Which David Bowie song was inspired by his half-brother Terry Burns?

Which David Bowie song was inspired by his half-brother Terry Burns? The answer is “Jump They Say.” Bowie wrote the song about his feelings, memories and complicated relationship with Burns, who had schizophrenia.

Burns died by suicide on 16 January 1985 after walking in front of a train at Coulsdon South railway station. He had previously been treated at Cane Hill Hospital. The song does not simply retell his life; its lyrics transform Bowie’s personal grief and recollections into a tense, unsettling portrait of pressure and alienation.

“Jump They Say” appeared on Bowie’s 1993 album Black Tie White Noise and was produced by Nile Rodgers. It became the album’s lead single and reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart. The title is sometimes mistaken for a reference to the song’s striking video, but the personal inspiration came first; Mark Romanek’s video later dramatized paranoia and coercion through a surreal corporate setting.