Compared to the nineteen pieces found on
Outside,
Earthling contains only nine tracks. Additionally, Bowie stated that he found
Earthling "primitive" in contrast to the complexity of its predecessor. Musically, the album showcases an
electronica-influenced sound partly inspired by the
industrial and drum and bass culture of the 1990s. Bowie had previously explored these styles on
Outside, but fully embraced them for
Earthling. In a contemporary interview, Bowie said that "I thought that what we should do was develop our vocabulary of dance forms, but incorporate rock." While reviewers generally consider
Earthling Bowie's "drum and bass album", the biographer
Marc Spitz argues that "it's simply [a] case of a veteran artist pursuing a sound with which he or she has fallen in love." Buckley agrees, further noting that only three or four tracks contain a drum and bass element. Plati later contested: Characterised by "rapid-fire bass, hailstorm percussion, flashes of distorted guitar, sampling [and] sudden dramatic pauses", drum and bass rhythms dominate "Little Wonder", "Battle for Britain (The Letter)", "Telling Lies" and "
Dead Man Walking". Other reviewers have noted the presence of
industrial rock, electronica, The author James E. Perone found an emphasis on
techno and jungle and deems
Earthling more musically accessible than its predecessor, partially aided by "strong melodic hooks" throughout. Bowie initially compared the album's aggressive sound to 1980's
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). Bowie called writing the track a "ridiculous" exercise in pure stream of consciousness: "I just picked
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and made a line for each of the dwarves' names. And that's the song [laughs]. And then I ran out of dwarves' names, so there's new dwarves in it like 'Stinky'." Originally set to be a "nine-minute jungle electronic epic", the song was trimmed to six minutes for the album. Described by O'Leary as a combination of
arena rock and electronica, it utilises percussion and power chords from the Prodigy's "
Firestarter", a 1996 UK number one that assisted in bringing drum and bass rhythms to the mainstream. "Looking for Satellites" was the second track recorded for the album. In an interview with
Mojo, Bowie described the track as "A straight, rational piece about where we find ourselves at this particular point in this era: somewhere between religion and technology, and not quite sure where to go next. It's kind of a poignant feeling, standing alone on a beach at night looking for a satellite... but what you're really looking for is an answer." It features various cut-up lyrics that were influenced by the then-recent discovery of the possibility of
life on Mars. Bowie considered the lyrics "measuring the distance between the crucifixion and flying saucers". The atmosphere is said by Pegg to contain "wistful uncertainty". Gabrels' guitar solo, pieced together from multiple takes, was added in the last minute at Bowie's insistence. According to Plati, "Battle for Britain (The Letter)" was an "attempt to do a
jazz-tinged jungle track". He believed the song brought focus to the album, wherein the structures would resemble "actual songs [instead of] intense atmospheres". Characterised by various loops and distortion, the lyrics discuss Bowie's uncertainty about his own British identity, as he had not lived in the UK for two decades. The music combines techno and the
alternative rock of Tin Machine, with vocal melodies and harmonies reminiscent of, in Perone's words, "a 1966 or 1967 British rock band". For the piano solo, Bowie challenged Garson to play a part based on an
Igor Stravinsky piece, which he interpreted after hearing it played on a CD. Inspired by
Heinrich Harrer's autobiography
of the same name, the lyrics of "Seven Years in Tibet" reflect the
Chinese takeover of Tibet. It began as a Gabrels' composition titled "Brussels" and was almost scrapped by Bowie before Gabrels intervened; Bowie later described it as his favourite track on the album. Musically, the song presents a mix of genres such as
new wave,
grunge and
R&B. According to Pegg, it is characterised by saxophone riffs, shrieking guitars, various loops and treated vocals and synthesisers.
(pictured in 1996) influenced the lyrics of "Dead Man Walking" after Bowie performed at a pair of benefit concerts for the artist in October 1996. Bowie described "Dead Man Walking" as his homage "to
rock and roll that is still young while we are all growing old". As such, the lyrics reflect his thoughts on aging at this point in his career. It initially began as a tribute to the actress
Susan Sarandon, but took additional influences from songwriter
Neil Young after Bowie, Gabrels and Dorsey performed at a pair of benefit concerts for the artist in October 1996. The music is, in Perone's words, "largely conventional dance", featuring atonal piano, sequenced keyboards and electric guitar and containing elements of
Latin dance music and jazz; Pegg describes the song as "modern rock". According to Plati, the song took five days to mix: "It [began] completely programmed and by the time it's finished it's completely live." "Telling Lies" originated during the
Outside sessions. While Bowie recorded most of the track alone in April, he polished the lyrics during the actual sessions, while the band added overdubs. Both the music and lyrics represent a hybridisation of the
Outside and
Earthling styles, with Pegg describing the final arrangement as a blend of "a very aggressive rock sound with drum and bass". Perone finds a mix of dance and alternative rock styles that is less successful than other
Earthling tracks. The lyrics also feature more rhyme than other tracks, delving into topics such as gossip, exaggerations and lying. On 11September 1996, Plati's "Feelgood Mix" of the song was released on the
internet, reportedly receiving 250,000 downloads. With this release, Bowie became the first artist to release a downloadable track through the internet. Additional
remixes by
A Guy Called Gerald (the "Paradox Mix") and
Adam F were released the same month. "The Last Thing You Should Do" was one of the final tracks recorded for the album, primarily built using, in O'Leary's words, "discarded overdub bits". Gabrels insisted on including it on the album over the Tin Machine remakes, explaining: "Because I co-wrote both of those T.M. songs, that meant I could stand on the higher moral ground, as I was fighting against my own offspring." He argued that the track turned
Earthling "from a ten-song album pastiche... to a nine-song cohesive statement". The music is primarily jungle with bits of techno, while the lyrics discuss the lack of humour and self-love in the late 20th-century. Bowie himself compared the song's music to "
Sound and Vision" from his 1977 album
Low. O'Leary considers it a "miniature" version of the remaining tracks and, in the context of the entire album, Perone argues the song is more successful as a standalone track. "I'm Afraid of Americans" was originally recorded during the
Outside sessions as "Dummy", featuring different lyrics; this version was released on the
soundtrack for the 1995 film
Showgirls. Bowie stated: "That was something that Eno and I put together, and I just didn't feel it fit
Outside, so it didn't go on it. It just got left behind. So then we took just the embryo of it, and restructured it with this band." Described by Bowie as "one of those stereotypical 'Johnny' songs: Johnny does this, Johnny does that", the
Earthling version contains revised lyrics, additional overdubs from the band and transposed verses. Plati explained: "We pulled things off several different reels to make this new composite. It as quite a clean-up job, not the most enjoyable." Musically, the song mixes techno styles of the 1980s and 1990s while lyrically, it presents a critique of America, in line with Bowie's 1975 track "
Young Americans". "Law (Earthlings on Fire)" was the first track recorded during the sessions. Musically, the song is unlike jungle and more, in O'Leary's words, "industrial trash-pop". Pegg describes it as a club track reminiscent of the
Black Tie White Noise track "Pallas Athena" (1993), featuring various synthesiser effects with a dance-style bassline; Plati compared it to a
sound collage. The lyrics convey existential concerns, using obscure references such as a quote from
polymath Bertrand Russell. Pegg considers it the album's weakest track, while Perone believes it works best as commentary on the "end-of-the-millenium sense of malaise" rather than as a standalone Bowie track. ==Title and packaging==