Can You Hear Me? (David Bowie song)
"Can You Hear Me?" is a ballad by the English musician David Bowie from his 1975 album Young Americans. Bowie called it a "real love song", written with someone in mind, but he did not identify them. The song was released as a single in November 1975 on the B side of "Golden Years".
| "Can You Hear Me?" | |
|---|---|
| Song by David Bowie | |
| from the album Young Americans | |
| A-side | "Golden Years" |
| Released | November 1975 |
| Recorded | January – August 1974 |
| Studio |
|
| Genre | Blue-eyed soul |
| Length | 5:04 |
| Label | RCA |
| Songwriter(s) | David Bowie |
| Producer(s) | Bowie, Tony Visconti, Harry Maslin |
Chris O'Leary writes that "Can You Hear Me?", with its guilt and "studied unease", is "sumptuous, its intro alone masterful": "Once we were lovers / Can they understand? / Closer than others, I was your / I was your man." The alto sax, played by David Sanborn and introduced in the third verse, "becomes a competing vocal line". The arrangement and "small cathedral of voices" obscure the "pathetic man at the heart of the song".
The song was written by Bowie, produced by Bowie, Tony Visconti, and Harry Maslin, and engineered by Carl Paruolo. The backing vocalists included the 24-year-old Luther Vandross at the very beginning of his career.