The song, along with its parent album, has been remastered multiple times, including in 2015 as part of the box set	The title track provided an unlikely hit for Scottish pop singer , which was produced by Bowie and Ronson, and would be covered by many artists over the years, including in 1987, and Nirvana in 1993 for their live album
Pegg suggests that the title partly reflects an element of "self-disgust" Bowie has over the thought of "losing control" and "selling" his private life via profoundly personal music	While promoting The Man Who Sold the World in the US, Bowie wore the Fish dress in February 1971 on his first promotional tour and during interviews, despite the fact that the Americans had no knowledge of the then-unreleased UK cover

The Man Who Sold the World (album)

However, its parent album, , released later that year, was not as successful, partly due to the failure of to promote the album efficiently.

An analysis of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World”: In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian eds
The Man Who Sold the World (song): It has since been reissued multiple times and was remixed in 2020, under its original title Metrobolist, for its 50th anniversary
An analysis of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World”: However, it was played on US radio stations frequently and the "heavy rock content" increased interest in Bowie

Nirvana subsequently recorded a live rendition of the song during their appearance at in New York City on 18 November 1993 and included it on their album the following year	For the group's performances, the members wore flamboyant superhero-like costumes, made by Bowie's first wife , whom he married on 20 March 1970, and Visconti's then-girlfriend Liz Hartley
Cobain found great interest in the title track and was surprised to learn it was by Bowie	It was originally released by in the United States on 4 November 1970 and in the United Kingdom on 10 April 1971

The Man Who Sold the World (song)

In a review for , Erlewine complimented its "tight, twisted heavy guitar rock that appears simple on the surface but sounds more gnarled upon each listen".

The Man Who Sold the World (album): Doggett describes the Moog synthesiser as an integral part of the recording, noting that it gives the track a "stunning conclusion"
The Man Who Sold the World (song): Bowie suggested Weller incorporate the "exploding head" signature on the cowboy's hat, a feature he had previously used on his posters while a part of the
The Man Who Sold the World (song): The song also features percussion, which Pegg describes as "sinister"

	The title song from The Man Who Sold the World has become my mantra, a song that I literally cannot get out of my head and have no wish to
Ronson and Visconti built a makeshift studio under the grand staircase at Haddon Hall; Bowie recorded many of his early 1970s demos there	According to music critic , it marked Bowie's change of direction into

The Man Who Sold the World (album)

The narrator has an encounter with a kind of , as suggested in the second chorus where "I never lost control" is replaced with "We never lost control".

An analysis of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World”: For their performance, Cobain ran his acoustic guitar through a fuzz box that he could trigger with a pedal, allowing the guitar to sound electric
The Man Who Sold the World (song): For "", Bowie had a small portion of the melody and four quickly-written lines that he gave to Ronson and Visconti, who expanded upon them to create the song
The Man Who Sold the World (song): At the time, Mace was a 40-year-old concert pianist who was also head of the department at