Genre Hard rock, heavy metal Label Mercury | Length 4:13 Writer(s) David Bowie | |
Released November 4, 1970 (U.S.)
April 1971 (UK) Recorded Trident and Advision Studios, London
18 April - 22 May 1970 | ||
"She Shook Me Cold" is a song written by David Bowie in 1970 for the album The Man Who Sold the World. Mick Ronson's solo guitar is influenced by hard rock as played by Cream, Led Zeppelin and Jeff Beck. Although solely credited to Bowie, this and other songs from the album were constructed around jams by all of the musicians. Tony Visconti, who played bass on the track in addition to producing the entire album, was quoted as saying, "The songs were written by all four of us. We'd jam in a basement, and Bowie would just say whether he liked them or not."
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The working title of this track was "Suck". Its title bears a resemblance to the Muddy Waters song "You Shook Me," which was recorded by Jeff Beck for the then recent album Truth. The lyrics are about a heterosexual encounter with references to oral sex. The band was deliberately recorded to sound as "fat" as possible, to be able to play the song live without disappointing.