"Where Are We Now?" is a song by English musician David Bowie. Recorded in secret between September and October 2011 at the Magic Shop in New York City, it was released by ISO and Columbia Records as the lead single of his 25th studio album The Next Day on iTunes on 8 January 2013, Bowie's 66th birthday. It was accompanied by a music video directed by Tony Oursler, which was posted on Bowie's website. According to producer Tony Visconti, the timing of the release was Bowie's idea, and the single was simply "dropped" in iTunes for fans to discover, with no prior warning or fanfare.
Upon its release, "Where Are We Now?" received significant news coverage; it was Bowie's first release of new material since Reality (2003). It garnered acclaim from music critics, many of whom praised the song's reflective lyrics and somber quality, and deemed it a welcome return for the artist after a decade-long hiatus. It topped the iTunes charts in numerous countries and peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart, making it Bowie's biggest hit since "Absolute Beginners" in 1986 and his last top ten hit before his death in January 2016. The success of the song also meant that Bowie has had a top ten hit on the UK Singles Chart in five different decades (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2010s), something which few other artists have managed to achieve.
Composition and recording
The backing track for "Where Are We Now?" was recorded on 13 September 2011 at the Magic Shop in New York City, with overdubs recorded later. Pianist Henry Hay said of the recording: "'Where Are We Now?' is the very first track that I played on, on my first day of working with [Bowie]. [He] had played a good bit of the body of the song on piano, and so what ended up on the album was a combination of his playing and my playing – bits and pieces. I believe that I played the entirety of the ending portion. The whole process was very organic." Bowie recorded his lead vocal on 22 October 2011.
Musically, "Where Are We Now?" is an art rock song. The lyrics are simple and repetitive, an older person reminiscing about time spent and time wasted: "Had to get the train / from Potsdamer Platz / you never knew that / that I could do that / just walking the dead", the last line of which, in the video, produces a grimace in the singer. He grimaces again just after: "A man lost in time near KaDeWe / just walking the dead", which precedes the refrain: "Where are we now / where are we now?" Chris Roberts called it a "spectral, frail yearning without chest-beating, candid in its few, clipped phrases and sighs concerning the heart's filthy lessons."
Graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook, who created the cover for The Next Day, wrote that the song is a "comparison between Berlin when the wall fell and Berlin today".
Producer Tony Visconti said "I think it's a very reflective track for David. He certainly is looking back on his Berlin period and it evokes this feeling... it's very melancholy, I think. It's the only track on the album that goes this much inward for him".
Artwork
The single's cover artwork, like its parent album, was designed by
Jonathan Barnbrook. In Pegg's words, the monochrome upside-down image depicts "a stick-thin [Bowie] leaning at a 45-degree angle with his microphone stand," performing at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City in the fall of 1974. It was originally intended to be the artwork for The Next Day but was passed over in favour of a modified version of the "Heroes" artwork.
Release
Prior to the single's release, Bowie had released no new material for ten years, since 2003's Reality, or performed live since 2006, and it was generally believed by then that he had effectively retired. However, on the morning of his 66th birthday, 8 January 2013, the video for "Where Are We Now?" appeared on YouTube, along with information on his website about his upcoming album The Next Day. "Where Are We Now?" was also made available for purchase on iTunes the same day. The release was unusual in that it was issued with no promotion at all, with fans discovering the existence of the single themselves. Regarding the surprise release, producer Tony Visconti said "It was [Bowie's] idea to just drop it at midnight on his birthday and just let things avalanche." Visconti however, thought it was an "odd choice" for an opening single.