Queen Bitch (From Hunky Dory – 1971)
As the guitar chimes in and Bowies voice rings through with “oh yeah”, the iconic ‘Queen Bitch’ begins. This 1971 classic taken from the album Hunky Dory and B-side to ‘Rebel Rebel’, is a homage to Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground. The initial few seconds of acoustic guitar builds to a high speed, upbeat melody drenched in sounds synonymous with Lou Reed and the late sixties. This hook, and the lyrics which combine Lou Reed’s observational style to Bowie’s poetics, delivers a story and a song with all the attitude promised in the title ‘Queen Bitch’. “She’s an old-time ambassador of sweet talking, night walking games”.
This song pulls no punches and even manages to harness a playful side “Bipperty bopperty hat”. Queen Bitch has all the attitude and music that makes you want to spin, strut and sing at the top of your lungs whilst doing your best Bowie impersonation that had been perfected in front of the bedroom mirror. With the end line of the chorus “Oh God, I could do better than that”, it’s clear that very few could do better than David Bowie.
Words by Jessica Borden
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljv8xCt4Bq8&w=740&h=422]