The song peaked at #6 on the UK Singles Chart, Bowie's biggest charting single since "Absolute Beginners" in 1986 and his last top ten hit before his death in January 2016. The success of the song also meant that Bowie has had a top ten hit on the UK Singles Chart in five different decades (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2010s), something which few other artists have managed to achieve.
The song was released on David Bowie's 66th birthday in January 2013, nearly a decade-long absence from Bowie from music. The release was unusual in that it was issued with no promotion or prior warning.
The lyrics make reference to Berlin, Germany where Bowie had written and recorded his Berlin Trilogy (Low and Heroes in 1977, and Lodger in 1979) as well as Iggy Pop's Lust for Life and The Idiot.
The footage on the screen and references in the lyrics include the Berlin Wall and mention of the Bösebrücke, the first border crossing that opened when the Wall fell on 9 November 1989; 20,000 East Germans crossed over during the first hour the border was unofficially opened, wondering whether it was safe.
The video is set in what could be an artists' studio in Berlin, where Bowie lived from 1976, showing moving black-and-white footage of the city from the 1970s on a screen.