"Afraid" is a song written by David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

 for the album Heathen in 2002

2002 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2002.-Events:*February 3 – U2 perform during the halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVI...

. It was originally intended for the unreleased album Toy in 2001 and was even featured in a commercial for XM Satellite Radio

XM Satellite Radio

XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...

 that same year.

Video footage of Mark Plati

Mark Plati

Mark Plati is a New York-based musician, record producer, and songwriter, widely acclaimed for his work in the 1990s with David Bowie. An in-demand producer, Plati also has worked with Spookey Ruben, The Cure, Duncan Sheik, Hooverphonic, Robbie Williams, Joe McIntyre, and Natalie Imbruglia...

 and Bowie recording the demo of the song is available on BowieNet.

The song makes a reference to John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

's song "God

God (John Lennon song)

"God" is a song from John Lennon's first post-Beatles solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album was released on 11 December 1970 in the United States and the United Kingdom....

" with the lyrics "I believe in Beatles." That lyric could also simply be a reference to the Beatles themselves.

Live versions

• The song was played live on the Heathen Tour
  Heathen Tour
  The David Bowie Heathen Tour was a 2002 concert tour in support of the album, Heathen, and was also notable for the performances of all songs from the 1977 Low album.-History:...
  
  and Reality Tour.
• A version recorded live at The Point Theatre, Dublin, 22 or 23 November 2003 was released on the live DVD A Reality Tour
  A Reality Tour (film)
  A Reality Tour is a DVD released in 2004 of David Bowie's performance at Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland in 2003 during the Reality Tour.-Repertoire:...
  
  .
• The song was played as a background noise on a recent Canadian made film. The film will be released in 2012 on CTV.

Cover versions

• The Jenn Beast Band - Spiders from Venus: Indie Women Artists and Female-Fronted Bands Cover David Bowie (2003)