers

Live versions

A live version was recorded during the Isolar II Tour for the Stage album, but was not released until 2005 on the remastered re-release of Stage. Another live performance of the song, from later in the same 1978 tour, was included on the live album Welcome to the Blackout, released in 2018.
A live version from Earls Court, London on 1 July 1978 (1978-07-01), was released on the semi-legal album Rarestonebowie in 1995.
A live performance filmed in Dublin in November 2003 during the A Reality Tour can be viewed on the DVD and is included on the corresponding album.

Other releases

The song appeared on the following compilation albums:
- Sound + Vision box set (1989)
- Bowie: The Singles 1969-1993 (1993)
It was released as a picture disc in the RCA Life Time picture disc set.
Momus performed a cover version for his 2015 album Turpsycore.
Max Lorentz released a version for his 2011 album Kiss You In The Rain - Max Lorentz Sings David Bowie.

References

^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 2 July 1977. p. 18. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
^ "Be My Wife" (Single liner notes). David Bowie. UK: RCA Victor. 1977. PB 1017.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5

[cb-1] "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 2 July 1977. p. 18. Retrieved 26 December 2021.

[single_liner_notes-2] "Be My Wife" (Single liner notes). David Bowie. UK: RCA Victor. 1977. PB 1017.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

[1]

[2]

v t e David Bowie singles
Discography Songs
1960s	"Liza Jane" "I Pity the Fool" "You've Got a Habit of Leaving" "Baby Loves That Way" "Can't Help Thinking About Me" "Do Anything You Say" "I Dig Everything" "Rubber Band" "The London Boys" "The Laughing Gnome" "Love You till Tuesday" "Space Oddity"
1970s	"The Prettiest Star" "Memory of a Free Festival" "Holy Holy" "Moonage Daydream" "Hang On to Yourself" "Changes" "Starman" "John, I'm Only Dancing" "The Jean Genie" "Drive-In Saturday" "Time" "Life on Mars" "Let's Spend the Night Together" "Sorrow" "Rebel Rebel" "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" "Diamond Dogs" "1984" "Knock on Wood" "Rock 'n' Roll with Me" "Young Americans" "Fame" "Golden Years" "Station to Station" (French promo) "TVC 15" "Suffragette City" "Stay" "Sound and Vision" "Be My Wife" "'Heroes'" "Beauty and the Beast" "Breaking Glass" "Boys Keep Swinging" "D.J." "Yassassin" "Look Back in Anger" "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)"
1980s	"Alabama Song" "Crystal Japan" "Ashes to Ashes" "Fashion" "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" "Up the Hill Backwards" "Under Pressure" "Wild Is the Wind" "The Drowned Girl" "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" "Let's Dance" "China Girl" "Modern Love" "Without You" "White Light/White Heat" "Blue Jean" "Tonight" "This Is Not America" "Loving the Alien" "Dancing in the Street" "Absolute Beginners" "Underground" "When the Wind Blows" "Magic Dance" "Day-In Day-Out" "Time Will Crawl" "Never Let Me Down" "Under the God" "Heaven's in Here" "Tin Machine" / "Maggie's Farm (live)" "Prisoner of Love"
1990s	"Fame '90" "You Belong in Rock n' Roll" "Baby Universal" "One Shot" "Real Cool World" "Jump They Say" "Black Tie White Noise" "Miracle Goodnight" "The Buddha of Suburbia" "Ziggy Stardust" "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" "Strangers When We Meet" / "The Man Who Sold the World (live)" "Hallo Spaceboy" "Telling Lies" "Little Wonder" "Dead Man Walking" "Seven Years in Tibet" "Pallas Athena" "I'm Afraid of Americans" "I Can't Read" "Without You I'm Nothing" "Thursday's Child" "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell"
2000s	"Survive" "Seven" "Slow Burn" "Everyone Says 'Hi'" "I've Been Waiting for You" "Shadow Man" "New Killer Star" "Just for One Day (Heroes)" "Rebel Never Gets Old"
2010s	"Golden Years David Bowie vs KCRW" "Where Are We Now?" "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" "The Next Day" "Valentine's Day" "Love Is Lost" "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" "Blackstar" "Lazarus" "I Can't Give Everything Away"
Other songs	"Silly Boy Blue" "Let Me Sleep Beside You" "Karma Man" "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" "Cygnet Committee" "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" "The Width of a Circle" "All the Madmen" "Black Country Rock" "After All" "She Shook Me Cold" "The Man Who Sold the World" "The Supermen" "Oh! You Pretty Things" "Kooks" "Quicksand" "Andy Warhol" "Song for Bob Dylan" "Queen Bitch" "The Bewlay Brothers" "Bombers" "Five Years" "Soul Love" "Lady Stardust" "Velvet Goldmine" "Sweet Head" "Amsterdam" "Round and Round" "Watch That Man" "Aladdin Sane" "Panic in Detroit" "Cracked Actor" "Lady Grinning Soul" "All the Young Dudes" "Future Legend" "Sweet Thing" "Big Brother" "Can You Hear Me?" "Right" "Fascination" "Word on a Wing" "Speed of Life" "What in the World" "Always Crashing in the Same Car" "Warszawa" "Art Decade" "Weeping Wall" "Subterraneans" "Joe the Lion" "Sons of the Silent Age" "Blackout" "V-2 Schneider" "Sense of Doubt" "Neuköln" "Fantastic Voyage" "It's No Game" "Teenage Wildlife" "Scream Like a Baby" "As the World Falls Down" "Girls" "Nite Flights" "I'm Deranged" "Nature Boy" "Cactus" "Pablo Picasso" "The Loneliest Guy" "Try Some, Buy Some" "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon" "Bring Me the Disco King" "Girl Loves Me" "Dollar Days"