From the Best of Bowie DVD, this video was recorded on February 8, 1972 for The Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC, though it wasn’t broadcasted until over ten years later. The song was written by David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory and features simple piano playing with powerful lyrics that question the dedication of present society.
Ten years into his career, Bowie was entering his Ziggy Stardust stage and influencing popular culture to join his trends of anti-traditionalism. “Oh! You Pretty Things” invokes concepts of the ever-evolving races of humanity, providing images of strangers joining to better understand the state of society, with refrain lyrics like “You gotta make way for the Homo Superior” and ongoing urges to “wake up” and think about “the world to come.”
Watch the uplifting performance below:
Tedeschi Trucks Band included the Bowie song as a bonus track on their most recent album Let Me Get By. Watch a live version below: