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"All night I want the Young American" |
Shameless plug today for my "The Next Day (After the Inauguration)" playlist. The day after Trump's inauguration I had such a maelstrom of emotions from the reactions of my friends, family, and countrymen as well as to the event itself that I didn't know what to do or say. Quoting Scripture would be the most obvious route, but after a ceremony which involved religious leaders from various faiths, I didn't feel like religious text was what I wanted to offer in the moment. So instead I compiled one of my best playlists I've ever made (if I do say so myself) - 23 David Bowie songs all about politics, society, and the state of our messy world from a bunch of excellent eras.
Some are subtle, others not so much, but every song contains lyrics which I think contain keen observations about an era that's not so bygone as we'd like to believe. All of these songs are shockingly relevant, even 47 years later (from some of the oldest ones). My own sentiments on each song would give them away, and I believe the audience should work for their interpretation of the work so that the resultant understanding becomes more meaningful to them. Therefore, all I will say is that the following selections are, to me, the most important statements from each song (and to remember that some works are actually being facetious, satirical, or using a character-device to get their true meaning across). Below are some samples of what I believe to be key lyrics from each song:
1) "The Next Day" (2013)
"First they give you everything that you want/Then they take back everything that you have/They live upon their feet and they die upon their knees/They can work with satan while they dress like the saints/They know God exists for the devil told them so/They scream my name aloud down into the well below"
2) "Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1975)
"He's everybody's token, on everybody's wall/Blessing all the papers, thanking one and all/Hugging all the babies, kissing all the ladies/Knowing all that you think about, from writing on the wall"
"He's so divine,/His soul shines/Breaks the night,/Sleep tight/His ever loving face smiles,/On the whole human race/He says, I'm somebody/He's got his eye on your soul,/His hand on your heart/He says, don't hurry, baby/Somebody up there (somebody) likes me"
"He's a savage son of the TV tube/Planets wrote the day was due/All the wisest men around/Predicted that a man was found/Who looked a lot like you and me, yeah/Everyone with sense could see/Nothing left his eye unmoved, he/Had the plan, he had to use (somebody)"
"Was a way when we were young, that,/Any man was judged by what he'd done, but/Now you pick them on the screen (what they look like)/Where they've been/Keep your eye on your soul, and you hand on your heart/He says, don't hurry, baby/Somebody up there (somebody) likes me"
"Leaders come and all the people know/That given time, the leaders go/Tell me, can they hold you under their spell/Or can they walk and hold you as well as a/Smile like Valentino?/Could he sell you anything?"
3) "I'm Afraid of Americans" (1997)
"Johnny's in America, Johnny looks up at the stars,/Johnny combs his hair, and Johnny wants pussy in cars/Johnny's in America/Johnny's in America"
"I'm afraid of Americans,/I'm afraid of the world,/I'm afraid I can't help it,/I'm afraid I can't,/I'm afraid of Americans/God is an American"
4) "A Better Future" (2002)
"Please don’t tear this world asunder/Please take back this fear we’re under/I demand a better future/Or I might just stop wanting you/I might just stop wanting you"
"Please make sure we get tomorrow/All this pain and all the sorrow/I demand a better future/Or I might just stop needing you/I might just stop needing you"
"Give my children sunny smiles/Give them moon and cloudless skies/I demand a better future/Or I might just stop loving you, loving you, loving you"
"I might just stop wanting you/I might just stop needing you/I might just stop loving you/I demand a better future"
5) "Love is Lost" (2013)
"It's the darkest hour, you're twenty-two/The voice of youth, the hour of dread/It's the darkest hour, and your voice is new/Love is lost,/Lost is love"
6) "Dollar Days" (2016)
"We bitches tear our magazines, those oligarchs with foaming mouths come, now and then"
"Dollar days, survival sex, honour stretching tails to necks/I’m falling down/It’s nothing to me/It’s nothing to see"
"I’m dying to/Push their backs against the grain, and fool them all again and again/I’m trying to/It’s all gone wrong but on and on the bitter nerve ends never end, I’m falling down/Don’t believe for just one second I’m forgetting you, I’m trying to/I’m dying to"
7) "This is Not America" (1985)
"Little piece of you/A little peace in me/Will die/For this is not America"
"There was a time,/A wind that blew, so young/For this could be the biggest sky/And I could have the faintest idea/But this is not America"
8) "It's No Game (Part 1)" (1980)
"Silhouettes and shadows,/Watch the revolution,/No more,/Free steps to heaven,/It's no game/I am barred,/From the event,/I really don't understand,/The situation,/And it's no game"
"Documentaries on refugees,/Couples 'gainst the target,/You throw a rock against the road,/And it breaks into pieces/Draw the blinds on yesterday,/And it's all so much scarier,/Put a bullet in my brain,/And it makes all the papers/So where's the moral,/When people have their fingers broken,/To be insulted by these fascists,/It's so degrading,/And it's no game/Shut up!/Shut uuu-"
9) "Black Tie White Noise" (1992)
"Lit by the glare of an L.A. fire,/Black tie, white noise/I've got a face, not just my race,/Bang, bang,/I've got you babe"
"We reach out over race and hold each other's hands/Then die in the flames singing 'We shall overcome'/Whoa, what's going on?"
10) "Fantastic Voyage" (1979)
"In the event, that this fantastic voyage/Should turn to erosion, and we never get old/Remember it's true,/Dignity is valuable, but our lives are valuable too"
"We're learning to live with somebody's depression/And I don't want to live with somebody's depression/We'll get by,/I suppose, (it's a very modern world),/But nobody's perfect, (it's a moving world),/But that's no reason/Shoot some of those missiles, think of us as fatherless scum,/(It won't be forgotten),/'Cause we'll never say anything nice again, will we"
"And the wrong words make you listen, in this criminal world/Remember it's true,/Loyalty is valuable, but our lives are valuable too"
11) "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)" (1974)
"Boys,/Boys,/It’s a sweet thing, sweet thing/If you want it,/Boys,/Get it here, thing/'Cause hope,/Boys,/Is a cheap thing, cheap thing"
"I'll make you a deal,/Like any other candidate/We'll pretend we're walking home 'cause your future's at stake/My set is amazing, it even smells like a street/There's a bar at the end where I can meet you and your friend/Someone scrawled on the wall "I smell the blood of les tricoteuses"/Who wrote up scandals in other bars/I'm having so much fun with the poisonous people/Spreading rumors and lies and stories they made up/Some make you sing and some make you scream"
12) "Young Americans" (1975)
"All the way from Washington/Her bread-winner begs off the bathroom floor/We live for just these twenty years/Do we have to die for the fifty more"
"Do you remember, your President Nixon?/Do you remember, the bills you have to pay/Or even yesterday?"
"Have you have been an un-American/Just you and your idol singing falsetto, 'bout/Leather, leather everywhere, and/Not a myth left from the ghetto/Well, well, well, would you carry a razor/In case, just in case of depression?/Sit on your hands on a bus of survivors/Blushing at all the afro-sheeners/Ain't that close to love?/Well, ain't that poster love?/Well, it ain't that Barbie doll/Her heart's been broken just like you have"
"Ain't there a man, who can say no more?/And, ain't there a woman I can sock on the jaw?/And, ain't there a child I can hold without judging?/Ain't there a pen that will write before they die?/(All night)/Ain't you proud that you've still got faces?/Ain't there one damn song that can make me, break down and cry?"
13) "The Man Who Sold the World" (1970)
"We passed upon the stair,/We spoke of was and when/Although I wasn't there,/He said I was his friend/Which came as some surprise/I spoke into his eyes, I thought you died alone/A long long time ago"
"Oh no,/Not me/I never lost control/You're face, to face/With the man who sold the world"
14) "No Control" (1995)
"Stay away from the future/Back away from the light/It's all deranged - no control/Sit tight in your corner/Don't tell God/your plans/It's all deranged/No control"
"I should live my life on bended knee/If I can't control my destiny/You've gotta have a scheme/You've gotta have a plan/In the world of today, for tomorrow's man"
15) "Afraid" (2002)
"If I can smile a crooked smile/If I can talk on television/If I can walk an empty mile/Then I won't feel afraid No, I won't feel afraid/I won't feel, feel afraid/Anymore"
16) "Repetition" (1979)
"Well, Johnny is a man/And he's bigger than her/I guess the bruises won't show/If she wears long sleeves/But the space in her eyes/Shows through"
17) "Reality" (2003)
"I still don't remember how this happened/I still don't get the wherefores and the whys/I look for sense but I get next to nothing/Hey boy welcome to reality"
"I've been right and I've been wrong/Now I'm back where I started from/Never looked over reality's shoulder"
18) "Suffragette City" (1972)
"Oh don't lean on me man, 'cause you can't afford the ticket/I'm back on Suffragette City/Oh don't lean on me man 'cause you ain't got time to check it/You know my Suffragette City/Is outta sight/She's all right"
19) "Boys Keep Swinging" (1979)
"Heaven loves ya/The clouds part for ya/Nothing stands in your way/When you're a boy/Clothes always fit ya/Life is a pop of the cherry/When you're a boy/(When you're a boy)/You can wear a uniform/(When you're a boy)/Other boys check you out/(You get a girl)/These are your favorite things/(When you're a boy)"
20) "Telling Lies" (1997)
"Come straggling in your tattered remnants,/You come to me with tears and blame, I'm your future,/Ask tomorrow, I am the end"
"Telling lies/(Ooh ah visionary ooh ah visionary)/Telling lies/(Feels like something's gonna happen this year)"
21) "Fall Dog Bombs the Moon" (2003)
"Hope little girl/Come blow me away/I don't care much/I win anyway/Just a dog/And I'm God damn rich/An exploding man/When I talk in the night/There's oil on my hands/What a dog"
"There's always a moron/Someone to hate/A corporate tie/A wig and a date/Just a dog/These blackest of years/That have no sound/No shape, no depth/No underground/What a dog"
22) "It Ain't Easy" (1972)
"It ain't easy/It ain't easy/It ain't easy to get to heaven when you're going down"
"Well all the people have got their problems/That ain't nothing new/With the help of the good Lord/We can all pull on through/We can all pull on through"
23) "Where Are We Now?" (2013)
"Where are we now, Where are we now/The moment you know, you know, you know"
"As long as there's sun/As long as there's rain/As long as there's fire/As long as there's me/ As long as there's you"
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