David Bowie - The Bewlay Brothers - Rare Live Performance

Carling Apollo Hammersmith, London, England. 2nd October 2002…If you’ve enjoyed the content, please show your support by liking & subscribing…Thank you!

[joebowieaddick]

The original footage of this recording had parts of the audio and video missing…I added the slow motion parts towards the end to replace some annoying black screen, but more importantly to complete the audio for this great rare performance!
A handful of people have moaned about the edit, but good to see that the vast majority of you are enjoying the video, and appreciating my efforts. Thank You!

[jonsa]

The one song I’d always wanted him to perform live whenever I saw him. Truly a masterpiece. Hauntingly beautiful.

[lucplottier]

Thanks for posting this. Bewlay brothers is already a monumental song. But this live version makes it even more emotional, more of This makes me cry. So beautiful!!!

[ChosenHandle]

OMG! One of my favourites ever.... love the man, loved the song for more than 50 vote it up!

[aleph]

This song is pure gem, one of his best songs from his huge catalog, too bad he didn't play it live more, brilliant live version with his band, miss you so much.

[paolacelletti]

From The Bowie Bible (just to know...)

The closing track on David Bowie’s fourth album Hunky Dory, ‘The Bewlay Brothers’ remains one of his most intriguing and lyrically opaque songs.

"He was always willing to jump on things. There’s a track on Hunky Dory called ‘The Bewlay Brothers’ – it was the last song we recorded for the album and I remember David coming in and saying, ‘I’ve just written this new song, we’ve got to record it but don’t listen to the lyrics.’ I said, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘Because they don’t mean anything. I wrote it specifically for the American market to read things into it.’ I must’ve heard 10 or 15 different stories as to what ‘The Bewlay Brothers’ was supposed to be about, and I know that David would have agreed with every single one. He took what was given to him and ran with it, quite often."
Ken Scott

David Bowie: Ultimate Record Collection (Uncut)

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"The Bewlay Brothers"

And so the story goes, they wore the clothes
They said the things to make it seem improbable
The whale of a lie like the hope it was
And the good men tomorrow
Had their feet in the wallow
And their heads of brawn were nicely shorn
And how they bought their positions with saccharin and trust
And the world was asleep to our latent fuss

Sighing they swirl through the streets like the crust of the sun
The Bewlay Brothers
In our wings that bark
Flashing teeth of brass
Standing tall in the dark
Oh, and we were gone
Hanging out with your dwarf men
We were so turned on
By your lack of conclusions

I was stone and he was wax
So he could scream and still relax
Unbelievable
And we frightened the small children away
And our talk was old and dust would flow
Through our veins and lo! It was midnight back at the kitchen door
Like the grim face on the cathedral floor
And the solid book we wrote cannot be found today

And it was stalking time for the moon boys
The Bewlay Brothers
With our backs on the arch
And the Devil may be here
But he can't sing about that
Oh, and we were gone
Real cool traders
We were so turned on
You thought we were fakers

Now the dress is hung, the ticket pawned
The factor max that proved the fact is melted down
And woven on the edging of my pillow
And my brother lays upon the rocks
He could be dead, he could be not, he could be you
He's chameleon, comedian, Corinthian and caricature

Shooting up pie-in-the-sky
The Bewlay Brothers
In the feeble and the bad
The Bewlay Brothers
In the blessed and cold
In the crutch-hungry dark
Was where we flayed our mark
Oh, and we were gone
Kings of oblivion
We were so turned on
In the mind-warp pavilion

Lay me place and bake me pie
I'm starving for me gravy
Leave my shoes, and door unlocked
I might just slip away, hey

Just for the day, hey
Please come away, hey
Just for the day, hey
Please come away, hey

[ChosenHandle]

Just to say to the Bowie-loving community.... and I still think that Hunky Dory is the best album ever made by anybody, played that plus TMWSTW, Ziggy and Aladdin constantly in east Surrey in the early/mid 70s.... now I live in Beckenham, on the same side as Haddon Hall was.... and last Fri, I went to the opening of the Bowie Bandstand ('69 festival) in the Croydon Rd Rec Grd.... it's been restored beautifully. We also have The Flash in 'bus lane tarmac' on the pavement outside Zizzi, which was the Three Tuns/Arts Lab back in the day. Sent on behalf of the Beckenham Tourist Office!

[Somer-set]

i wish someone in his Team would clean up this recording and release... ❤

[stuartwhitmore]

Fecking awsome.
Im 64 . Bowie is my total musical hero.

[PatrickPon-tvvj]

Bowiase one of THE be, stfront runner in art, fashion, genre, music and style. There'll never be another David Bowie. Rest in paradise Maestro

[tommymorgan]

A masterpiece, I love the Hunky album.

[sabiantheomnivore]

Off one of the best albums I've ever heard.

[sillavnitram]

Unbelievably beautiful song that I think gets overlooked because Bowie's catalogue of great songs is so vast. This is definitely one of my favourites. Miss him.

[allsorts]

Possibly one of the only times I’m delighted someone took a phone and filmed it. Thanks

[andydavies]

1976 in foster care! A life line, god rest sir!!

[paolacelletti]

This is a daydream for me and for all Bowie nuts.
Thanks for uploading and sharing this wonderful viddy. Congrats for the editing ⚡

[firetarrasque]

I've always thought that this was a very important song for him. The way the words flow almost without meaning anything, Hunky Dory's themes of madness, religion, and aimlessness - I've always thought that the sing is about Bowie's own half-brother, in a certain way.

[markholland]

This is how to put a song across. Amazing and he makes it look so easy. Fantastic.

[jonathanseed]

I can't believe I've only just found this. I was there. It was an incredible night.

[klaasvandenderenministries]

One of the best Bowie songs. Brings me back to the seventies. Listening to Bowie while using the same stuff he used. 😉