Released 6 April 2016 Label ISO
RCA | Format Digital download | |
Recorded 2015 at The Magic Shop and Human Worldwide Studios
(New York City, New York) Genre Art pop
alternative dance
jazz fusion Length 5:47 (album version)
4:26 (video edit) | ||
"I Can't Give Everything Away" is a song by English musician David Bowie. The song was released as a posthumous single on 6 April 2016, also acting as the third and final single from Bowie's twenty-fifth studio album, Blackstar (2016). The track was written by Bowie and produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti.
Contents
Prior to issue as a posthumous single, "I Can't Give Everything Away" peaked at number 45 on the Swiss Hitparade chart; number 141 on the UK Singles Chart; and number 142 on the French Singles Chart.
The song contains a similar harmonica part to that of "A New Career in a New Town", an instrumental from Bowie's 1977 album Low.
Critical reception
"I Can't Give Everything Away" received positive reviews from critics. Sam Richards of NME called the song "a serene, lilting number", while Ben Skipper of the IB Times labelled it as a "beautiful and moving farewell". Neil McCormick of The Telegraph called the song an "epic closing track", commenting that "Bowie sounds like he is grappling with his own mystery: 'Seeing more and feeling less / Saying no but meaning yes / This is all I ever meant / That's the message that I sent.'" Pitchfork listed "I Can't Give Everything Away" on their ranking of the 100 best songs of 2016 at number 23.
Music video
On 6 April 2016 an animated lyric video was released, created by Jonathan Barnbrook, who also designed the album's artwork. He explained his motives behind the video as follows:
“This is really a very simple little video that I wanted to be ultimately positive,” Barnbrook says. “We start off in the black and white world of ★, but in the final chorus we move to brilliant colour, I saw it as a celebration of David, to say that despite the adversity we face, the difficult things that happen such as David’s passing, that human beings are naturally positive, they look forward and can take the good from the past and use it as something to help with the present. We are a naturally optimistic species and we celebrate the good that we are given.”
"I Can't Give Everything Away" impacted radio worldwide and was playlisted at BBC Radio 2, BBC 6 Music, Absolute and Radio X in the UK.