Behind David Bowie’s Oddest Work: The Soundtrack for ‘Labyrinth’

David Bowie’s catalog is vast and deeply diverse. Seldom has an artist switched up their look and sound more (and as successfully) as Bowie. However, there are a few surprises still to be found when looking back at his career. Among the oddest project Bowie ever worked on is the soundtrack to the Jim Henson movie, Labyrinth. Learn more about the project, below.

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How did Bowie Get Involved

If any rocker was going to appeal to children it would be Bowie. His flashy on stage persona could be co-opted by a younger audience–though in actuality it likely wouldn’t be appropriate. He leaned into that possibility for Labyrinth.

Famed creator Henson reached out to Bowie with the concepts for Labyrinth. The film follows a young girl as she attempts to save her baby brother from a menacing Goblin King (Bowie). She must escape his Labyrinth with the help of her newfound friends. Bowie ended up not only starring in the film, but creating the soundtrack for the project.

“I’d always wanted to be involved in the music-writing aspect of a movie that would appeal to children of all ages, as well as everyone else, and I must say that Jim gave me a completely free hand with it,” Bowie once said. “The script itself was terribly amusing without being vicious or spiteful or bloody, and it had a lot more heart in it than many other special effects movies, so I was pretty hooked from the beginning.”

Though the project seems a little outside of Bowie’s wheelhouse, the rocker once went on record saying he was a fan of Henson’s most famous work, The Muppets.

“Who wasn¹t a fan of Kermit and Miss Piggy,” Bowie once said. “It would be a pretty stone-hearted person who could deny them!”

Best Songs

1. “Magic Dance”

We have to start this list with a song that coincides with Bowie’s first appearance in the film: “Magic Dance.” This catchy anthem is adjacent to the plot, in that Bowie sings about a baby and his hordes of goblin minions. It’s impossible to shake this song once you hear it. You’ll be singing the chorus for days to come.

I saw my baby
Crying hard as babe could cry
What could I do?
My baby’s love had gone
And left my baby blue
Nobody knew

2. “Chilly Down”

“Chilly Down” is a fever dream. It’s deeply off kilter and succeeds in throwing the listener off center. Like most of this movie, the meaning behind this song is a little shaky. Labyrinth is a film that is experienced like a rollercoaster that is hard to predict. This song is much the same.

Chilly down with fire gang
Think small with the fire gang
Bad Heads and the fire gang
When you think this wild chilly down, chilly down with fire gang

3. “As The World Fall Down”

This oh-so-’80s ballad is the song that could best fit in Bowie’s regular catalog. The mix of subtle synths and a driving beat seems tailor-made for an intimate moment at a prom or akin event. If any song on this soundtrack was going to have outside appeal, it would be “As The World Fall Down.”

There’s such a sad love
Deep in your eyes a kind of pale jewel
Open and closed
Within your eyes
I’ll place the sky
Within your eyes

Photo by Steve Back/Daily Mail/Shutterstock