“Queen Bitch” was written as an homage to Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground, two massive sources of influence for David Bowie.
Bowie first discovered the Velvet Underground when his manager, Kenneth Pitt, gave him an acetate of the then-unreleased The Velvet Underground and Nico in 1966. The 19-y...
[Intro]
Ah, yeah
Oh, yeah
[Verse 1]
I'm up on the eleventh floor and I'm watching the cruisers below
He's down on the street and he's trying hard to pull sister Flo
Oh, my heart's in the basement, my weekend's at an all time low
'Cause she's hoping to score, so I can't see her letting him go
[Pre-Chorus]
Walk out of her heart
Walk out of her mind
Oh, not her
[Chorus]
She's so swishy in her satin and tat
In her frock coat and bipperty-bopperty hat
Oh, God, I could do better than that
Oh, yeah
[Verse 2]
She's an old-time ambassador of sweet talking, night walking games
Oh, and she's known in the darkest clubs for pushing ahead of the dames
If she says she can do it then she can do it, she don't make false claims
But she's a queen, and such are queens that your laughter is sucked in their brains
Now she's leading him on
[Pre-Chorus]
And she'll lay him right down
Yes, she's leading him on
And she'll lay him right down
But it could have been me
Yes, it could have been me
Why didn't I say, why didn't I say
No, no, no?
[Chorus]
She's so swishy in her satin and tat
In her frock coat and bipperty-bopperty hat
Oh, God, I could do better than that
[Verse 3]
So I lay down a while and I gaze at my hotel wall
Oh, the cot is so cold, it don't feel like no bed at all
Yeah, I lay down a while and look at my hotel wall
And he's down on the street, so I throw both his bags down the hall
[Pre-Chorus]
And I'm phoning a cab
'Cause my stomach feels small
There's a taste in my mouth
And it's no taste at all
It could have been me
Oh, yeah, it could have been me
Why didn't I say, why didn't I say
No, no, no?
[Chorus]
She's so swishy in her satin and tat
In her frock coat and bipperty-bopperty hat
Oh, God, I could do better than that
[Outro]
Ooh
You betcha
Oh, yeah
Uh-huh
Mmm
Queen Bitch was written by Bob Cochran & Eddie Cochran & David Bowie.
Queen Bitch was produced by Ken Scott & David Bowie.
David Bowie released Queen Bitch on Fri Dec 17 1971.
Yes, Sister Flo refers to the queen bitch of the title, who is hooking up with the man the singer wants to hook up with.