OPO: Bowie lyric

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"It's got nothing to do with you/ if one can grasp it"

― dave q, Wednesday, 26 February 2003 10:50 (twenty-three years ago)

2nd pick would've been "the European canon is here", but then I found out it was spelled "cannon" so I didn't like it as much. My One-2-Discard = "It's too late to be late again", and the way he sings it doesn't help, that particular one irritates me because I like the rest of the song, I mean I don't care about "Lady Winking Browneye's plush pinochle" or whatever

― dave q, Wednesday, 26 February 2003 10:52 (twenty-three years ago)

'She could've been a killer if she didn't walk the way that she do/and she do"

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 11:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Bowie , Lyric, Hmmm .. Nope nothing stands out. Is it me ? I'm actually a big bowie fan, I find him very underappreciated, his songs are more melody / attitude driven, more rhetorical than lyrical. But as I say, maybe its just me.

― kevin brady (groeuvre), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 11:53 (twenty-three years ago)

numerous. all these quotes that are inescapably (?) linked with glorious musical moments... at this moment my POO is:

The hinterland, the hinterland
We're gonna sail to the hinterland
And it's far far, far far far, far far far away
Its a far far, far far far, fa da, da da da
1
2
3-4

― willem (willem), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 12:02 (twenty-three years ago)

I think 'Five Years' is my favourite. You look at some of the lines and they're almost clunkers ("cried so much his face was wet", "a queer threw up at the sight of that" etc) but they still work in the context of the song. If you want an excerpt from the whole lyric then I'd pick:

"Think I saw you in an ice-cream parlour
Drinking milk shakes cold and long
Smiling and waving and looking so fine
Don't think you knew you were in my song"

― James Ball (James Ball), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 12:15 (twenty-three years ago)

heh, i'll be an asshole and say 'subterraneans'! hah, okay, the japanese breakdown that woman does in 'it's no game pt. 1', that always freaks the hell out of me! 'nammin no kiroku eiga/hyoteki o se ni shita koibito tachi', or somethin like that.

also 'clothes always fit ya/life is a pop of the cherry/when you're a boy', obv.

― geeta (geeta), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 12:26 (twenty-three years ago)

"We're learning to live with somebody's depression/We'll get by I suppose."

― Jess Hill (jesshill), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 12:37 (twenty-three years ago)

f*ckin hell 6 posts and no-one
mentions kooks, alright then *i'll* say it :

'and if u ever have to go to school
remember how they mess'd up this old fool,
don't pick fights with the bullies or the cads
'cos i'm not much cop at punching other people's dads
and if the homework brings you down
then we'll throw it on the fire and take the car downtown'

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 26 February 2003 12:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Great to see 3 songs from Lodger here. It's been mentioned so many times as being underrated it probably counts as 'rated' now, but still a fine album.

― James Ball (James Ball), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 12:45 (twenty-three years ago)

hah, piscesboy u are my god but that song fuckin' sucks, dude! like, poor zowie bowie, not only did he have to deal with his given name but also with having 'kooks' dedicated to him, i dunno how he deals with life

― geeta (geeta), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 12:48 (twenty-three years ago)

I hope the fumes from the funny old crib on which the paint won't dry didn't do him too much harm.

― James Ball (James Ball), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 13:08 (twenty-three years ago)

on that beeb sesh cd it appears john peel thought he was to be a girl
as he pronounces the name 'zoe'
"to rhyme with bowie of course" he says as the audience sniggers.

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 26 February 2003 13:39 (twenty-three years ago)

u got the beeb-cd's then, piscesboy. u like?

i agree with james on lodger. gave it a spin yesterday, high volume, great stuff. i remember thinking that this album would have fitted nicely in the piece tom wrote about fear of music/remain in light/ my life in the bush of ghosts. not that he should have, it's just that this album seems some kind of prelude to those three. [also, the first half of the look back in anger 1988 remake bonus track (i have the ryko-cd) is really good, it's a song with reeves that he doesn't fuck up!]

― willem (willem), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 14:20 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah 'white light...' is an absolute fave.
still reelin 2 think that hunky dory tracks
(5 of them) could be heard (and off-the-radio
taped !) 6 months prior to the lp's release,
and then the following year u could hear 5 years etc
way before 'ziggy...'s release.
the 1972 equiv of napster kinda.
john peel's voice noticeably more scouse too on there.
a bit like mine was age 5.

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 26 February 2003 14:58 (twenty-three years ago)

"The sun-machine is coming down and we're gonna have a party. yeah. yeah"

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 15:02 (twenty-three years ago)

"We'll BUY some DRUGS and WATCH a BAND! Then jump into the river holding hands." Beautiful.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 15:51 (twenty-three years ago)

oooo, ned's OTM. and then that great transition into sweet thing (reprise)...

― willem (willem), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 16:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Hah hah hah
Hee hee hee
I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 16:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Was gonna try & select killer line from this but gosh it's all great.

Question-time that says I brought dishonour
My head's bowed in shame
It seems that I've blackened the family name
Mother says that she can't stand the neighbours talking
I've gotta pack my bags, leave this home, start walking, yeah
I'm guilty
I wish that I was sorry this time
I wish that I could pay for my crime

I can't help thinking about me
I can't help thinking about me
I can't help thinking about me

Remember when we used to go to church on Sundays
I lay awake at night, terrified of school on Mondays
Oh, but it's too late now
I wish I was a child again
I wish I felt secure again

I can't help thinking about me
I can't help thinking about me
I can't help thinking about me

As I pass a recreation ground
I remember my friends, always been found and I can't

I can't help thinking about me
I can't help thinking about me
I can't help thinking about me

Now I leave them all in the never never land
The station seems so cold the ticket's in my hand
My girl calls my name... "Hi Dave
Drop in, see around, come back
If you're this way again"
Oh, I'm on my own
I've got a long way to go
I hope I make it on my own

I can't help thinking about me
I can't help thinking about me
I can't help thinking about me
I can't help thinking about me
I can't help thinking about me

Recreation ground!!!! Bloody hell!!!

― harveyw (harveyw), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 17:22 (twenty-three years ago)

I misheard it, but I still say it's

"we are the bourgeouis and we're coming to town...BEEP BEEP!"

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 17:23 (twenty-three years ago)

"The smaller ones fall, but some sit in silence".

― matt riedl (veal), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 18:22 (twenty-three years ago)

"He looked a lot like Che Guevara
Drove a diesel van
Kept his gun in quiet seclusion
Such a humble man"

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 18:56 (twenty-three years ago)

The classic:
"I'm an alligator, I'm a mama-papa coming for you
I'm the space invader, I'll be a rock 'n' rolling bitch for you
Keep your mouth shut, you're squawking like a pink monkey bird
And I'm busting up my brains for the words"

... from The Bewlay Brothers: "He's Chameleon, Comedian, Corinthian and Caricature"

― christoff (christoff), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 19:30 (twenty-three years ago)

Such a wonderful person. But you got problems.

― Arthur (Arthur), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 19:34 (twenty-three years ago)

That whole song is just one great lyric.

"Baby...I've BEEN...breaking GLASS in your room AGAIN!"

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 19:50 (twenty-three years ago)

"Heroes" is like the best pop song lyric ever! Other than that, I'm very fond of "Look out my window and what do I see?/ A crack in the sky and a hand reaching down to me"

― Adam A. (Keiko), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 19:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Velvet Goldmine:

You're my taste, my trip
I'll be your masters, yeah
I'll chop your hair off for kicks
You'll make me jump my feet
So you'll give me your hand
Give me your sound
Let my sea wash your face
I'm fallin', I can't stand
Eeew! Put your mink on!

― Alexis, Wednesday, 26 February 2003 20:13 (twenty-three years ago)

"I watched the ripples change their size
but never leave the stream of warm impermanence
and still the days float through my eyes
but still the days seem the same."

(sic? - probably)

It's hard to divorce Bowie's lyrics from the power and emotion in the music so that the words might seem pretty lifeless on the page to, for example, someone with absolutely no imagination.

― chris sallis, Wednesday, 26 February 2003 21:10 (twenty-three years ago)

we can't dance / we don't talk much
we just ball and play
but we move like tigers on vaseline

― Zora (Zora), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 22:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Why on earth did he choose to put "It Ain't Easy" on Ziggy instead of "Velvet Goldmine"? It just doesn't make sense. Anyway, I never realized he was saying "Put your mink on!", that's so great. Some Bowie victim I am, ha. I always thought he was singing "Ooh, butcher maker!" Whatever that means.

― Arthur (Arthur), Wednesday, 26 February 2003 22:51 (twenty-three years ago)

Lay me place and bake me pie,
I'm starving for me gravy
Leave my shoes and door unlocked
I might just slip away
Hey, hey, just for today, hey
Please come away, hey, hey...

― Philip Alderman (Phil A), Thursday, 27 February 2003 02:11 (twenty-three years ago)

"As long as we're together, the rest can go to hell..."

― Joe (Joe), Thursday, 27 February 2003 03:22 (twenty-three years ago)

Don't look at the carpet, I drew something awful on it.

― Sean (Sean), Thursday, 27 February 2003 03:49 (twenty-three years ago)

"Pour me out another phone / I'll ring and see if your friends are home" - mostly the first of those line obv but the Weddingpresent-ness of the second one offsets it nicely.

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 27 February 2003 08:01 (twenty-three years ago)

No one can blame you
For walking away.
Too much rejection.
No love injection.

Life can't be easy.
It's not always swell.
Don't tell me truth hurts, little girl,
'Cause it hurts like hell,

But down in the underground
You'll find someone true.
Down in the underground;
A land serene;
A crystal moon.

It's only forever.
Not long at all.
Lost and lonely.
That's underground.
Underground.

Daddy, daddy, get me out of here.
Heard about a place to stay.
I, I'm underground.
Nothing ever hurts again.
Heard about a place to stay.
Daddy, get me out of here
Where nothing ever hurts again.
Daddy, daddy, get me out of here
I, I'm underground.
Sister, sister, please take me down.
I, I'm underground.
Daddy, daddy, get me out of here.

― schnell schnell, Thursday, 27 February 2003 11:34 (twenty-three years ago)

tie between that and:

you remind me of the babe
what babe?
the babe with the power
what power?
the power of voodoo
who do?
you do
do what?
you remind me of the babe!

― schnell schnell, Thursday, 27 February 2003 11:36 (twenty-three years ago)

we are nothing and nothing will help us

then we will die and we'll never stay

we can be saved just for one day

― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 28 February 2003 01:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh Ramona, if there was only some kind of future
And these cerulean skies

http://www.teenagewildlife.com/Albums/O/heartsfilthy.gif

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 28 February 2003 01:41 (twenty-three years ago)

"It's not the side effects of the cocaine / I'm thinking that it must be love"

-- "Station To Station"

― mmesker (mmesker), Friday, 28 February 2003 02:10 (twenty-three years ago)

a Bowie lyrics thread, and neither Momus nor Ned is anywhere to be seen? WTF?

mine: "such a wonderful person/but you've got problems"

― Tad (llamasfur), Friday, 28 February 2003 13:00 (twenty-three years ago)

a Bowie lyrics thread, and neither Momus nor Ned is anywhere to be seen? WTF?

I think you need to reread this thread, Tad.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 28 February 2003 13:36 (twenty-three years ago)

oh yeah, there you are mr. raggett. but where's mr. currie?

― Tad (llamasfur), Friday, 28 February 2003 13:46 (twenty-three years ago)

and oh yeah, you me and arthur all picked the same Bowie song!

― Tad (llamasfur), Friday, 28 February 2003 13:47 (twenty-three years ago)

And Sean.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 28 February 2003 13:52 (twenty-three years ago)

Either "Wake up you sleepy head"

"Homo Sapiens have outgrown their use."

Hello seventies?

― s woods, Friday, 28 February 2003 13:54 (twenty-three years ago)

Or should that be, Fuck off hippies?

― s woods, Friday, 28 February 2003 13:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Listening to Hunky Dory today, I remembered that the second verse of "Life on Mars?" is pretty classic. But if I had to pick just one lyric, it'd be:

"To my mother, my dog, and clowns"

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Friday, 28 February 2003 19:04 (twenty-three years ago)

breaking up is hard / but keeping dark is hateful / I had so many dreams / I had so many breakthroughs / but you my love were kind / but love has left you dreamless / the door to dreams was closed / your park was real dreamless / perhaps you're smiling now / smiling through this darkness
but all I had to give was guilt for dreaming

― slutsky (slutsky), Friday, 28 February 2003 23:31 (twenty-three years ago)

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