Jump They Say by David Bowie

Album: Black Tie White Noise (1993)

Charted: 9

License This Song

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

Bowie's half-brother Terry Burns was institutionalized in a mental hospital when he attempted suicide by jumping out of a window. After this failed attempt, Bowie visited his half-brother in the institution, but a few years later in 1985 Terry succeeded in killing himself by escaping the grounds and getting hit by a train. This song deals with Bowie's feelings about his brother and the factors that lead to insanity.
Bowie's track, All The Madmen, is also about Terry Burns.
The song also features a large dose of self. Speaking in a 1993 interview, Bowie said it related in part to his artistic leaps that almost destroyed him, for which he was still looking for some sort of emotional support. "It's also connected to my feeling that sometimes I've jumped metaphysically into the unknown and wondering whether I really believed there was something out there to support me," he explained, "whether you wanna call it, a God or a life-force?"

Comments: 2

Alexander from Krasnoyarsk, OtherGreat song, awesome video.
Kenny from Clydebank, ScotlandPowerful video, the be-suited bowie in the tower elevator, a man among businessmen, a corporate giant, but things falling apart, suicidal brother. Break your heart. Jump they Say. Walk don't walk.

see more comments

More Songfacts:

TelephoneLady Gaga

The Lady Gaga/Beyoncé collaboration "Telephone" isn't just about turning down an unwanted caller, it's an analog for how Gaga was feeling overwhelmed, like a phone was always ringing in her head.

Puttin' On the RitzTaco

The original, 1930s version of "Puttin' On the Ritz" has lyrics about Lenox Avenue in Harlem, not Park Avenue.

AllentownBilly Joel

Billy Joel's song "Allentown" was written as "Levittown," which is the town in Long Island where he grew up. He got the idea to change it after taking a trip to Pennsylvania.

John Lennon's lead guitar work on Yoko Ono's "Walking On Thin Ice" proved to be his final creative act. It was upon their return home after completing laying down the track that Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman.

The Battle Hymn of the RepublicTraditional

John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath got its title from a line in "The Battle Hymn of the Republic": "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored."

ThunderstruckAC/DC

Angus Young created the distinctive opening guitar part for AC/DC's "Thuderstruck" by playing with all the strings taped up except the B. He learned the studio trick from his older brother George Young, who was the rhythm guitarist for The Easybeats.