'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore

2014 single by David Bowie 'Tis Pity She's a Whore Tis a Pity She Was a Whore David Bowie - 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore cover art.jpg single David Bowie Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) 2014 11 17 yes 2014 Bowie's home studio, New York City Art rock 5 26 Parlophone Columbia Legacy David Bowie David Bowie Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA) 2013 Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) Tis a Pity She Was a Whore Blackstar 2015 "Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" is a song by English musician David Bowie, released on 17 November 2014 as the B-side of "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)". Taking influence from John Ford's 1633 play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, the art rock song pits dark and violent lyrics against a rhythmic beat. Bowie recorded the track as a demo in mid-2014 at his home studio in New York City. The song, along with "Sue", was re-recorded for Bowie's twenty-sixth and final studio album, Blackstar (2016). The new version features the backing band from those sessions: saxophonist Donny McCaslin, pianist Jason Lindner, bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Mark Guiliana. Unlike the original, the remake is influenced by hip hop while reviewers compared Bowie's vocal performance to various 1970s tracks. The remake was positively received, with many highlighting the performances of the backing musicians. In the wake of Bowie's death, two days after Blackstars release, Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" charted in multiple countries, including number 107 in the UK. Background and recording Bowie recorded a home demo of Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" in mid-2014 at his home studio in his New York City apartment.O'Leary 2019 620 It holds a distinction in his catalogue as being one of few songs in which he played every instrument himself.Pegg 2016 285 Upon hearing the demo, his regular collaborator Tony Visconti stated: "It was just kick-ass. His production skills have gone up 5,000%."O'Leary 2019 620–627 The title derives from the 1633 play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore by 17th century English dramatist John Ford.Andy Greene https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-inside-story-of-david-bowies-stunning-new-album-blackstar-20151123 The Inside Story of David Bowie's Stunning New Album, 'Blackstar' Rolling Stone 23 November 2015 18 July 2021 22 December 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161222195642/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-inside-story-of-david-bowies-stunning-new-album-blackstar-20151123 live However, while Ford's play is a tale of incestuous love and vengeance, the lyrics themselves are darker and more violent; biographer Nicholas Pegg believes they are taken from an entirely different source.Pegg 2016 285 Nevertheless, Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork argues that the two share the same theme–"humans will always resort to a language of savagery when necessary, no matter where or when."https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21332-blackstar/ David Bowie: Blackstar Album Review Pitchfork 7 January 2016 7 January 2016 Dombal Ryan https://web.archive.org/web/20160107221552/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21332-blackstar/ 7 January 2016 live Bowie himself only released one public statement on the song: "If Vorticists wrote Rock Music it might have sounded like this."Vorticism, a partial response in Britain to Futurism, had occupied Bowie's mind at the time. O'Leary writes that Vorticism ideals were present on The Next Day (2013), while the Vorticist magazine Blast was in his personal "Top 100 Books" list. O'Leary also notes that The Cave of the Golden Calf, a Vorticist cabaret club in the early 1910s, is in the background of the album cover for Bowie's 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.O'Leary 2019 620–627 O'Leary writes that the song has a "steady rhythmic" beat that is counteracted by Bowie's saxophone and piano. Regarding the bass part, Jason Lindner stated: "Compositionally the bass part has more of a rhythmic and less of a harmonic function. It remains pretty much the same through the harmonic changes, with a couple of notes shifting to complement the progression." Bowie's vocal performance is subdued while he plays a "continuo figure" on saxophone.O'Leary 2019 620–627 Stephen Dalton of Classic Rock magazine writes that the song has "a propulsive, roaring, heavily electronic wall of sound."Stephen Dalton http://www.teamrock.com/reviews/2015-11-27/david-bowie-blackstar David Bowie: Blackstar Classic Rock Future PLC Bath, Somerset 27 November 2015 7 January 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160106203916/http://www.teamrock.com/reviews/2015-11-27/david-bowie-blackstar 6 January 2016 live Mojo critic Andrew Male described the track as "a raucous five-minute mesh of melody and discord, an art-rock anti-war romance, gasping under the pack-ice of no-wave sax-squawk."http://www.mojo4music.com/17397/hear-david-bowies-thundering-new-single-tis-a-pity-she-was-a-whore/ Hear David Bowie's New Single, 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore Mojo 10 November 2014 12 March 2016 Male Andrew 20 February 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160220101514/http://www.mojo4music.com/17397/hear-david-bowies-thundering-new-single-tis-a-pity-she-was-a-whore/ live The magazine listed it as Bowie's 38th best track in 2015.David Bowie – The 100 Greatest Songs Mojo February 2015 255 72 Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" was released on 17 November 2014 by Parlophone as the B-side of the single "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)",O'Leary 2019 620Pegg 2016 791 with the catalogue number 10RDB2014."Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" David Bowie 2014 Parlophone UK Digital media notes 1ORDB2014 A press release accompanying the B-side stated, "The song acknowledges the shocking rawness of the First World War".Pegg 2016 285 Blackstar version Tis a Pity She Was a Whore David Bowie Blackstar 2016 1 8 yes 5 January; 20 & 22 April 2015 The Magic Shop and Human Worldwide in New York City Art rock 4 52 ISO Columbia Sony David Bowie David Bowie Tony Visconti Love is Lost 2013 Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) 2014 7 tracks "Blackstar" "Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" "Lazarus" "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" "Girl Loves Me" "Dollar Days" "I Can't Give Everything Away" Recording Before the sessions for what would be his final studio album Blackstar began, Bowie sent his home demo of Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" to saxophonist Donny McCaslin. McCaslin, who worked with Bowie on the original version of "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", recalled, "I sat there in stunned silence for a while," after hearing it. After hiring McCaslin's jazz quartet — pianist Jason Lindner, bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Mark Guiliana — as the backing band for the sessions, Bowie sent the demo to the remaining musicians in preparation for the sessions.Pegg 2016 285O'Leary 2019 620–627 Both Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" and its A-side "Sue" were re-recorded for Blackstar.https://www.wsj.com/articles/blackstar-review-ziggy-stardust-plays-jazz-1452030425 'Blackstar' Review: Ziggy Stardust Plays Jazz 5 January 2016 6 January 2016 The Wall Street Journal Jim Fusilli 6 January 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160106081322/http://www.wsj.com/articles/blackstar-review-ziggy-stardust-plays-jazz-1452030425 live The remake of Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" was one of the first tracks recorded for the album. The backing track was recorded on 5 January 2015 at the Magic Shop in New York City. McCaslin recalled: "When we got together that first week, David said he wanted to re-record [it]. We were playing hard, going for it. That just happened in like ten minutes. That might have been the first take." McCaslin recorded additional saxophone overdubs months later.O'Leary 2019 620–627 Like most of the vocal tracks, Bowie recorded his vocals at Human Worldwide Studios in New York City on 20 and 22 April 2015.Pegg 2016 285 Composition For the re-recording, Bowie took inspiration from McCaslin's 2012 album Casting for Gravity; Lefebvre stated: "usually it's the other way around – you research the guy who hired you."O'Leary 2019 620–627 According to McCaslin, Bowie said, "he imagined the solo section as being something like 'Alpha and Omega', which is the Boards of Canada track we covered, or maybe talk about the intensity we have on 'Praia Grande'."Pegg 2016 285 Biographer Chris O'Leary notes that in McCaslin's cover of "Alpha and Omega", McCaslin, whose multitrack plays a "looped, phased melodic theme" over fluctuations played by Guiliana and Lefebvre; "Praia Grande" builds "to a maximalist sax solo full of waggled bass notes, surfing over waves of drums and synths."O'Leary 2019 620–627 Regarding the drum part, Guiliana stated: "The groove on the demo was a driving one-bar loop. The challenge was to play this repetitive part but stay in the moment and keep pushing the intensity." Guiliana overdubbed a Roland SPD-SX "full of 808 sounds", which appear prominently in the mix around the 3:33 mark.O'Leary 2019 620–627 The remake opens with two intakes of breath, which O'Leary compares to "a man readying himself to walk up another flight of stairs".O'Leary 2019 620–627 Commentators have characterised the song's beat as similar to hip hop.https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/arts/music/review-blackstar-david-bowies-emotive-and-cryptic-new-album.html Review: 'Blackstar,' David Bowie's Emotive and Cryptic New Album The New York Times 7 January 2016 10 January 2016 Pareles Jon Jon Pareles https://web.archive.org/web/20160109231243/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/arts/music/review-blackstar-david-bowies-emotive-and-cryptic-new-album.html 9 January 2016 live Chris Gerard of PopMatters finds Bowie's vocals reminiscent of the Lodger track "DJ". Andy Gill of The Independent describes the re-recordings of both Tis" and "Sue" as "frantic, bustling whirls of avant-garde, banshee sax improvisation and drumming"; he compares Bowie's vocal performance and lyrics to his 1976 track "Station to Station".https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/david-bowies-blackstar-exclusive-first-review-a-bowie-desperate-to-break-with-the-past-a6783456.html David Bowie's Blackstar – exclusive first review: A Bowie desperate to break with the past The Independent 22 December 2015 28 December 2015 Gill Andy https://web.archive.org/web/20151226012441/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/david-bowies-blackstar-exclusive-first-review-a-bowie-desperate-to-break-with-the-past-a6783456.html 26 December 2015 live Release and reception The re-recording of Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" was released on 8 January 2016 as the second track on Bowie's final album Blackstar, sequenced between the title track and "Lazarus".https://www.allmusic.com/album/blackstar-mw0002894417 Blackstar – David Bowie AllMusic 16 November 2019 Erlewine Stephen Thomas Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://web.archive.org/web/20190424115510/https://www.allmusic.com/album/blackstar-mw0002894417 24 April 2019 live Bowie died two days after its release, after having suffered from cancer for 18 months.Hannah Furness https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/12092542/Bowies-last-album-was-parting-gift-for-fans-in-carefully-planned-finale.html David Bowie's last release, Lazarus, was 'parting gift' for fans in carefully planned finale The Daily Telegraph London, England 13 January 2016 23 April 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20160325201617/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/12092542/Bowies-last-album-was-parting-gift-for-fans-in-carefully-planned-finale.html 25 March 2016 liveWalters Barry Review: David Bowie's 'Blackstar' Is Adventurous To The End https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2016/01/11/462660569/review-david-bowies-blackstar-is-adventurous-to-the-end NPR 18 July 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200407181941/https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2016/01/11/462660569/review-david-bowies-blackstar-is-adventurous-to-the-end 7 April 2020 11 January 2016 The re-recording of Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" has received positive reviews from music critics, with many highlighting the performance of the backing band.Ben Rayner https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2016/01/08/david-bowie-aims-high-with-blackstar-review.html David Bowie's Blackstar a nearly perfect goodbye: review Toronto Sun Postmedia 8 January 2016 15 January 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160111182326/http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2016/01/08/david-bowie-aims-high-with-blackstar-review.html 11 January 2016 live Gerard praised the remake as "far more fully developed" than the 2014 original, giving particular attention to the backing band. He writes that the band "infuses Blackstar with a restless anxiety that is particularly evident on Tis a Pity She Was a Whore'," calling the final track "maddening and thrilling".https://www.popmatters.com/review/david-bowie-blackstar/ David Bowie: Blackstar PopMatters 8 January 2016 10 January 2016 Gerard Chris https://web.archive.org/web/20160110064018/http://www.popmatters.com/review/david-bowie-blackstar/ 10 January 2016 live Alexis Petridis of The Guardian similarly praised the band's "synergy" on the track, while positively comparing Bowie's vocal performance to the "exploratory, barely contained chaos" of "Heroes" and "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" or the "tumultuous, wildly distorted version" seen on "Panic in Detroit" and "Cracked Actor".https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/07/david-bowie-blackstar-review-a-spellbinding-break-with-his-past David Bowie: Blackstar review – a spellbinding break with his past The Guardian 7 January 2016 10 January 2016 Petridis Alexis Alexis Petridis https://web.archive.org/web/20160109234617/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/07/david-bowie-blackstar-review-a-spellbinding-break-with-his-past 9 January 2016 live O'Leary has praised the track as "a latter-life masterpiece, with no top and no bottom."O'Leary 2019 620–627 Both versions of Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" were included on the box set I Can't Give Everything Away (2002–2016), released in 2025.Burton Poppy 9 July 2025 David Bowie's final years to be celebrated in huge new box set 'I Can't Give Everything Away (2002-2016)' https://www.nme.com/news/music/david-bowies-final-years-to-celebrated-in-huge-new-box-set-i-cant-give-everything-away-2002-2016-3877039 11 July 2025 NME 8 July 2025 DAVID BOWIE 6. I CAN'T GIVE EVERYTHING AWAY (2002 – 2016) PRESS RELEASE https://www.davidbowie.com/blog/2025/7/8/david-bowie-6-i-cant-give-everything-away-2002-2016-press-release 13 July 2025 David Bowie Official Website Personnel According to biographer Chris O'Leary:O'Leary 2019 620 Original version David Bowie – vocals, guitar, tenor saxophone, piano, synthesiser, keyboards, drum machine Blackstar version David Bowie – lead and backing vocal Donny McCaslin – tenor saxophone Jason Lindner – piano, keyboards Tim Lefebvre – bass Mark Guiliana – drums, Roland SPD-SX Erin Tonkon – backing vocal Charts +Chart performance for Tis a Pity She Was a Whore"Chart (2014–16)PeakpositionFlanders Tip 78 David Bowie 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore 20 December 2015Ireland3 92 David Bowie 19 August 2026Dutch100 68 David Bowie 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore 20 January 2016Portugal 57 David Bowie 'Tis A Pity She Was A Whore 23 April 2020Sweden 63 David Bowie 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore 20 January 2016 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/160116cluk.txt Chart Log UK – New Chart Entries – 16.01.2016 zobbel.de 27 January 2016 2 February 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160202055320/http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/160116cluk.txt live 107Billboardrocksongs 34 David Bowie 20 January 2016 Release history +Release history for Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" Region Date Format(s) Label Catalogue no. Europe 17 November 2014 10-inch (B-side) Parlophone 10RDB2014O'Leary 2019 Partial Discography United States 28 November 2014 Columbia 88875028701"Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)" David Bowie 2014 Columbia Records US Digital media notes 88875028701 Notes References 30em Sources O'Leary Chris Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie 1976–2016 2019 Repeater Books London 978-1-91224-836-0 Pegg Nicholas The Complete David Bowie https://books.google.com/books?id=LqFkDQAAQBAJ Titan Books London 2016 978-1-78565-365-0 Revised and Updated Category:2014 singles Category:2014 songs Category:2016 songs Category:David Bowie songs Category:Songs written by David Bowie Category:Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti Category:Parlophone singles