Bowie's third album, "The Man Who Sold the World" references to schizophrenia, paranoia, and delusion. Characterized by the heavy rock sound of his new backing band, it was a marked departure from the acoustic guitar and folk rock style established by Space Oddity. Exploiting his androgynous appearance, the original cover of the UK version unveiled two months later depicted the singer wearing a dress,

In 1974 Lulu covered David Bowie's songs "The Man Who Sold the World" and "Watch That Man". Bowie and Mick Ronson produced the recordings. Bowie played saxophone and provided back-up vocals and rumors of a brief affair were confirmed in her 2002 autobiography. "The Man Who Sold the World" became her first Top 10 hit in five years, peaking at #3 in the UK chart in February 1974.

Bowie said of Nirvana's version: "I was simply blown away when I found that Kurt Cobain liked my work, and have always wanted to talk to him about his reasons for covering "The Man Who Sold the World". Bowie called Nirvana's cover "heartfelt", noting that "until this cover, it hadn't occurred to me that I was part of America's musical landscape. I always felt my weight in Europe, but not in the US." In the wake of its release, Bowie bemoaned the fact that when he performed the number himself he would encounter "kids that come up afterwards and say, 'It's cool you're doing a Nirvana song.'

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