As you all recall 2016 was a pretty rough year for celebrity deaths. We lost a lot of great musicians that year, like Lemmy, Prince and Keith Emerson. I typically have a pretty level head about death, everyone must die eventually and if you can be a rock god before you go I feel like you lived a pretty good life and your death should be more of a celebration of a great life then a grieving of loss. Having said that, the death of David Bowie was kind of a bid deal.
It was not that long ago that everyone was saying how remarkably well Bowie was aging. In 2007 Bowie turned sixty and he looked no older than forty, and a handsome forty at that. One of the most impressive things about Bowie was his ability to stay relevant as time went on. It would have been easy, at least in the short run, to remain as Ziggy Stardust with the gigantic success of those albums, but instead he took a big risk and became Halloween Jack, and then the Thin White Duke, and then whatever the hell he was supposed to be in “Scary Monsters and Super Creeps.” The man had an almost unnatural ability to adapt to any style or challenge he embraced. He was even an accomplished actor. Bowie was unstoppable.
Than he finally died, and rather early in life compared to expectation. Death is always tragic, but losing Bowie was something a little more. He was truly one of kind, a artistic chameleon, able to reach audiences of all walks of life, seemingly immortal, and now no more.
It was a great loss and everyone is hurt by it.
I have a slightly different perspective however. While Bowie's death is a big deal, I still hold the opinion that it is better to celebrate life.
Death is nothing to be surprised by; everyone is going someday, and we are only fighting for the chance to be last. I may feel the pain of the loss of a great hero like Bowie, but I more so reflect on the life he lived then the death that ended it.
“Forget death, seek life.” – The Epic of Gilgamesh
There is no way of pretending David Bowie’s life was anything short as magical. A man who dreamed of being a global rock star who smashed that dream’s highest possible hope and became a multi-generational rock god, also, he stared in movies, and married a super model; pulling off any one of these things would be impressive, but he did it all. Also, his first son grew up to be a pretty damn good movie director (watch “Moon.”), he made friends everywhere he went, aged remarkably well, and just lived an almost impossibly amazing life. So while I am sad to see Bowie go, I am not filled with too many regretful concerns about what he did with his time. It is a life well worth celebrating.
What I am trying to say is that David Bowie is a god damn hero, and that is my cheesiest segue to date.
I have been listening to David Bowie for a long time and I have been listening to a lot of his music, so it is slightly difficult to remember my earliest memories of him. I believe the first two songs by Bowie that I was familiar with in my youth must have been “Space Oddity” and “Heroes.” In many ways “Heroes” is an ideal radio song for Bowie, it has an amazing intro, easy to remember lyrics, so everyone can sing along, and is very catchy. Now that I am older and I have listened to “Heroes” probably a thousand times or more, the song has lost some of it’s magic, and what makes it unique has blended into the background of my thoughts, yet it remains, without question, a top-quality song in my casual thinking. I always enjoy hearing it, every time, and it still holds meaning, not just for it’s message of possible heroism, or perhaps adventure, but for it's cultural significance, and the symbol of comfort and familiarity it has become to me.
“Heroes” the song, but also the entire album, was recorded in Berlin and marked that era of David, when he was hanging out with Iggy Pop in Germany reinventing himself for the… forth time was it? “Heroes” was part of the trilogy of albums produced which also included “Low” and “Lodger.” Of the three albums “Heroes” has remained the most popular and well known, and that has a lot to do with the strength of the title track. Despite the dozens of hit songs Bowie produced, impressively “Heroes” stands out not just from the Berlin Trilogy but amongst Bowie’s entire song list.
When it comes to the arts David Bowie has become one of the most influence and important people ever; furthermore he is inarguably one of the greatest song writers of all time. He was not just a hero in music, but in life. He made some of the greatest music ever, but he also lived the best life I have ever heard of. Far from a hero for a single day, Bowie will be remember forever for all the reasons mentioned just now and countless other reasons.
“Greetings from Asbury Park N.J.” is a very significant album for a variety of reasons. This was Bruce Springsteen’s debut album and right out of the gate Springsteen announces his New Jersey heritage in the title, successfully establishing himself as an American and Jersey icon for the rest of his life. The early works of Springsteen were very different from songs like “Born in the USA” and “Born to Run,” which would make Springsteen famous, at the beginning the Boss was very influenced by Bob Dylan, and it shows as all his early tracks sound like he is trying to sound like Dylan. Also note worthy is the first track on “Greetings from Asbury Park N.J.” is “Blinded by the Light” which was covered by Manfred Mann whose version is considerably more famous. For those of you familiar with Manfred Mann’s cover of “Blinded by the Light” just imagine it being sung by Springsteen while he is trying to sound like Dylan that is exactly what the original version is like, because that is exactly what is going on.
Blinded By The Light (The Original Version)
Perhaps the best thing about “Greetings from Asbury Park N.J.” is that is simply a great folk rock album, and that’s kind of important to me. Like any first effort a lot of youthful passion is poured into every track, the young Springsteen had a lot to say and like any young person he was unfiltered and maybe even unfocused when finally given the chance to fully express himself through rock and roll. I love albums like “Greetings from Asbury Park N.J.” for that reason. Another thing I like about it is that David Bowie, my friend and yours, has covered at least two songs from this album, “Growin’ Up” and “It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City.”
Young Srpingsteen.
“Growin’ Up” is predictably about growing up, but it is also about so much more. The lyrics are a constant barrage of metaphors. Springsteen sings about aging out of childhood into rebellious youth with lines like; “when they said, ‘sit down,’ I stood up.”
The entire second verse introduces some very powerful imagery about becoming a rock star, again capturing that adventurous and rebellious attitude of youth;
“The flag of piracy flew from my mast, my sails were set wing to wing. I had a jukebox graduate for first mate, she couldn't sail but she sure could sing. I pushed B-52 and bombed them with the blues with my gear set stubborn on standing. I broke all the rules, strafed my old high school, never once gave thought to landing. I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd, but when they said, ‘come down,’ I threw up. Ooh... growin' up.”
I love the second line of the second verse, the jukebox could sure sing. I always thought the last line “when they said, “come down,” I flew up,” but the lyric sheet evidently disagrees with me. I mean flying up makes sense, he sings about sailing away and bombing people and being in the “clouded wrath of the crowd,” but hey, what do I know.
Springsteen wowed he had and would “bomb” people with the blues, and stubbornly refused to return to his childhood. This could mean so many things, like he is rejecting a different path set before by his parents or other past expectations and instead is embracing the emotional and mystical beauty of music. If the metaphors are to be taken at all literally this implies he is embracing the impossible which is the very spirit of rock and roll.
The beginning of the third verse is a further extension of impossible rock adventure metaphors, but there is a certain flair within that reminds me a lot of David Bowie;
“I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere, and you know it's really hard to hold your breath. I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared, I was the cosmic kid in full costume dress.”
Man it’s really hard to hold your breath, hilarious.
In 1973 David Bowie was the
cosmic kid in full costume.
I first heard “Growin’ Up” as a cover song by David Bowie off of the thirty year anniversary release of 1974’s “Diamond Dogs.” The studio recording of Bowie performing “Gorwin’ Up” had been initially recorded back in 1974 but it was never properly released until a nineties compilation album and then later again on the anniversary release of “Diamond Dogs.” The song, epically the third verse, fits Bowie so well. In 1973 when “Growin’ Up” was written and released David Bowie was the cosmic kid in full costume dress, and he did command the night brigade, and he sort of took month long vacations in the stratosphere. Of course everything fantastic and psychedelic within the song “Growin’ Up” is easily relatable to Ziggy Stardust the character Bowie was portraying at that time.
David Bowie - Growin' Up
I once heard that Springsteen had written “Growin’ Up” for David Bowie, and that is was about him, and this made a lot of sense to me, but I cannot find any citation regarding the matter now, so it is entirely possible that I am misremembering something or was at one point misinformed, still this theory is reasonable, it would make sense if the song was written about Bowie. Nonetheless it is easy to project the song onto Bowie and it is even easier understand why Bowie would take an interest in this song and want to do a cover it. When Bowie dissolved the Spider from Mars he was in many ways growing up. Around the time “Diamond Dog” Bowie had rooted his feet to the ground and find a nice little place is stardom forever.
Any really good example of poetry allows itself to be imagined in a variety of similar but different ways. “Growin’ Up” can be taken as simply a song about growing up, but it is also a song about finding yourself, and believing in the person you find. “Growin’ Up” is about becoming a musician and experiencing the magical voyage of artistic discovery. We can also spin it as a song about Ziggy Stardust and/or David Bowie. Lastly I dare say anyone can project this song onto themselves, the very general message of self exploration and youthful adventure into uncertain adulthood is something we have all experienced.
Perhaps the most apt and important interpretation of “Growin’ Up” is that it is a song about Bruce Springsteen himself. Sure he is growing up, he can’t help it, but also he is coming into his own. The man Springsteen soon became after the release of “Greetings from Asbury Park N.J” was very much the adventurer described in this song. “Growin’ Up” is an introduction to Bruce Springsteen, the man, the musician and the Boss; and what a great introduction, a perfect song to be included on a debut album resulting in a perfect debut album.
Also, it is hard to be a saint in the city;
Bruce Springsteen - It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City
“The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” is a far out concept album. The general premise is that a bisexual alien picks up some radio waves from earth and decides to join in on the fun. However being an outlandish bisexual alien, his vision of rock and roll is radical. This is also set to the backdrop of the earth coming to an end as the opening track of the album is “Five Years” as in “earth is really dying” - “five years, that’s all we got” one of my earliest Music In Reviews tackled that song: http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2011/03/may-2007-david-bowie-five-years.html and it also topped my list of 27 songs about the end of the earth post: http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2012/11/27-songs-about-end-of-world.html The final act in the Ziggy Stardust concept album is the song “Rock N Roll Suicide” where the character Ziggy dies and with him the earth goes too, which I believe is meant to metaphorically represent the narcissism of the Ziggy character, as if the world could not go on without him.
In between the announcement about the end of, and the act of, the end of the world, the album takes us on a strange ride with songs of tripped out space rock and roll. Earlier tracks are about Ziggy dreaming of being a rock star like “Moonage Daydream” and “Star” then he decides to come down to earth in “Starman” and by the time we reach tracks like “Ziggy Stardut” and Suffragette City” Ziggy is the world’s biggest rock star, at least in the narrative of the story. Bonus tracks like “Sweet Head” and later on the “Aladdin Sane” album the Rolling Stones cover of “Let’s Spend the Night Together” are bluntly suggestive of Ziggy’s bisexuality, what with him bragging about how good he gives head in “Sweet Head” and transforming one of the most suggestive heterosexual songs on the radio at the time, “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” into a aggressively gay song. Ziggy’s bisexuality may just be scene dressing in the overall concept for the album and story but it is a significant aspect to Mr. Bowie’s life at that time.
Sweet Head
Just in case you were unsure if Ziggy Stardust was bisexual or not.
Now we know what a bisexual
alien rock star looks like.
One might argue that Ziggy Stardust being extremely sexually liberal is not a necessary component to the overall story. An alien becoming a rock star and his death paralleling the end of the earth offers plenty of ideas to work with for a concept album, or arguably two if we include “Aladdin Sane.” However the pronounced moments where Bowie is loudly portraying Ziggy’s sexuality works two fold. First it really emphasizes how “alien” the Ziggy character is, Bowie would wear crazy amounts of makeup when portraying Ziggy in concerts and he also cross-dressed and did all sorts of things to remind us that Ziggy was different, his unconventional sexuality adds to this, but also fits nicely with him being an alien, who might not see sex and gender the same way we do. Second this was clearly a chance for Bowie to broadcast his own bisexuality.
“Lady Stardust” is a very good song right in the middle of this fiasco, I mean both symbolically and literally, literally as in it is the sixth track on the eleven track album. “Lady Stardust” at a glance might appear as if a female equivalent to Ziggy Stardust has joined him on earth, or perhaps this song is to introduce the bride of Ziggy, but even a cursory glance at the lyrics lets us know how extremely incorrect these assumption are:
“People stared at the makeup on his face. Laughed at his long black hair, his animal grace. The boy in the bright blue jeans, Jumped up on the stage, And lady stardust sang his songs, Of darkness and disgrace.”
People stare at the makeup on HIS face?
So after learning “Lady Stardust” is about a male rock star wearing makeup and looking feminine, I would naturally think it was about Ziggy Stardust and his cross-dressing and makeup wearing ways. Lured by the music, people are struggling to make sense of the bisexual alien rock star, which is a sentiment I imagine most rock and roll fans experienced with the release of “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” That makes sense right? This song is actually about Ziggy’s vague gender neutrality and that aspect of himself confusing people here on earth.
However, the original name for “Lady Stardust” was “He Was Alright (Song for Marc)” and the Marc is question is Marc Bolan, front man of T.Rex and inventor of glam rock.
He was Alright (Song for Marc) - Lady Stardust Demo
“And he was alright, the band was altogether. Yes he was alright, the song went on forever. And he was awful nice, Really quite out of sight, And he sang all night long.”
I really like this part of the song, a calm moment telling us everything is alright, no matter how weird you are.
So now we know that “Lady Stardust” is actually Marc Bolan and this song an ode to him. “Lady Stardust” is not just a tribute, it is sort of a love song, which could mean that Bowie might have had a bit of a crush on fellow rock star Bolan, or at least he envisioned someone being in love with him;
“Femme fatales emerged from shadows, To watch this creature fair. Boys stood upon their chairs, To make their point of view. I smiled sadly for a love I could not obey. Lady stardust sang his songs, Of darkness and dismay.”
A love he could not obey? This line seems odd coming from Bowie, even odder considering this song’s existence on the concept album about a bisexual alien rock star. Also if this song was about Marc Bolan there are even less barriers to consider since he too was bisexual, I mean of course he was; he invented glam rock. So why could he not obey?
Marc Bolan, not exactly the
epitome of masculinity.
Another thing that might be considered slightly derailing is how Marc is referred to as a Lady. To the best of my knowledge Marc Bolan never cross-dressed and I do not know how gender neutral he fancied himself to be. The man did dress effeminate but all that could easily be explained as an unintentional side effect of his unique choice in attire. This only really seems odd to me because David Bowie did cross-dress in those early years of his career, including a few times as the Ziggy Stardust character. So why would one rock star, who cross-dressed on occasion, dub another rock star, who while dressing eccentrically never cross-dressed, a lady; seems somewhat inverted. But perhaps I am thinking too linearly in regards to gender expectation both in behavior and attire. It is entirely reasonable to suggest that David Bowie and Marc Bolan were breaking so many social norms all at once that I am failing to identify key characteristics about Bolan that might identify him as “ladylike,” or at least more so than Bowie.
Here is an idea, the initial theory that “Lady Stardust” is about a perfect mate for Ziggy Stardust and the necessary working theory that “Lady Stardust” is an ode to Marc Bolan are both correct. Like so many things the truth lies somewhere in between, Lady Stardust is probably an amalgamation of Marc Bolan and Ziggy Stardust; this explains why the initial title was “He Was Alright (Song for Marc)” but changed later as additional elements to the song and story were added and it no longer accurately or appropriately describe Bolan.
From all this we should be able to conclude the story of this track tells the events of Ziggy Stardust coming to earth and falling in love with Marc Bolan of T.Rex, or at least a caricature of him. However being a somewhat gender neutral creature with desires for both earthly human genders, there is no confusion in his mind referring to Lady Stardust as both a man and a woman.
I am still no expert in fashion.
If you can look past all the potential complication of two men with variable gender identification and sexual preferences being the principal objects of affection you will find “Lady Stardust” to be a simple love song. It is a song of acceptances as well as love, after he was alright and the band was all together. The only real confusion arises when we try to connect alien rock star fantasy with reality or when we attempt to label traditional gender roles and sexualities to either individual both fictional and real. The reason the “Song for Marc” explanation fails to satisfy completely is because Marc Bolan does not exactly fit the description of “Lady Stardust” but then again David Bowie isn’t really a bisexual alien rock star, he is only two of those things, and this whole concept album is a fantasy a suspension of reality, so it is foolish of us to expect everything to fit perfectly.
I would argue that “Lady Stardust” is one of the best songs of “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” which I would argue is David Bowie’s single best album, which means “Lady Stardust” ranks pretty high in my personal favorites of Bowie songs. I am not the sort of man who would let convoluted inspirations of attraction distract me from the quality of a great rock ballad, but can you imagine the attitudes of the average person in 1972 when “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” first came out? It must have blown their minds.
I cannot be the only person in all human history to have wondered about this very special song, created by one of the greatest song writers of all time, for another great song writer, and all the complicated dynamics involved therein. What do you think?
Until next month keep on rocking in the free world.
The world was suppose to end in 2012. Disappointed? Here are twenty-seven songs to cheer you up.
REM – I’m Gonna DJ
According to the lyrics, REM singer Michael Stipe plans on DJing at the end of the world. An admirable goal if there ever was one.
Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun
Disjointed lyrics symbolizing the devil, sex, shame, death and according to everyone the end of the earth is mentioned somewhere in there too. I never liked Soundgarden or this song. I don’t hate Soundgarden and I don’t hate “Black Hole Sun,” but this is a very immature song and the only reason I am convinced it’s about the end of the world is it would follow from the dark themes blatantly brought up in the beginning. I may not love it, but it still counts as a song about the end of the world and it still makes the list.
Muse – Apocalypse Please
The end is coming but Muse is surprisingly hopefully about the whole ordeal. Something will “pull us through” and “change the course of history.” It’s a nice song, not Muse’s best, but a good one, and definitely one of the more optimistic songs on this list.
Josh Ritter – Temptation of Adam
“Temptation of Adam” is the first of many songs about world war three ending everything. Josh Ritter is a great guitarist and light rocker, and he can’t help himself but be romantic and sing about love even when the end of the world is coming. If you have ever heard Josh Ritter before you know what to expect here, it’s another heartfelt, well written, rock ballad, only this one is about the end of the world too.
Metallica – The Four Horsemen
“The Four Horsemen” of the apocalypse, that’s pretty straight forward. Metallica have a lot of songs about death, destruction and dismay, but this was the only song of theirs I could pinpoint as being specifically about the end of the world. Off of their first studio album “Kill ‘Em All,” like many musicians Metallica’s first album was their rawest, and I believe this was the album that focused the most around death, so how fitting their only true end of the world song be there.
Elvis Costello – Waiting for the end of the World
How do you cope with the end of the world? Understandably Elvis Costello would be somber and sad, he would also pray. There should be no surprise the biblical reference and hopeful prayers are a reoccurring theme on this list. If you believe all of that it would make sense to pray to god to save us since he would technically be the cause of the end as well as the beginning. “Dear lord I hope you coming, because you really started something,” there is a couple different ways to interpret that line.
Barry McGuire – Eve of Destruction
Barry McGuire? I thought this song was by the The Turtles, oh they covered it, McGuire wrote it, cool. There is maybe a dozen or more cold war and fear of the reds references in this song. This is the second song about the cold war or world war three ending the earth on this list. McGuire is politically topical in this song, he mentioned the reds in China, the space race, southern racism, and probably a bunch of other important events I am too young and/or ignorant to get. No wonder this song was so popular in the sixties.
Eels – End Times
The end is coming and no one realizes it, except Eels lead man Mark Oliver Everett, and now does Mark take the news? Reflections are made by drawing parallels between the “ends times” and “she is gone now,” how do most people deal with a lover gone, somber sadness and eventual acceptance; “I don’t feel nothing now, not even fear. Now that end times are here.” Very nice, arguably more of a poem then a song, if such a distinction exists.
The Thermals – Here’s Your Future
Arguably a song that is not about the end of the world, “Here’s Your Future” is more about biblical violence, but I cannot escape the feeling that god proclaiming “Here’s Your Future” after laying out the horrors of past biblical destruction wrought by him could imply anything other than the violent end of all things as describe in “Revelations.” The Thermals are a modern punk band, interpret that however you want, but “Here’s Your Future” is a fast hard hitting song that does a good job of depicting god as a bully killing us and torturing us with fear.
The Temper Trap – Soldier On
Best known of their hit song “Sweet Disposition,” not everyone knows Australia’s The Temper Trap have an entire good album in “Conditions.” The world is slowly dying and what we must do is soldier on. This song is awesome for a few reasons; first of all it is a really good song just in general, second the message to tough out the end of the world is just so badass. The Temper Trap is not a loud hard rock band so this message of incredible toughness and resolve is for some reason somewhat unexpected, it’s like stealth badassier, which is not a real word.
Pink Floyd – Two Suns in the Sunset
“Two Suns in the Sunset” is off of Pink Floyd’s twelfth studio “The Final Cut” (1983). The second sun rising in the east is meant to be the explosion of a nuclear bomb the sign of the beginning of the end. This is not the first song about nuclear war destroying everything on this list and it won’t be the last. This is Pink Floyd, the song is great, and if anything I’m surprised they don’t have more songs about the end of the world.
Tom Lehrer – We Will All go Together
Finally a funny song about the end of the world!
Tom Lehrer may have received an AB in Mathematics from Harvard where he lectured for several years but he most likely will be best remember for his witty commentaries about politics through song. Nuclear war is coming, but don’t fret we will all leave this world together like one big happy family. Sure puts things into perspective.
Nena – 99 Luftballoons
“99 Luftballons” is one of the best known popular radio songs that happen to be about the end of the world, and like any pop song with subtext most people don’t know what it’s about. What are the 99 red balloons? If you still have to ask after actually paying attention to the lyrics to this 1982 German pop song than you may be an idiot.
Credence Clearwater Revival – Bad Moon on the Rise
And all these years I thought this song was about werewolves. The appropriate inclusion of this song on the classic horror film “An American Werewolf in London” gave me and others the false impression that CCR front man John Fogerty had written “Bad Moon on the Rise” specifically for the movie, however in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine John Fogerty explained that the song was inspired by the movie “The Devil and Daniel Webster” in which a hurricane destroys a town. Fogerty thought it would be something if a storm destroyed more than just a town, how about the world. So that settles that, “Bad Moon on the Rise” is about the end of the world.
WWE – Armageddon Theme
Who could get forget promos with the Undertaker proclaiming himself the “angel of darkness and reaper of wayward souls,” or Triple H promising to stain New York City with Mick Foley’s blood? Ah the good old days of professional wrestling when the pretenses of it being real were replaced with overtop impossible characters and situations. Wrestlers have been predicting the end times since Wresltemania five when Hulk Hogan declared that when he and the Machoman Randy Savage battled the earth was going to open up and devour the audience and presumably the rest of the earth would be destroyed when the mega powers explode. As comical as wrestling has become there was something charming about the old Armageddon pay per views and how they advertised it as if the world would actually end because two strong men were going to wrestle, but what really sold those trailers was the song they used often called “The End.” I could not find any information about who wrote the song so I do not know who to credit, but whoever did write and perform this song was clearly influenced by The Doors, and their song “The End.” The voice sounds a little like Jim Morrison, the atmosphere of the song is forbidding and dark, and even the lyrics seem like something that would have fit in with the rest of The Doors end times song. Despite being created under very different circumstances the WWE Armageddon Theme has always sent chills down my spine.
Alan & Lande – Judgement Day
What happens when Symphony X guitarist Russell Alan and Gamma Ray/Masterplan lead singer Jorn Lande collaborate? We get great metal of course. To this day “Judgement Day” appears to be Alan & Lande’s biggest hit, and rightfully so, out of all the songs I have heard by the duo this is definitely my favorite. Once again we hear biblical references in this song and a sense of knowing what is to come. The message of this song seems to suggest that waking up surprised to find judgement day may be more of a consequence of misdeeds or lost spiritual awareness. All in all “Judgement Day” by Alan & Lande is a great song.
Morrisey – Everyday is like Sunday
I could argue that this song is not about the end of the world since it is set in a post apocalyptic setting, which would imply that the earth still exists and so does some remnants of humanity. However I would be probably be splitting hairs if I did that, and besides like I could resist putting this song on the list. World War Three has come and gone but here in the seaside town they forgot to bomb people linger on. Morrisey brings the severe sadness that is emo to the Armageddon in this song, and I suppose if there were ever a time to be morbidly sad it would be the end times, it is an appropriate fit and the end result is a very good song.
Perhaps the most famous end times song ever recorded. REM struck gold when they wrote “It’s the End of the World as we Know it,” a humorously fun and infections song accepting/celebrating the end of the world, as far as we know it anyway.
Black Sabbath – War Pigs
The war pigs in question are those pesky politicians that start wars and send men off to die, but when the ultimate war unfolds and we began the end of days what will god think of them? War Pigs is something of a combination of end of world themes insofar that there is a huge war destroying mankind and also the apocalypse foreseen in revelations. Just when you think the war couldn't possible get any worse the fucking four horse men show up.
Black Sabbath – Electric Funeral
Ozzy predicts if the four horsemen don’t get us first the nuclear bombs will. Like so many songs earlier on this list the end of the world comes in the form of nuclear war, but this song is the most “metal.”
The Rolling Stones – Gimmie Shelter
Not exactly a song about the end of the world since the song is about surviving in a post apocalyptic world, however as stated earlier for “Every Day is like Sunday” that’s close enough. This song would have made the top five since it maybe the best song on this list but since it is not explicitly about the end of the world it only gets sixth. On an additional side note this song always reminds me of Mad Max.
Johnny Cash – When the Man Comes Around
Revelations again. Johnny Cash is a badass and I like his method narrating, very matter of fact. I also like Cash’s word choice is referring to god as “the man,” as if god is more like some kind of badass alpha male/top hierarchy corporate political champion, and when he comes around... we’re fucked. When god comes to clean this mess up, he’s going to be pissed. It’s a fun story and a great song.
Zager and Evans – In the Year 2525
In the 2525, if man is still alive, and if woman can survive, they may find....
And so on we count the years while foretelling the strangeness of millenniums past, until everything is dead.
A song this high on the list deserves special attention, it gets a full review:
Out of all the upbeat songs about the end of world Prism’s “Armageddon” has to be the best. A unusual and truly unique song that wins the hearts of all who have ever heard it.
A song this high on the list deserves special attention, it gets a full review:
The ultimate end of the world song, The Doors “The End.” Not only is this song simply fantastic in quality and in poetry but it captures every possible interpretation and reaction to the end, not just the end of the earth, or the end of humanity, this is the end of everything.
A song this high on the list deserves special attention, it gets a full review:
This is the greatest song about the end of the world ever written, David Bowie “Five Years.” Like The Doors “The End,” Bowie’s “Five Years” means a lot to me. This is a song I have been listening to with perked interest and deep love for the better half of my life. There are so many memories attached to songs like “The End” and “Five Years” they mean more to me than just amazing songs about the end times, these songs even transcend the greatness of the historical and cultural impact on music, they are totems of our culture and species. The fear of death, the original conflict, the original antagonist, the endless battle between life and death sang to us by arguably the greatest song writer ever capturing all our fears and predictable reactions in one perfect song. “Five Years” is the greatest end of the world song.
Way back in May of 2007 I reviewed “Five Years,” and it shows just how much things have changed, in my writing, in my life and in me. That was five years ago....
In 1969 David Bowie released his first big hit “Space Oddity” and he was then accused of ripping off Zager and Evans and their big hit “In the Year 2525.” The history of classic rock of course remembers Bowie for so much more than just “Space Oddity” and very few people even remember the once spoken comparison between Bowie and Zager and Evans, however at the time the comparison was not entirely unfounded. “Space Oddity” is a psychedelic science fiction rock song about a man going into outer space and not wanting to come home, while the earlier released Zager and Evans hit “In the Year 2525” was a tripped out science fiction rock song about the far off and far out future.
The moon landing happened in 1969 and this stirred everyone creatively. Both “Space Oddity” and “In the Year 2525” came out in 1969 and this may not be a coincidence. At the time they must have been thinking if we could land on the moon in present day what could we do in the future, or how about in fiction? Since dreams about tomorrow and fantastic science were on everyone’s’ mind it should be no surprise that musicians at the time were experiencing some degree of parallel thinking regarding the topic, and I highly doubt Bowie was ripping off Zager and Evans, grim science fiction in music would quickly become common in the seventies psychedelic music scene.
“In the Year 2525” is perhaps the first original grim science fiction song, I cannot think of one that predates it. It is simple story telling, countdown the years to Armageddon, briefly explaining the changes to humanity as they occur, unusual and horrifying changes. Every verse is special, as every verse tells the listener something new and uncomfortable about the potential future, also every verse is a step in the countdown to the end. Every lyric is valuable;
“In the year 2525 If man is still alive If woman can survive They may find In the year 3535 Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lie Everything you think, do and say Is in the pill you took today In the year 4545 You ain't gonna need your teeth, won't need your eyes You won't find a thing to chew Nobody's gonna look at you In the year 5555 Your arms hangin' limp at your sides Your legs got nothin' to do Some machine's doin' that for you In the year 6565 You won't need no husband, won't need no wife You'll pick your son, pick your daughter too From the bottom of a long glass tube In the year 7510 If God's a-coming, He oughta make it by then Maybe He'll look around Himself and say "Guess it's time for the judgement day" In the year 8510 God is gonna shake His mighty head He'll either say "I'm pleased where man has been" Or tear it down, and start again In the year 9595 I'm kinda wonderin' if man is gonna be alive He's taken everything this old earth can give And he ain't put back nothing Now it's been ten thousand years Man has cried a billion tears For what, he never knew Now man's reign is through But through eternal night The twinkling of starlight So very far away”
I can only begin to guess at the variety of science fiction stories that have influence on the lyrics in this song. For example in the year 3535 using a drug to determine your personality was a major theme in L.P. Hartley’s “Facial Justice,” Henry Slesar’s “I Remember Oblivion” and John D. MacDonald’s “Trojan Horse Laugh” all stories involved using drugs for the purpose of manipulating people’s personalities in some way or another. Also in the year 5555 the idea that humans no longer do anything for themselves and rely on machines for everything was a common fear in darker science fiction and still prevalent today in movies like “The Matrix” and more light heartedly in “Wall-E.” Also in the year 6565 the dissolving of the family unit, an abandonment of romance, and the production of children in tubes, are all present themes in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.”
Zager and Evans ended up being a one hit wonder, I actually have no idea what any of their other songs are, but it is still an honour to be remembered at all, and “In the Year 2525” is such a fantastic song. “In the Year 2525” has so many levels to it, it is a retro rock song, it is a grim narrative about mankind’s future and the end of time, it is full of science fiction references and reoccurring themes within that genre, also and perhaps most importantly it is an effective, creative piece of art that thoroughly succeeds at being both entertaining and invoking.
After touring as Ziggy Stardust for a few years David Bowie took a good look in the mirror, red face with a yellow circle in the center of his forward and all, and thought “is this it? Am I going to be Ziggy Stardust for the rest of my life?”
Ziggy Stardust was a fun character to play, I am sure, but someone with Bowie’s creativity must have dreaded the idea of being confined to a single persona forever. Frankly as interesting as the character Ziggy Stardust is, the man David Bowie is far more interesting. So he broke up the band, much to the sadness of many fans at the time, but if they knew what a long and legendary career Bowie had in store they would have approved without question or concern. In the story arc of Ziggy Stardust, Ziggy broke up the band, so it only seemed fitting for Bowie to do the same.
Where do you go from Ziggy Stardust? Bowie had sang songs about dreams, aliens, rock stardom, bisexuality, cross dressing, death, the end of the earth, people forgetting how to make love, and immortality, Bowie had covered a lot of ground, so his follow up album “Diamond Dogs,” could not possible be as wild as his previous works right? I mean he must run out of outrageous ideas right? Wrong, so wrong.
David Bowie’s 1974 Album “Diamond Dogs,” has a very interesting back story, but first the basic story.
The basic story told to us in Diamond Dogs, is a crazy post-apocalyptic world (reoccurring theme) where dogs rule the world, and humans are being hunted for sport. Fortunately we got Halloween Jack to lead us to freedom and Rock N’ Roll. Now as insane as it sounds the story in Diamond Dogs is... arguably less wild than the story told to us in the Ziggy Stardust saga, however the creative process behind Diamond Dogs has to be one of the craziest I’ve ever heard.
Originally Bowie had the idea of doing a musical about George Orwell’s “1984.” For those of you who do not know Orwell passed away in 1950, but he was survived by his second wife Sonia Brownell. Sonia inherited the rights to all of Orwell’s works, and in 1954 she allowed the BBC to produce a movie of “1984,” and to put it simply it was ghastly. Sonia was very unhappy with the way the BBC had handled her late husband’s work, so when the bisexual, cross dressing, alien rock star told her he wanted to do a zany musical based on the same story her reaction was predictable, she brought her lawyers and a mindset ready for war to stop him.
Bowie had already written a collection of songs for the album that clearly revolved around the book “1984,” songs like, “1984,” “Dodo,” and “Candidate,” when Sonia emerged to stop him dead in his tracks, no pun intended. What was Bowie to do with all this hard work for the “1984”musical? Dogs ruling the world, of course!
Bowie himself has been quoted about how he had to take his ideas and take them into a radically different direction, but how it was also a very rewarding challenge, he looks back on the album with a lot of happiness in the way things worked out, as do I, I really love the album “Diamond Dogs,” it is one of my favourites of his.
Like previous Bowie albums the whole work is full of fantastic songs, but for this Music in Review, I want to focus on the demo version of “Candidate.” The studio version of “Candidate” is really part of a three song piece, where each song flows into the next as if they are meant to be one song, so the studio version of “Candidate” is really “Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing reprised,” so the demo version standing alone as a song is the first indication to all of you just how different it is.
To put it bluntly they are nothing alike, and it all stems back to Sonia Brownell not letting Bowie make a musical about 1984. The original song “Candidate,” is big brother/David Bowie selling himself as a great leader. It is a light song instrumentally, the piano takes the melody lead, while the subdued electric guitar fills the roll of harmony; the song has a soft touch but a memorable one. The lyrics really strike me because Bowie says a lot about himself; even though I very much get the impression he is trying to sing a song about big brother the future tyrant as a candidate trying to convince people to give him the power he possesses in 1984. However every lyric is more like David Bowie singer about himself as a political “Candidate.”
“I make it a thing, when I gazelle on stage, to believe in myself.” Appropriate for a flamboyant rock star to say.
“I’ll make you a deal, I’ll say I came from earth and my tongue is taped.” Ziggy Stardust, enough said.
“You don’t have to paint my contact black, now I’ve hustled in a pair of jeans.” David Bowie has bicoloured eyes; one of them is blue the other black. His black eye is a result of Bowie being stabbed in the eye with a compass by another child at school when he was very young, not everybody knows that. This last lyric to me really says something about Bowie. Despite the ridiculous personas he often played, or some of the outlandish themes for his music, behind all of it there was a very sincere man. Bowie did not so much play Ziggy Stardust, or Aladdin Sane, or Halloween Jack, he was all those people. Bowie was a very genuine person, he was an entertainer through and through, all those things he pretended to be, in some ways he really was those things, and his eyes, no trick there, those are his real eyes.
“Candidate (Demo Version)” never made it to album, and I can only suspect as to why a song so good would have been reduced to a bonus track. It may have something to do with the fact the song was written about Bowie assuming the role of big brother and after Ms. Brownell’s wrath Bowie could not included it, yet songs more obvious like “1984” made the final cut. I suspect Bowie felt it no longer fit the crazy new theme of dogs ruling the world, which is unfortunate, but I suppose makes sense.
The important thing is this gem of a song has not been lost to us.
Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.
“The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars,” was the album that turned David Bowie into a hugely popular international rock star. In 1972 the world was ready for a concept album about a bisexual alien who came down to earth to rock out and die. Ziggy Stardust will always be remembered among most music critics as Bowie’s best album, but his second best, at least in my opinion, was one that came right after.
Aladdin Sane came out in 1973 after Bowie had toured the world as Ziggy Stardust. The United States in particular had made quite an impression on Mr. Bowie since every song on the follow up album seemed to focus on cities he had visited during his U.S. tour, the most obvious one being “Panic in Detroit.” Aladdin Sane was very similar to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust insofar that Bowie continued to play his character of Ziggy Stardust in concerts. Furthermore the characters of Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane were for the most part interchangeable personas, with the only outstanding key difference being that Ziggy Stardust was a rock star and it is suggested that Aladdin Sane is an actor. Either way both bisexual aliens are artistic performers and carrying on and develop much in the same manner. The important difference between the two albums is the changes in Mr. Bowie himself.
Ziggy Stardust was a raw album, full of emotion and very powerful as a result; that emotion was somewhat calmed in Aladdin Sane, however despite losing some sense of drama, Bowie had refined his song writer ability, the tracks on Aladdin Sane are more methodical, with their final cuts being crisper sounding than that of Ziggy Stardust’s songs. However this first difference is something of a subtle one since the two albums simply belong together, a concept album could easily be made by combining different collections of tracks from the two albums, and furthermore a very similar, if not identical concept would prevail every time given the very similar subject matter.
The true difference between the two albums is not seen by making a comparison of quality between the two albums it is seen within Bowie’s own reflection. David Bowie saw the world differently after the success of Ziggy Stardust in 1972. In 1972 when Bowie was writing songs for Ziggy Stardust he was mediocre popular British musician who had just become successful enough to stop being compared to one hit wonder Zager and Evans. He was on the outside looking in; the character he had created in Ziggy reflected that. Bowie felt like an alien trying to fit into the music industry, trying to fit into the world’s culture, dreaming about being a huge rock star. By 1973, while writing Aladdin Sane David Bowie had become that huge rock star, he was no longer on the outside, Ziggy Stardust was a household name, Mr. Bowie was now a rock star who knew what the world had to offer him. For better or worse there is a certain increase in level of maturity in Aladdin Sane.
The basic story about Aladdin Sane is that some very successful actor survives the apocalypse and as he wanders the sad remains of the world he first ponders selfishly “who will love Aladdin Sane?” And we follow his quest of trying to find some meaning left in the ruined world, only to watch what there is left slowly decay and die, yet he, this strange creature lingers on into immortality, and something too about becoming gender neutral but that never struck me as epic, or as important, or as interesting, as the quest towards immortality. The song that stands out to me the most on Aladdin Sane is “Time;” a song wrapped with subtle double and sometimes triple meanings.
The key lyric in “Time,” is “we should be on by now,” imply, we should be dead by now. However another reoccurring line is “take your time,” that simple line holds so many different meanings. “Take your time,” implying it’s your time to die, but also, don’t rush, take your time embracing death, but also “take your time,” was an expression at the time when passing the needle of heroin when it was someone else turn you would tell them to “take their time,” so the line is also a drug reference, and an appropriate one too since another line in the song goes “Time – Quaaludes and red wine, Demanding Billy Dolls, and other friends of mine.” Billy Dolls was a drummer and friend of David Bowie’s who overdosed on heroin, tying this theme of death back to a personal example for Mr. Bowie. I cannot think of many songs that carrying so much depth and hidden meaning within their lyrics than “Time.” In fact “Time” is the song I use as a status quo for deep lyrical content when talking to people, I bring it up all the time, and now, as is appropriate I have talked about it in The Music in Review.
Until later this month, keep on rocking in the free world.
Holy crap it’s the 23rd and I still haven’t gotten around to my monthly review. I guess two jobs and school will do that.
I haven’t talked about enough live music, so today I shall. When I began to look over the large amount of live tracks on my computer there were quite a few that stood out as unique; strange covers, rare performances, last shows ever, things like that. But there is one that really is special.
According to Johnny Cash it is the greatest anti-drug song of all time, The Tea Party drew a lot of inspiration from the song to write “Psychopomp,” and even though the song is an almost obnoxious example of 90’s emo whining, it really is a great song. That song of course is Nine Inch Nails – Hurt.
Apparently David Bowie was a big fan of Trent Reznor, as you may remember they did do a duo on the song “I’m Afraid of Americans,” featured on Bowie's 1997 album “Earthling.” But what you probably didn’t know is the two went on tour together. Must have been a crazy show, Nine Inch Nails followed by Bowie, that would have been something to see.
Now I did not have the privilege of seeing Bowie and NIN together in concrete but thanks to the wonder of modern technology someone shared some of the live tracks over the internet, further proving the importance of online music sharing, because there is no way in hell any of us would be able to enjoy it otherwise.
One of the songs Bowie and Reznor sing together is, you guessed it, Hurt. While I love the Johnny Cash version, and I am also very fond of the original (except for the last screeching note), I have to conclude this version to be my favourite version of the song. I am fully willing to admit that it might be my favourite just because it has Bowie, and I freaking love Bowie.
It’s pretty far out and it is god damn awesome.
Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.
Recent developments in my life have been predominately overshadowed by a small and humble addiction to facebook. There are a lot of old friends who I have not seen or heard from in ‘five years’ and I have now made some form of Internet contact with. I spend a stupid amount of time on my computer every day. I would say at least twelve hours a day on average. Why is that? Well my computer has everything I need. Music which if you haven’t guessed by now I listen to a lot. Microsoft word which I use a lot to fulfil my hobby of writing my incredible long story (800+ pages now yeah!). Then there is school through correspondence, which I probably should be doing right now, but financing is surprisingly as difficult as it boring.
Since I have added something close ten new emails to my monthly review list, I will tell all you new comers what I told everyone else back in January; you will have to let me know if you actually enjoy my long-winded ramblings about music. I only do this once a month so it can’t possibly be that annoying, but at the same time I couldn’t find the time to ask ever person if they personally cared or not about my little music email experiment.
Anyway I regress from my point. That point is the lot of my old High River friends I am finally talking to again after “Five Years”.
David Bowie back in 1972 would make his mark on the world with his best album still to this date “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” The opening track on this album is “Five Years”. Now the connection here to real life ends abruptly at the name, I remissness about old friends after five years of distances, while the song itself is about the end of the world. Frankly I am just looking for any reason to talk about this song anyway, but those who know me, know well I have a flair for the dramatic.
“Ziggy Stardust” is an interesting album through and through, but one aspect I would like to mention is this album is about super stardom all the while it was written by Dave Bowie before he had achieved such an accolade. This album is a dreamer singing about what was to come, and his wild imagination defiantly drew the album in an interesting direction to say the least. The basic premise is Ziggy Stardust is an alien who wants to come down to earth and rock and roll, but he is afraid that he is too outlandish (which is fair) and he will “blow our minds.” After some time he comes to earth rocks the house displays all sorts of strange and taboo subjects especially at the time of 1972, like multiculturalism and bisexuality, after all what would you expect from a gender-neutral alien? Anyway I don’t think ‘weird’ even begins to describe what this album is all about. Nonetheless the music is nothing of shy of phenomenal, even if the subject matter at times is a little confusing and possibly alienating, pun intended.
Anyway the first track “five years” arguably the best song on the album and as far I can think of this is the best song about the end of the earth I have ever heard.
The lyrics are powerful in this song, the message over the television forewarning the populace of the earth, “that earth is really dying.” How would you react? What would you do? My brain hurt like a warehouse; there was no room to spare….
I think my favorite part is the list of reaction David Bowie sings about, closely followed by his frantic freak out at the end yelling “My brain hurts a lot! Five years! That’s all we got!”
Bloody hell, I’ll just post the damn lyrics:
"Pushing through the market square, so many mothers sighing, News had just come over, we had five years left to cry in. News guy wept and told us, earth was really dying. Cried so much his face was wet, then I knew he was not lying. I heard telephones, opera house, favorite melodies, I saw boys, toys electric irons and T.V.'s, My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room to spare. I had to cram so many things to store everything in there, And all the fat-skinny people, and all the tall-short people, And all the nobody people, and all the somebody people, I never thought I'd need so many people. A girl my age went off her head, hit some tiny children, If the black hadn't a-pulled her off, I think she would have killed them. A soldier with a broken arm, fixed his stare to the wheels of a Cadillac, A cop knelt and kissed the feet of a priest, and a queer threw up at the sight of that. I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlor, drinking milk shakes cold and long, Smiling and waving and looking so fine, I don't think you knew you were in this song. And it was cold and it rained so I felt like an actor, And I thought of Ma and I wanted to get back there. Your face, your race, the way that you talk, I kiss you, you're beautiful, I want you to walk. We've got five years, stuck on my eyes, Five years, what a surprise. We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot, Five years, that's all we've got. We've got five years, what a surprise, Five years, stuck on my eyes. We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot, Five years, that's all we've got. We've got five years, stuck on my eyes, Five years, what a surprise. We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot, Five years, that's all we've got. We've got five years, what a surprise, We've got five years, stuck on my eyes. We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot! Five years, that's all we've got! Five years! Five years! Five years! Five years!"
I had the privilege of seeing David Bowie a few years back when he came to Calgary on his “Reality” tour, and I had even the greater pleasure of hearing him play ‘five years’, in his closing set for that concert. For a man pushing sixty at that time (Bowie turned sixty in March of this year I believe), he kicked ass, as far as performance goes he did not show his age at all. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen.
I think I’ve rambled on longer this month then usual, so I will bid a due for now.
Until next month everyone, keep on rocking in the free world.
