It was recorded on 15 November 1971 at Trident Studios in London during the sessions for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) and left unreleased until 2024 on the Rock 'n' Roll Star!
A folk ballad, the lyrics discuss topics of self-identity and doubling, and the impact one's present self has on their future lives, themes some linked to the Shadow concepts of Carl Jung.
David Bowie recorded an unfinished version of "Shadow Man" at Trident Studios in London during the sessions for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars on 15 November 1971, the same day as "It's Gonna Rain Again" and the final take of "Five Years".
[7] In a later writeup, Helen Brown of The Independent noted that as its author was "on the verge of developing so many alter egos", one can suspect the "shadow man" to be the young "shy, suburban Davy Jones lurking behind his extreme, stagey persona".
[2] Almost thirty years later, Bowie re-recorded "Shadow Man" during the sessions for the Toy project between July and October 2000, along with other tracks he wrote and recorded between 1964 and 1971, including "Conversation Piece".
The lineup consisted of the members of Bowie's then-touring band: guitarist Earl Slick, bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, pianist Mike Garson, musician Mark Plati and drummer Sterling Campbell.
[10][11] For "Shadow Man", Bowie slowed the tempo down and added a string section arranged by Visconti, giving it, in O'Leary's words, "a dreamy, languid atmosphere".
"[6] Meanwhile, author Paul Trynka describes the track as "a near masterpiece": an "obscure, largely forgotten work [that] illustrated the quality and breadth of the song catalogue [Bowie had] built up over the 35 years.