Official video for I Can't Read '97 by David Bowie.
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‘I CAN’T READ ‘97’ is the second instalment of DAVID BOWIE’s IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks.
‘I CAN’T READ’ originally appeared on Tin Machine’s eponymous debut album in 1989, and was a staple in the band’s live set. In the autumn of 1996, during the mixing stages for Earthling, David re-recorded the track – which, at one stage, appeared on a mastered version of the album.
While the song’s second incarnation, ‘I CAN’T READ ‘97’, was David’s preferred solo version, it was ultimately cut from Earthling and replaced at the last minute with ‘The Last Thing You Should Do’.
This video for ‘I CAN’T READ ‘97 was shot by Tim Pope shot at rehearsals in Hartford, Connecticut in January 1997.
An alternative version, featuring minor chords and a darker sound for the chorus, was recorded for Ang Lee’s film The Ice Storm. The full length version appeared on a single in 1998, while an edit featured on the film’s soundtrack album in 1997, both released by VelVel Records.
‘I CAN’T READ ‘97’ written by David Bowie & Reeves Gabrels is produced by David Bowie, co-produced by Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati, and mixed by Mark Plati. The track was recorded and mixed at Right Track Recording in New York and features Gail Ann Dorsey on bass and vocals, Mike Garson on piano, and Gabrels on guitar and vocals.
Lyrics:
I can't read and I can't write down
I don't know a book from countdown
I don't care which shadow gets me
All I've got is someone's face
Money goes to money heaven
Bodies go to body hell
I just cough, catch the chase
Switch the channel watch the police car
I can't read shit anymore
I just sit back and ignore
Cause I just can't get it right, can't get it right
I can't read shit, I can't read shit
When you see a famous smile
No matter where you run your mile
To be right in that photograph
Andy where's my fifteen minutes
I can't read shit anymore
I just sit back and ignore
I just can't read shit anymore
Just can't get it right, get it right,
I can't read shit, I can't read shit
