David Bowie Cover of the Week: Geoff Alexander covers “God Knows I’m Good”

Geoff Alexander’s YouTube channel tag is, “I wanted to play with a band, so I formed my own.” And that’s one of the things I like about this cover of one of Bowie’s less well-known songs from Space Oddity (1969). Alexander plays all the parts and harmonizes with himself. He’s far from the first to do this type of thing, but he pulls it off exquisitely well, and I was very happy that he chose to focus this talent on a song that is rarely covered by others.

I almost skipped watching this video entirely. In the week following the anniversary of Bowie’s birth and death, a larger-than-normal number of Bowie covers were posted. Sadly, I just didn’t have time to listen to all of them. What caught my attention with this one was the atypical choice of song. I’m glad I watched. And just to be clear, I’m glad I watched and not just listened. Surely, this falls into the type of video I think of as “a guy in a room with a guitar.” But Alexander works with what he has, showing what he’s doing in the different parts of the song with different instruments, as if he is three different band members. He even appears wearing different shirts while playing different parts (which might simply be a function of recording the elements on different days, but nonetheless is a nice effect).

The other important thing about this performance is that it is passionate. I don’t think of “God Knows I’m Good” as one of Bowie’s best, even within the confines of the album on which it appeared. But Alexander seems to have picked up on the song’s contemporary implications and is angry about the subject matter. His notes focus on how the song’s central character gets caught stealing a can of stew that she “desperately needs but can’t afford,” while modernity shrieks and spits around her (there’s mention of a “cash machine,” which I think predates ATMs, which at the very least were not common in 1969). It has occurred to me that the song’s premise is ridiculous. Several safety net programs existed in Great Britain at the time of the song’s composition (as now), so it’s tough to imagine a situation where the woman actually needed to steal in order to eat. But I think the larger point is that the way society had organized itself, safety net programs or not, fostered a collective indifference to individual needs. That’s actually a theme of much of the album and a good part of Bowie’s entire catalogue.

But more importantly, this cover sounds good! Well done.