B-side "TVC 15" Format 7" | Released 23 January 1976 Label RCA | |
Recorded September – November 1975 at Cherokee Studios (Los Angeles, California) Length 10:14 (album version)
3:40 (French single version) | ||
"Station to Station" is a song by English musician David Bowie. It was written and recorded at Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles in 1975, and released in January 1976 as the title track and opener of Bowie's tenth studio album as well as on a promotional 7-inch single in France.
Contents
Composition
The song is Bowie's longest studio recording, at just over 10 minutes. Structurally, the song builds from a droning, guitar-driven introductory portion that mimics a train building up speed, to an uptempo section punctuated by the refrain "It's too late."
The lyrics contain various references to Aleister Crowley, Kabbalah and gnosticism. Bowie stated that "The "Station to Station" track itself is very much concerned with the Stations of the Cross."
Single version
The song was released as a promo single (42549 A) in January 1976 in France, with a shortened duration of 3:40 and "TVC 15" on the b-side. The single version begins at the central section of the song with the drums just prior to the "once there were mountains..." lyric. This short edit of "Station To Station" was mainly for radio stations and was played frequently on French radio at the time. The single edit appears on the Deluxe Edition of the 2010 reissue of the Station to Station album and on Re:Call 2, part of the Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976) compilation released in 2016.