Co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti, the song was recorded at the Château d'Hérouville in Hérouville, France, in September 1976, and completed at Hansa Studios in West Berlin in October and November.

The song began as a simple G major chord progression that Bowie gave to the backing musicians, writing and recording his vocals afterward.

The song's lyrics are dark and introspective, reflecting Bowie's mental state after years of drug addiction, and provide a stark contrast to the music itself, which is more joyous and upbeat.

Like its parent album Low, "Sound and Vision" was co-produced by David Bowie and Tony Visconti, with contributions from multi-instrumentalist Brian Eno.

Used during the recording of Iggy Pop's The Idiot earlier that year,[10] Bowie heavily favoured this "three-phase" process, which he would use for the rest of his career.

[11] According to biographer Chris O'Leary, the song began as a simple descending-by-fifths G major progression that Bowie gave to the band, suggesting further melodies, a baseline and drum ideas.

Drummer Dennis Davis thought it sounded "like a Crusaders tune", while bassist George Murray found it reminiscent of Bo Diddley.

It was meant to be a distant echo but, when David heard it, he pushed up the fader until it became a prominent vocal – much to my embarrassment, as I thought it very twee.

[1][6] Bowie's vocals take a full 1 minute and 30 seconds to appear, which was done at Eno's insistence to "confound listener expectations".

[12] Described by Bowie as his "ultimate retreat song",[12] the lyrics for "Sound and Vision" offer introspection, reflecting his mental state following a long period of drug addiction.

It continues the lyrical themes of "Breaking Glass" and "What in the World", in that "after failing to connect with female others", the narrator focuses on the self and by "drifting into my solitude", sets the stage for the wordless introspection of side two.

Doggett writes: "Like 'Quicksand', 'Sound and Vision' was Bowie's admission that his creative inspiration had disappeared: cunningly, he used a confession of artistic bankruptcy to spark his muse back to life.

[12] Author Thomas Jerome Seabrook writes that Bowie's "low, reflective [vocal is] at odds with the upbeat, almost parodic sensibilities of the music that surrounds it".

[1] The bass is distorted while the piano and mock-string section are engulfed with studio effects; Seabrook further believes the saxophone sounds as if it was treated by Visconti's Harmonizer.

[1][2] Wilcken writes that the track's instrumentation and backing vocals combine to create a "sonic effect" that equals that of a "pop song with quotation marks, not quite sure whether it's a part of the genre or referencing it".

[22] Perone finds the song a "hybrid of soul and pop", continuing musical and lyrical themes of Bowie's 1975 album Young Americans.

[4] Michael Gallucci of Ultimate Classic Rock describes a sense of "pop minimalism" on "Sound and Vision" and "Be My Wife" that showed Bowie entering a new phase of his career.

[26] The album was originally slated for release in November 1976, but RCA delayed it until January 1977, fearing poor commercial performance.

[31] RCA selected "Sound and Vision" as the first single from the album, releasing it on 11 February 1977, with the catalogue number PB 0905 and the instrumental "A New Career in a New Town" as the B-side.

[32] A 12" promotional single was also released in the US the same year, featuring a seven-minute remix of "Sound and Vision" segueing into Iggy Pop's "Sister Midnight".

[20][29] The single's success in the UK confused RCA executives, and allowed Bowie to persuade them to release Iggy Pop's The Idiot, which they did in March 1977.

[33] In 2021, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified the song silver for sales and streams exceeding 200,000 units in the UK.

Calling it "metallic beauty", he praised Bowie's vocal performance, stating: "His singing, as always, is more mechanical than melodic, but in context, the perfect foil for the harsh guitar and sliding synthesiser.

[47] The same year, in a list ranking every Bowie single from worst to best, Ultimate Classic Rock placed "Sound and Vision" at number nine.