My Top 2000 Songs #1040: The Width Of A Circle

"The Width Of A Circle," the lengthy opener for 1970's The Man Who Sold The World, is David Bowie at his proggiest. Sort of picking up on tracks like "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" and "Cygnet Committee" from the prior year's Space Oddity, it's a look at a direction he might have headed had he not pulled back on sprawling epics and moved in a more pop/glam direction (and then a million other directions, but that's another story).

As with most of Man, the song also has Bowie rocking harder than he ever would again (or at least until some of his heavier 90s work). Some thunderous riffage and spaced-out jamming, plus lyrics that hint at either sci-fi or sexuality--both of which would also gel into his Ziggy phase--I've always found it one of Bowie's more adventurous tracks. I love that main riff and Mick Ronson's wigged-out jamming, and especially how they take it up another notch by pivoting into that punchy, poppy little segment about 2/3 of the way into the track. Not the sort of thing you might throw onto a mixtape alongside his better-known hits, but a great way to generate those heady early 70s post-psychedelia pre-metal/prog days.

Insane, elongated liver performance:

Phenomenal live tribute, 2016: