"Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" 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...

 in 1969 and first released as B-side to his single "Space Oddity". It was later included in his second eponym

Eponym

An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...

ous album (released in the U.S. as Man of Words, Man of Music by Mercury

Mercury Records

Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

 and reissued by RCA

RCA Records

RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

 in 1972 as Space Oddity

Space Oddity (album)

-Release history:-7" open reel tape releases:There was only one release of Space Oddity on open reel, in 1972 duplicated by Magtec, North Hollywood, CA 91605. This is a high speed 7.5 ips release...

). The album version features a full orchestral arrangement and is also notable for the debut on a Bowie record of Mick Ronson

Mick Ronson

Michael "Mick" Ronson was an English guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer. He is best known for his work with David Bowie, as one of The Spiders from Mars...

, who contributed uncredited lead guitar

Lead guitar

Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...

 and handclaps midway through the track.

Bowie himself said of the song: "It was about the disassociated, the ones who feel as though they're left outside, which was how I felt about me. I always felt I was on the edge of events, the fringe of things, and left out. A lot of my characters in those early years seem to revolve around that feeling. It must have come from my own interior puzzlement at where I was".

Other releases

• The single version for guitar (played by Bowie) and cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
   (by Paul Buckmaster
  Paul Buckmaster
  Paul John Buckmaster is a Grammy Award-winning English artist, arranger and composer.He began learning the cello at the age of 4 and graduated from the Royal College of Music at age 16....
  
  ) was released as the B-side to "Space Oddity" and "Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola
  Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola
  "Ragazzo solo, ragazza sola" is a version of David Bowie's first hit single "Space Oddity" with Italian lyrics by Mogol.This special version of "Space Oddity" was commissioned for the Italian market and released in November 1969...
  
  ", prior to the album version. The B-side cut later appeared on the Sound and Vision box set in 1989. One release of "Space Oddity" mistakenly rendered the B-side's title as "Wild Eyed Boy from Freedom".

• Bowie played this song on Sound of the 70s with Andy Ferris on 25 March 1970. The show was broadcast on 4 April 1972 and in 2000 was released on Bowie at the Beeb
  Bowie at the Beeb
  Bowie at the Beeb is a compilation album by David Bowie, first released in 2000. Originally, it came in a three CD set, the third, bonus CD being a recording on at the Portland BBC Radio Theatre...
  
  .

• A live version recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon
  Hammersmith Apollo
  Hammersmith Apollo is a major entertainment venue located in Hammersmith, London. Designed by Robert Cromie in Art Deco style, it opened in 1932 as the Gaumont Palace cinema, being re-named the Hammersmith Odeon in 1962...
  
  , London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
  , on 3 July 1973 was released on Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture (1983). The song was played as a part of a medley with "Oh! You Pretty Things
  Oh! You Pretty Things
  "Oh! You Pretty Things" is a song written by David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory. It opens with only Rick Wakeman's piano and Bowie's vocal, before entering the catchy refrain. The simple piano style is often compared to The Beatles' "Martha My Dear"...
  
  " and "All the Young Dudes
  All the Young Dudes (song)
  "All the Young Dudes" is a song written by David Bowie, originally recorded and released as a single by Mott the Hoople in 1972. NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray have described the track as "one of that rare breed: rock songs which hymn the solidarity of the disaffected without...
  
  ".

• The track appeared on the Japanese compilation The Best of David Bowie in 1974.