Written and recorded by Bowie as a demo, the song was first released by Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits fame. As a solo artist, it was Noone’s first album and first single. Featuring Bowie on piano, the song hit #12 (in the UK), making it Bowie’s second charting single as a writer. “Space Oddity...
[Verse 1]
Wake up, you sleepy head
Put on some clothes, shake up your bed
Put another log on the fire for me
I've made some breakfast and coffee
Look out my window, what do I see?
A crack in the sky and a hand reaching down to me
[Pre-Chorus]
All the nightmares came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay
[Verse 2]
What are we coming to?
No room for me, no fun for you
I think about a world to come
Where the books were found by the Golden ones
Written in pain, written in awe
By a puzzled man who questioned what we were here for
[Pre-Chorus]
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay
[Chorus]
Oh, you Pretty Things (Oh, you Pretty Things)
Don't you know you're driving your Mamas and Papas insane?
Oh, you Pretty Things (Oh, you Pretty Things)
Don't you know you're driving your Mamas and Papas insane?
Let me make it plain
You gotta make way for the Homo Superior
[Verse 3]
Look out at your children
See their faces in golden rays
Don't kid yourself, they belong to you
They're the start of the coming race
The Earth is a bitch, we've finished our news
Homo Sapiens have outgrown their use
[Pre-Chorus]
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay
[Chorus]
Oh, you Pretty Things (Oh, you Pretty Things)
Don't you know you're driving your Mamas and Papas insane?
Oh, you Pretty Things (Oh, you Pretty Things)
Don't you know you're driving your Mamas and Papas insane?
Let me make it plain
Gotta make way for the Homo Superior
Oh! You Pretty Things was written by David Bowie.
Oh! You Pretty Things was produced by David Bowie & Ken Scott.
David Bowie released Oh! You Pretty Things on Fri Dec 17 1971.
From David’s original notes, distributed as a press release:
The reaction of me to my wife being pregnant was archetypal daddy – Oh he’s gonna be another Elvis. This song is all that plus a dash of sci-fi."
Live at the BBC Television Studios, London, 1972