The release
‘Dead Man Walking’ was released as the third single from Earthling, following ‘Telling Lies’ and ‘Little Wonder’.The single was issued in a range of formats with a number of mixes, edits, and bonus tracks.
In the EU there were three CD singles, released in March 1997. The first contained a 4:01 edit and the full 6:50 album version, while the second contained ‘Dead Man Walking’ (Moby mix), the album version, and ‘I’m Deranged’ (Jungle mix). The third CD single contained the Moby mix, House mix, This One’s Not Dead Yet remix, and Vigor Mortis remix.
The UK had two CD singles, released on 14 April. The first contained the Single edit, ‘I’m Deranged’ (Jungle mix), and ‘The Hearts Filthy Lesson’ (Good Karma mix). The second had the album version, Moby mix, House mix, and This One’s Not Dead Yet remix.
There was also a UK 12″ vinyl single, which contained the House mix, Vigor Mortis remix, and ‘Telling Lies’ (Paradox mix).
In Japan the CD contained the Single edit, House mix, This One’s Not Dead Yet remix, and ‘I’m Deranged’ (Jungle mix). An Australian CD had the Single edit, Moby mix, House mix, This One’s Not Dead Yet remix, and Vigor Mortis remix.
The Moby mix was also included on the remix disc
with liveandwell.com, and on the 2004 reissue of Earthling. ‘Dead Man Walking’ (edit) was released in 2021 on Re:Call 5, part of the Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001) box set.
Live performances
David Bowie performed ‘Dead Man Walking’ on every date of the Earthling Tour in 1997. A recording from 20 July 1997 can be heard on the 2021 live album Look At The Moon! (Live Phoenix Festival 97).
He also performed an acoustic version during several television and radio appearances that year. A performance from Late Night with Conan O’Brien was released on the US compilation Live From 6A.
One of my favorite clips of his on YouTube is this acoustic performance of ‘Dead Man Walking’. It’s just him and Reeves Gabrels on acoustic guitars. And if you’ve heard the original version on Earthling, it’s like this extreme electronica cut. But it sounds so amazing stripped down like that, and the main guitar part was this riff Jimmy Page had taught him in the ’60s. It’s such a beautiful song, and this acoustic version is really striking. I remember hearing it on the radio years ago.I don’t think it’s ever been recorded, but I think some station like WFUV or something played it on air and I didn’t even know who it was at first. So I decided I needed to learn it, so I was trying to learn it off the YouTube clip, but I wasn’t sure about the tuning of it. So I went to David and said, ‘Hey David, you gotta show me this,’ and I started playing it for him. He got a kick out of that, me wanting to learn this obscure version of the song.
