"Little Wonder" is a song by English musician David Bowie, released as the second single from his 21st album, Earthling (1997). "Little Wonder" backed by three remixes, was issued on 27January 1997. The single was a success, peaking at number 14 in the UK and topping the chart in Japan. The accompanying music video was directed by Floria Sigismondi and depicts Bowie at three different ages. Biographer David Buckley considers it a dance-oriented video rather than a rock one, reminiscent of Orbital's "The Box" (1996). "Little Wonder" was one of the first tracks Bowie and Reeves Gabrels wrote for the album. Bowie called writing the track a "ridiculous" exercise in pure stream of consciousness: "I just picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and made a line for each of the dwarves' names. And that's the song [laughs]. And then I ran out of dwarves' names, so there's new dwarves in it like 'Stinky'." Originally set to be a "nine-minute jungle electronic epic", the song was trimmed to six minutes for the album. Described by biographer Chris O'Leary as a combination of arena rock and electronica, it utilises percussion and power chords from the Prodigy's "Firestarter", a 1996 UK number one that assisted in bringing drum and bass rhythms to the mainstream.

Background

The sampled spoken line "If it's good to ya, it's gotta be good for ya" during the instrumental break, comes from the spoken intro of a live Steely Dan song called "Bodhisattva" from the Citizen Steely Dan box. Two main interpretations to the lyrics are given by James E. Perone, who writes that the song may simply represent some characteristics of Bowie's own personality or, in another case, an alien observing aspects of the life on Earth. Bowie uses the names of all seven dwarfs in the lyrics. The drum break is sampled from The Winstons instrumental, "Amen, Brother", a popular drum solo and sample commonly referred to as the "Amen break," while the chord progression is similar to an early David Bowie song, "Can't Help Thinking About Me."

Critical reception

British magazine Music Week rated the song three out of five, adding, "The idea of giving Bowie a drum & bass makeover sounds slightly absurd but, though disconcerting, it seems to work. The central song, however, is a little understated and something a little more bold might have worked better." David Sinclair from The Times wrote, "Racing jungle beats and strafing bursts of ultra-distorted guitar underpin the first taster from Bowie's new album, Earthling. Quite a grower even if it does sound, in places, disconcertingly like Babylon Zoo." Christopher Sandford calls "Little Wonder" Bowie's "most exciting and upbeat single since 'Blue Jean' [1984]".

Live versions

Bowie performed "Little Wonder" as the opening song at his fiftieth birthday celebration concert in New York City on 9 January 1997. This performance was included on the Earthling in the City CD. Bowie played the song live (along with "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)") on the 8 February 1997 episode of Saturday Night Live. A July 1997 performance at the Phoenix Festival was released in 2021 on Look at the Moon! (Live Phoenix Festival 97). The song was performed at the GQ Awards in New York City on 15 October 1997, later released on the live album LiveAndWell.com in 2000. Bowie's 25 June 2000 performance of the song at the Glastonbury Festival was released in 2018 on Glastonbury 2000. A live version recorded at BBC Radio Theatre, London, on 27 June 2000 was released on the bonus disc accompanying the first releases of Bowie at the Beeb in 2000.

Other releases

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Little Wonder" was directed by Floria Sigismondi, an Italian-Canadian photographer and director. It is set in a dystopian world of mutants, depicting rapid-pace shots of Bowie as an aging Ziggy Stardust and Halloween Jack wandering the New York streets and subways. The video includes video sculptures by the artist Tony Oursler. Bowie has said of Sigismondi's work, "I thought she just has a wonderful eye, great textures, fabulous cutting." The video is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Track listings

An additional three promo CD singles were also released.

Production credits

Charts

Cover versions