David Bowie: Nuts

We’ve reached the penultimate song, #5, of the weekly release of songs for the upcoming Is It Any Wonder? EP.

In previous weeks we’ve had The Man Who Sold The World, I Can’t Read ’97, Stay ’97, and Baby Universal ’97. The reason the later three songs feature the ’97 on them is because they are remakes of earlier works which David Bowie did in… wait for it… 1997 and while making the album Earthling.

Yesterday, and as mentioned above, we had the release of the fifth of six songs to be released in the Is It Any Wonder? EP. Here then is an original composition intended to be a “bonus track” on the Earthling album but ultimately set aside. The song is called Nuts

When I first heard the song, what immediately struck me was that it sounded a hell of a lot like something you might find on 1. Outside, the album Bowie released just before Earthling. I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it here: I feel 1. Outside is the best album Bowie released in his later years. Having said that. the jazzy elements within this song also reminded me of some of the more experimental stuff on Bowie’s final album, Blackstar.

I must admit, I didn’t like the song much when I first heard it. However, upon listening to it a few more times, I’ve found myself getting into it. I still don’t feel it is a “classic” or some incredible lost treasure like the alternate version of Candidate from the Diamond Dogs album…

…but I do like the song more and more.

(Btw, for the life of me, I still don’t understand how David Bowie left this “alternate version” of Candidate, a stone cold classic -IMHO!- off the album. It wasn’t until some fifteen or so years later with the RykoDisc releases of Bowie’s albums that the song finally saw the light of day as a “bonus” track!)

So I’m glad Nuts was released.

One more song (and week!) to go and the album is complete. Will they end it with a bang or a whimper?

I’m hoping we’re going to get a real hidden gem.

We’ll see.