I Can't Read

"I Can't Read"
Single by David Bowie
from the album The Ice Storm
Released	December 1997
Format	CD single
Genre	Rock
Length	4:40
Label	Velvel Records/ZYX ZYX 8757-8
Producer(s)	David Bowie, Mark Plati, Reeves Gabrels
David Bowie singles chronology
"I'm Afraid of Americans" (1997) "I Can't Read" (1997) "Thursday's Child" (1999)

"I Can't Read" is a song written by David Bowie and Reeves Gabrels for Tin Machine on their debut album in 1989.

Bowie recorded a new version of the song in 1997 for the film The Ice Storm. This version was released as a single in Germany and Scandinavia by Velvel Records in December 1997. In January 1998 it was also released in Australia by Shock Records under exclusive license from Velvel Records. The single stayed in the UK Top 200 for 3 weeks, peaking at No. 73.

When Bowie performed the song in 1996 he described it as "full of remorse and agony, I expect, it's when jobs go wrong, and home doesn't really feel warm anymore, and you don't need anybody - you don't even pretend you do - and you end up in this kind of state."

Track listing

CD: Velvel / ZYX 8757-8 (Germany)

1. "I Can't Read" (Short Version) (Bowie, Gabrels) – 4:40
2. "I Can't Read" (Long Version) (Bowie, Gabrels) – 5:30
3. "This Is Not America" (Bowie, Metheny) – 3:48

Live versions

• A live version recorded in 1989 was released on the 12" and CD version of the single "Tin Machine"
• Another live version recorded during the Tin Machine Tour in 1991 was released on the live album Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby in 1992.
• An acoustic version of the 1997 single was performed by Bowie and Reeves Gabrels for the radio station WRXT in Canada 16 October 1997.

Cover versions

• Robert Lurie Collective - Loving the Alien: Athens Georgia Salutes David Bowie
• Tim Bowness and Samuel Smiles - Diamond Gods: Interpretations of Bowie (2001)

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics