David Bowie - Big Brother/Chant of the ever circling skeletal family

"Big Brother" is a song written by David Bowie in 1973 and intended for his never-produced musical based on George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. In 1974 it was released on the album Diamond Dogs. It segued into the final track on the record, "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family".

Lyrically, the song reflects the ending of Nineteen Eighty-Four, where Winston Smith's brainwashing is complete, and he loves Big Brother. This was described by Bowie biographer David Buckley as "a frightening paean to the Super God",while Nicholas Pegg considered that Bowie was showing how "the glamour of dictatorships is balanced with the banality".

The opening trumpet line, played on a Chamberlin, has been compared to Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain.The melody in the chorus was echoed in Bowie's own "Shining Star (Makin' My Love)" from Never Let Me Down (1987).

"Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" is a song written by David Bowie in 1974 ending his Diamond Dogs album.

The song ends with the endlessly repeating sound of "bruh-bruh-bruh...", the first syllable of the word 'Brother' from "(Big) Brother" (the title and refrain of the preceding track) as though the record had broken. Bowie's initial intention had been for the machine to repeat the whole of the word 'Brother', but accidentally discovered that just the first syllable sounded much better.

The Goth-band Skeletal Family took their name from this song.

This song is David Bowie's interpretation of George Orwell's "two minute hate" from his novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four". Its mesmerizing chanting represents the mind-numbing influence that the two minutes has over the brainwashed citizens of Oceania, 1984's totalitarian government.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• david
• bowie
• diamond
• dogs
• big
• brother
• chant
• of
• the
• ever
• circling
• skeletal
• family
• tony
• visconti
• george
• orwell
• 1984

[StevenTheVirgin38]

I AM A VIRGIN

[Alexm799]

@StevenTheVirgin38 Thanks for sharing that with us!

[metalgypsy2010]

the greatest music and musician ever created ---at least until he quit getting high

[Alexm799]

@metalgypsy2010 haha yeah, very true

[surfcityserialkiller]

I AM REVIRGIN

[Abbyjo8881]

This is the kind of song that you want to blast incredibly loud so that it hurts your ears, but feels magnificently good at the same time..

[LaurawrTheDinosaur]

He really should have done the musical of '1984.' I love booth the book and the author and I think Bowie would have done a great job on it, unlike many who have ruined books by making them into films without fully understanding the meaning behind them.

[texadillo53]

One of the best Bowie albums ever. Came out about the same time as Berlin by Lou Reed another great experience.

[zep2zap]

I remember when I got this album. Put myself into a trance while listening to this song over and over.This album is a reminder of lost album cover art.

[skylilly1]

times spent in the recroom listening to this album....good times..what I remember ...

[wpollock1]

The Chant is part of tying the whole album together. I love the creativeness of all of it - of course Big Brother is the main part, but the Chant is the mortar that keeps it all together. Reminds me of parts of The Wall that are songs/spoken word that create the overall atmosphere of the album.

[garoux1999]

I think highschoolers need to really make this musical come true.

[stadtrade102]

Till he quit the Drugs yeah

[gajaga789]

@kjsh987 Agreed. I've never cared for the chant, even though it isn't a bad song. I just prefer the single version of Big Brother that fades out at the end instead of going into the chant.