The Bewlay Brothers

"The Bewlay Brothers" is a song written by David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory. This ballad was the last song written and recorded for Hunky Dory. It has been described as "probably Bowie's densest and most impenetrable song".^[1] The composer himself supposedly told producer Ken Scott that this was a song for the American market, because "the Americans always like to read things into things", even though the lyrics "make absolutely no sense".^[2]

Some commentators have also seen references in the song to Bowie's stepbrother Terry, a schizophrenic. The coda features Bowie's voice distorted by varispeeding, leading to the suggestion that "the Laughing Gnome appears in considerably more sinister guise during the fade".^[3]

Bowie named his publishing company in the late 1970s Bewlay Bros. Music and used the name as a pseudonym for himself, Iggy Pop and Colin Thurston as producers of Pop's 1977 album Lust for Life.

Other releases

• It appeared in the Sound + Vision box in 1989.
• An alternate mix was released as a bonus track on the Rykodisc CD release of Hunky Dory in 1990.

Cover versions

• Replicants on Replicants (1995).

Notes

1. ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). David Bowie: An Illustrated Record: p. 41
2. ^ David Buckley (1999). Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story: pp. 114-115
3. ^ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Ibid.