10 Weirdest David Bowie Songs
1. Warszawa - Low (1977)
Upon a first listen, Warszawa is huge surprise, even in the catalogue of the man who built a career upon changes, surprises, and deviation. Opening up side two of 1977's Low, Warszawa is the pinnacle of the collaboration of the dream team of musical weirdness, Brian Eno and David Bowie.
Bowie instructed Eno to write a slow piece with an emotive feel, which Brian got the idea for after hearing producer Tony Visconti's young son play a simple repeated phrase on the studio's piano.
After changing key twice, Bowie enters the song at four minutes in, giving the weirdest vocal performance of his career. For this song, David chose to sing in a made-up language reminiscent of Polish and Italian, using completely made up words.
What's incredible about Warszawa is that, despite containing any recognisable structure, or even easily identifiable singable lyrics, it is still profoundly emotional and moving to listen to. Warszawa went on to be massively influential on the genres of synthpop and industrial music, and has been covered by a wide variety of artists, including Nine Inch Nails and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
It was such an inspiration to the band Joy Division that they originally named themselves Warszawa after the piece