David Bowie Loathed Iconic Song with 350 Million Streams So Much, He Once Threatened to Erase It
David Bowie, the inimitable musical genius whose career spanned five decades and transcended genres, is beloved for his innovation, artistry, and boundary-pushing work. From Space Oddity to Heroes to Let’s Dance, his catalog is a treasure trove of iconic tracks that changed the course of music history. Yet, buried within this legacy is a song that Bowie himself grew to despise so intensely that he once threatened to destroy it. Despite its success, the song in question would become a thorn in Bowie’s side—a symbol of a creative decision he regretted.
The song? The Laughing Gnome—a whimsical and light-hearted track from his early years. Although it’s one of Bowie’s least representative pieces, The Laughing Gnome managed to achieve commercial success, a feat that only intensified Bowie’s disdain for it over time. With over 350 million streams today, the song remains an enigma in Bowie’s discography, cherished by some fans for its oddball charm and dismissed by others as an anomaly in a career full of brilliance.
This article explores the background of The Laughing Gnome, Bowie’s complex relationship with it, and why he came to hate a song that would achieve far more success than he ever imagined. We’ll also look at how it sits in the context of Bowie’s broader catalog, his motivations during the early years of his career, and the larger theme of artistic regret.
The Early Years: A Man Searching for His Sound
David Bowie, born David Robert Jones in 1947, entered the music scene in the 1960s, but it wasn’t until the early 1970s that he truly began to find his voice. In his early career, Bowie was still experimenting with various styles and personas, shifting between pop, rock, and experimental sounds. His breakthrough album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972), would establish him as a rock icon, but the road to Ziggy was paved with less-than-serious endeavors.
One of those efforts was The Laughing Gnome, a song recorded in 1967 that reflected the playful, eccentric nature of a young, relatively unknown Bowie. Released as a single, the song featured Bowie’s distinctive falsetto voice, a playful storyline about a gnome who laughs, and a light-hearted, almost childlike melody. It was a stark contrast to the bold, groundbreaking music that Bowie would soon be known for. Yet, The Laughing Gnome somehow made it onto the charts, peaking at number 6 in the UK, much to Bowie’s later frustration.
For Bowie, the song represented a time when he was still finding his artistic direction. The whimsical tone and childish nature of the track were far removed from the complex, introspective works he would come to create. The song felt like a joke to him—an embarrassing piece of his past that he never felt truly reflected his artistic vision.
The Song’s Unlikely Success and Bowie’s Growing Regret
Despite Bowie’s own distaste for the song, The Laughing Gnome was embraced by the public, becoming a minor hit and embedding itself in the British pop culture of the era. The song’s commercial success only added to Bowie’s discomfort. To him, it was a relic of his pre-Ziggy Stardust days, a piece of pop fluff that he felt was far removed from the serious, revolutionary artist he was becoming.
As Bowie’s career blossomed with Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold the World, and Hunky Dory, the gap between the music he was creating and the music of his early career grew larger. Bowie was quickly moving from whimsical pop into dark, introspective rock, and The Laughing Gnome felt like a millstone around his neck. He began to look at it as a frivolous mistake—a song that represented a past he had outgrown and a sound that he was desperately trying to escape.
In the late 1970s, after achieving international fame with The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Young Americans, Bowie was in the midst of reinventing himself once again. He had discarded his earlier, more commercial approach in favor of more experimental, avant-garde projects. It was during this period that Bowie’s disdain for The Laughing Gnomedeepened.
The Legendary Threat to Destroy the Song
According to numerous interviews and anecdotes from those close to Bowie, his frustration with The Laughing Gnomeeventually reached a breaking point. Bowie reportedly became so upset with the song’s continued popularity that he threatened to completely erase it from history. Some stories suggest that he once mentioned that if he had the opportunity, he would have destroyed all copies of the track, erasing it from both his catalog and public consciousness.
Bowie was known for his perfectionism, often reflecting on his early work with embarrassment. The Laughing Gnomeseemed to haunt him as a reminder of a time when he had been trying to figure out who he was as an artist. He had no interest in being remembered for a silly pop song, particularly when he had moved on to much more substantial work. This tension between his early success and his later ambitions came to a head as he approached the 1980s, a decade during which he would cement his legacy as one of the most important figures in modern music.
It’s important to note that Bowie’s reaction to the song wasn’t rooted in a rejection of the fans who enjoyed it. Rather, it was tied to his sense of identity as an artist. The Laughing Gnome was simply not a reflection of the man he had become, and the fact that it still lived on, streaming millions of times over the years, felt like a dissonance in the otherwise carefully curated narrative of his career.
Why the Song Endured Despite Bowie’s Hatred
Despite Bowie’s wishes, The Laughing Gnome never truly disappeared. Over the years, the song has developed a cult following, and its quirky charm has found an audience among listeners who embrace its light-hearted nature. Some have even come to see it as a fun, endearing artifact of Bowie’s early experimentation, a reminder of a time when he was just starting to shape his public persona.
The song’s enduring popularity speaks to the power of nostalgia in music. For fans, The Laughing Gnome offers a glimpse into a different, more carefree side of Bowie—one that didn’t yet know the full extent of his future success. It’s a playful, if peculiar, chapter in his otherwise serious and groundbreaking career, and for some listeners, that makes it all the more charming.
The rise of digital streaming in the 21st century has ensured that songs like The Laughing Gnome live on well beyond their original context. With more than 350 million streams today, the track has become a curious footnote in Bowie’s discography, celebrated by some and overlooked by others. Its popularity may have been a source of personal frustration for Bowie, but it’s also a testament to the unpredictability of a musician’s legacy.
The Larger Theme of Artistic Regret and Reinvention
Bowie’s discomfort with The Laughing Gnome fits into a broader narrative of his career: the constant reinvention and the desire to leave behind the past. His career was marked by a relentless pursuit of change, from his musical style to his public persona. He was always eager to move forward, reinventing himself with each album and pushing the boundaries of what popular music could be.
This drive for reinvention made Bowie a visionary, but it also meant that he was often conflicted about the work he left behind. The Laughing Gnome was just one of many moments that didn’t quite fit into his evolving vision of who he was as an artist. It’s a reflection of Bowie’s larger struggle with his early career—one that wasn’t always as assured and self-aware as the work he would eventually produce.
Conclusion: A Song That Will Never Be Forgotten
Today, The Laughing Gnome remains a curious part of David Bowie’s legacy—a song that he once wanted to erase, but which continues to live on through digital streaming, nostalgia, and the memories of fans. While Bowie himself may have viewed it as a mistake, the song offers a unique insight into the artist’s growth and the tension between his past and future.
For the millions of listeners who continue to enjoy The Laughing Gnome today, it represents an offbeat piece of Bowie’s complex musical journey—a playful, whimsical reminder of an artist still in the process of finding his true voice. For better or worse, the song will never be forgotten.
