Diamond Dogs was meant to be a rock opera set to George Orwell's grim, classic novel, 1984, a book which David Bowie became quite obsessed with in the early 1970s. After completing the project, Bowie was denied legal rights by Orwell's widow. The glam rock king then reworked the music to avoid copyright infringements (although a few key phrases such as "Big Brother" and "We Are the Dead" have stayed) and added a few of the trashy, frisky rock and roll songs he had recently become known for (Rebel Rebel, Rock `N Roll With Me).