"Kooks" is a song written by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, which appears on his 1971 album Hunky Dory. Bowie wrote this song to his newborn son Duncan Jones. The song was a pastiche of early 1970s Neil Young because Bowie was listening to a Neil Young record at home on 30 May 1971 when he got the news of the arrival of his son.^[2]

Live versions

• Before the studio recording of the song was made, it was recorded for the BBC In Concert radio show with John Peel, on 3 June 1971 (broadcast on 20 June 1971). In 2000 this recording was released on the Bowie at the Beeb album.
• The song was recorded again for the BBC "Sounds of the 70s" radio show with Bob Harris on 21 September 1971 (broadcast on 4 October 1971).

Personnel

• David Bowie: lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar, alto sax
• Mick Ronson: string arrangement
• Trevor Bolder: bass, trumpet
• Mick Woodmansey: drums
• Rick Wakeman: piano

In popular culture

• The first three lines of the song ("Will you stay in our lovers' story / If you stay, you won't be sorry / 'Cause we believe in you") are used as a repeated motif in Miranda July's 2015 novel The First Bad Man
• The British indie band The Kooks named themselves after the song.
• The song appears in the Futurama episode "Children of a Lesser Bog".

References