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Wow!
Thanks. For making sure I am going to be in debt for the
next 60,000 years. My children's children's children's children are
going to be a vast army of slaves for Jeff Bezos' children's
children's...ah fuck it where's the Visa
― dave q, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
Ned, stop rescuing damsels in distress!
The list doesn't mention the Au Pairs' version of "Repetition". I was very
surprised when I found out that Bowie had written that song. "Repetition" contains a
concise, coherent narrative about domestic violence. It isn't a typical example of his
songwriting style at all.
Good point about 'Repetition', though I would disagree that it's not typical of Bowie's
songwriting style. It's not typical of his songwriting of the last, oh, twenty years. But
go back far enough and you'll find gems of character observation and tightly-written
narratives with consistent point of view: 'Space Oddity', 'God Knows I'm Good',
'When I'm Five', 'Five Years'. He can do it when he wants to.
I think Bowie's writing has been ruined by Brion Gysin, surrealism, laziness, post-
modernism, whatever. Where he really writes brilliant stuff that stands up without
the surrounding charisma / imagery, reads well on the page, and can be covered by
third parties, is where he's got a story but he's using innovative techniques in its
telling; language (his 'Clockwork Orange'-inspired slang period) or cinematic editing
techniques (the dissolve shot in 'Space Oddity' on the pun on 'Hear / here': 'Can you
hear / here am I sitting in a tin can...'
When he's bad he's very bad, but when he's good he's the best.
― Momus, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
Oh, and although people often say he should go back on them, we could add drugs to
the list of things that have undermined Bowie's clarity and coherence.
Of course, I also like the nonsense style. 'Blackout' off "Heroes" makes no sense, but
is fantastic expressionist poetry.
― Momus, Wednesday, 24 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
five years pass...
I was just looking for a thread to proclaim the obvious, i.e. that "Oh You Pretty Things" is a fucking perfect song. So why aren't there a lot of covers of it? Because, like another of my favorite songs, "What a Fool Believes" by the Doobie Brothers, it's relatively challenging to play and sing well.
― Hurting 2, Saturday, 27 October 2007 04:02 (sixteen years ago) link
twelve years pass...
two years pass...