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Rebel Rebel
Bowie RebelRebel
  single by David Bowie
Released 15 February 1974
Format 7" single
Recorded Ludolf Studios, Hilversum, Netherlands, January 1974
Label RCA Records
Writers David Bowie
Producer David Bowie
Duran Duran cover song

"Rebel Rebel" is a song by David Bowie, released in 1974 as a single from the album Diamond Dogs and covered by Duran Duran.

About the song[]

Originally written for a mooted Ziggy Stardust musical in late 1973, "Rebel Rebel" was Bowie's last single in the glam rock style that had been his trademark. It was also his first hit since 1969 not to feature lead guitarist Mick Ronson; Bowie himself played guitar on this and almost all other tracks from Diamond Dogs, producing what NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray called "a rocking dirty noise that owed as much to Keith Richards as it did to the departed Ronno".

The song is notable for its gender-bending lyrics ("You got your mother in a whirl / She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl") as well as its distinctive riff, which rock journalist Kris Needs has described as "a classic stick-in-the-head like the Stones' 'Satisfaction'". Bowie himself later said, "It's a fabulous riff! Just fabulous! When I stumbled onto it, it was 'Oh, thank you!'"

Duran Duran covered the song in concert during The Radio Station Festival Tour in 1995.

Other related appearances[]

Albums:[]

Lyrics[]

Doo doo doo-doo doo doo doo doo

Doo doo doo-doo doo doo doo doo

Doo doo doo-doo doo doo doo doo



You've got your mother in a whirl 

She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl

Hey babe, your hair's alright

Hey babe, let's go out tonight

You like me, and I like it all

We like dancing and we look divine

You love bands when they're playing hard

You want more and you want it fast

They put you down, they say I'm wrong

You tacky thing, you put them on



Rebel Rebel, you've torn your dress

Rebel Rebel, your face is a mess

Rebel Rebel, how could they know?

Hot tramp, I love you so!



Don't ya?

Doo doo doo-doo doo doo doo doo 



You've got your mother in a whirl 'cause she's

Not sure if you're a boy or a girl

Hey babe, your hair's alright

Hey babe, let's stay out tonight

You like me, and I like it all

We like dancing and we look divine

You love bands when they're playing hard

You want more and you want it fast

They put you down, they say I'm wrong

You tacky thing, you put them on



Rebel Rebel, you've torn your dress

Rebel Rebel, your face is a mess

Rebel Rebel, how could they know?

Hot tramp, I love you so!



Don't ya?

Oh?



Doo doo doo-doo doo doo doo doo

Doo doo doo-doo doo doo doo doo



Rebel Rebel, you've torn your dress

Rebel Rebel, your face is a mess

Rebel Rebel, how could they know?

Hot tramp, I love you so!



You've torn your dress, your face is a mess

You can't get enough, but enough ain't the test

You've got your transmission and your live wire

You got your cue line and a handful of ludes

You wanna be there when they count up the dudes

And I love your dress

You're a juvenile success

Because your face is a mess

So how could they know?

I said, how could they know?



So what you wanna know

Calamity's child, chi-chile, chi-chile

Where'd you wanna go?

What can I do for you? Looks like you've been there too

'Cause you've torn your dress

And your face is a mess

Oh, your face is a mess

Oh, oh, so how could they know?

Eh, eh, how could they know? 

Eh, eh
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