"Day-In Day-Out" is a song recorded by the English singer David Bowie, serving as the opening track for his seventeenth studio album, Never Let Me Down (1987). It was issued as a single on 23 March 1987 ahead of the record`s release. The recording was solely written by Bowie, while production was handled by him along with David Richards. An R&B track, "Day-In Day-Out" criticizes the treatment of the homeless in the United States at that time, and deals with the depths to which a young mother sinks to feed her child.

An accompanying music video for the single was shot in 1987, being banned by some stations as a result of its content, although it was still nominated for a 1987 MTV Video Music award in the category of "Best Male Video". Commercially, "Day-In Day-Out" was the most successful single from Never Let Me Down, peaking at number 17 in the United Kingdom as well as charting within the top 40 in several other countries.

A re-engineered version of the song that includes Bowie`s original vocals, some original and new instrumentation, and new mastering was released in 2018 as part of the album Never Let Me Down 2018, part of the Loving the Alien (1983–1988) box set.

Background and release

"Day-In Day-Out" was written by Bowie at his home in Montreux, Switzerland, along with most of the rest of Never Let Me Down in mid-1986.[1] It was recorded in the autumn of 1986 at Mountain Studios in the same city.[2] The singer penned the song out of concern for the treatment of the homeless in the United States,[3] a foray into social commentary that he would further pursue with his grunge-precursor band Tin Machine two years later.[4]

"Day-In Day-Out" is an R&B song,[5] being reminiscent of some of the singer`s R&B work in the 1970s.[6] One author said that it is "an example of Bowie`s strength in the R&B genre."[5] The lyrics of the song were compared by one writer to those of Dolly Parton`s "9 to 5" (1980), and deal with the depths a young mother has to sink to feed her child.[5] Bowie claimed the song was selected as the lead-off single for Never Let Me Down "more as a statement of energy" about the album, as opposed to directly trying for a chart-topping single.[1] It was released on 23 March 1987 by EMI on multiple tbody,.mw-parser-output .col-begin>tbody>tr,.mw-parser-output .col-begin>tbody>tr>td{display:block!important;width:100%!important}.mw-parser-output .col-break{padding-left:0!important}}

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Never Let Me Down.[2]

• David Bowie – vocals, composer, producer
• David Richards – producer
• Carlos Alomar – guitar
• Sid McGinnis – guitar
• Erdal Kizilcay – bass guitar, drums, keyboards
• Robin Clark – backing vocals
• Diva Gray – backing vocals
• Loni Groves – backing vocals

Charts