Little Wonder

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"Little Wonder"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Earthling
Released	27 January 1997
Format	CD single
Recorded	Looking Glass Studio, New York City
Genre	Industrial rock, drum and bass
Length	3:40 (single version) 6:02 (album version)
Label	Arista 74321 452072
Producer	David Bowie, Reeves Gabrels, Mark Plati
David Bowie singles chronology
"Telling Lies" (1996) "Little Wonder" (1997) "Dead Man Walking" (1997)

"Little Wonder" is a song and single by David Bowie, from the 1997 album Earthling. It was the album's biggest hit, reaching number 14 in UK and topping the charts in Japan.

Background

Bowie uses the names of all Seven Dwarfs in the lyrics.^[1] 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.^[2]

Track listings

UK CD version 1

1. Little Wonder (edit) - 3:40
2. Little Wonder (Ambient Junior Mix) - 9:55
3. Little Wonder (Club Dub Junior Mix) - 8:10
4. Little Wonder (4/4 Junior Mix) - 8:10
5. Little Wonder (Juniors 7" mix) - 8:10

UK CD version 2 (limited edition)

1. Little Wonder (edit) - 3:40
2. Telling Lies (Adam F Mix) - 3:58
3. Jump They Say (Leftfield 12" Vocal Mix) - 7:40
4. Little Wonder (Danny Saber Mix) - 3:06

US CD version

1. Little Wonder (Album version) - 6:02
2. Little Wonder (Ambient Junior Mix) - 9:55
3. Little Wonder (Club Dub Junior Mix) - 8:10
4. Little Wonder (Danny Saber Dance Mix) - 5:30

European CD version 1

1. Little Wonder (Album version) - 6:02
2. Little Wonder (Ambient Junior Mix) - 9:55
3. Little Wonder (Danny Saber Mix) - 3:06
4. Little Wonder (Club Dub Junior Mix) - 8:10
5. Little Wonder (4/4 Junior Mix) - 8:10

European CD version 2

1. Little Wonder (edit) - 3:40
2. Little Wonder (Junior Club Mix) - 8:10
3. Telling Lies (Adam F Mix) - 3:58

European CD version 3

1. Little Wonder (edit) - 3:40
2. Telling Lies (Adam F Mix) - 3:58

Japanese CD version

1. Little Wonder (edit) - 3:40
2. Little Wonder (Junior Club Mix) - 8:10
3. Little Wonder (Danny Saber Mix) - 3:06
4. Little Wonder (Club Dub Junior Mix) - 8:10
5. Little Wonder (4/4 Junior Mix) - 8:10

UK 12" version

1. Little Wonder (Junior Club Mix) - 8:10
2. Little Wonder (Danny Saber Mix) - 5:30
3. Telling Lies (Adam F Mix) - 3:58

European 12" version

1. Little Wonder (Junior Club Mix) - 8:10
2. Little Wonder (Danny Saber Mix) - 5:30

An additional 3 promo singles was also released.

Production credits

Producer

• David Bowie
• Mark Plati (co-producer)
• Reeves Gabrels (co-producer)

Musicians

• David Bowie: Vocals, Guitar, Samples, Keyboards
• Reeves Gabrels: Programming, Synthesizers, Real and sampled guitars, Vocals
• Mark Plati: Programming, Loops, Samples, Keyboards
• Gail Ann Dorsey: Bass, Vocals
• Zachary Alford: Drum loops, Acoustic drums, Electronic percussion
• Mike Garson: Keyboards, Piano

Live versions

• Bowie played this song live (along with Scary Monsters) on the 8 February 1997 episode of Saturday Night Live.^[3]
• Bowie played the song at GQ Awards in New York City, 15 October 1997. This was later released on the live album LiveAndWell.com in 2000.
• A version recorded at BBC Radio Theatre, London, 27 June 2000 was released on the live bonus disc following the first releases of Bowie at the Beeb.

Cover versions

• Haitian Hate Gods - .2 Contamination: A Tribute to David Bowie (2006)

Other releases

• The "Danny Saber remix" appeared on the soundtrack for the movies The Saint as well as the second soundtrack for the movie Hackers. This remix also appeared on the 4 track bonus disc that followed the live album LiveAndWell.com in 2000.
• A video edit was released on a Jukebox 7" release of the single "Dead Man Walking" in 1997.
• Three remixes, "Censored Video Edit", "Junior Vasquez Club Mix" and "Danny Saber Dance Mix", also appeared on the bonus disc of the Digibook Expanded Edition of Earthling from 2004.

Notes

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