| David Bowie – Sons of the Silent Age Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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@TheHeroicDavidBowie lolololol you're kidding, right? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard this week. Maybe this month, maybe even this year. How do you interpret this song as being about abortion? It is far from obvious how you came to this conclusion, unless you are projecting your own worldview onto Bowie's song (a worldview which, in light of your comment, it is unlikely Bowie shares). Are the "sons" the unborn babies? If so, then why do they "rise for a year or two then make war," "search through their one-inch thoughts then decide it couldn't be done?" Or are the "sons" the abortion-givers? If so, then the questions still stand; furthermore, why do they "make love only once but dream and dream," or "never die they just go to sleep one day?" And for god's sake... why would Bowie be singing to a baby, "let's find another way in" and "let's take another way down"? Let me remind you that Bowie wrote this in 1977. It is far more likely that "let's take another way down" refers to coming off of a drug high, and that many of the gloomy verses about Sons of the Silent Age refer obliquely, as if from a dream, to various men on various drugs. And of course this was right after Bowie started to clean up, himself. In 1977, Bowie would have been in Germany and decreasing his cocaine usage after a long time spent using all kinds of drugs. The previous year, he had overdosed a number of times. At the time he was also deeply interested in mythology and the occult. The song Quicksand, for instance, written in 1971, was full of references to the Golden Dawn and metaphysical notions Bowie himself had synthesized. So, abortion? Totally not. What then? I don't really know. Why not take it at face value? These men with blank looks, notebooks, crying and making love only once, rising for a year or two, "make war" whatever that means, then turning around and saying "it" couldn't be done--whatever that is, be it the war, or peace, or world government, some high achievement or plan of some sort. These characters and possibilities are interesting enough without foisting upon them some banal idea about abortion. |
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| David Bowie – Sons of the Silent Age Lyrics | 12 years ago |
|
lolololol you're kidding, right? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard this week. Maybe this month, maybe even this year. How do you interpret this song as being about abortion? It is far from obvious how you came to this conclusion, unless you are projecting your own worldview onto Bowie's song (a worldview which, in light of your comment, it is unlikely Bowie shares). Are the "sons" the unborn babies? If so, then why do they "rise for a year or two then make war," "search through their one-inch thoughts then decide it couldn't be done?" Or are the "sons" the abortion-givers? If so, then the questions still stand; furthermore, why do they "make love only once but dream and dream," or "never die they just go to sleep one day?" And for god's sake... why would Bowie be singing to a baby, "let's find another way in" and "let's take another way down"? Let me remind you that Bowie wrote this in 1977. It is far more likely that "let's take another way down" refers to coming off of a drug high, and that many of the gloomy verses about Sons of the Silent Age refer obliquely, as if from a dream, to various men on various drugs. And of course this was right after Bowie started to clean up, himself. In 1977, Bowie would have been in Germany and decreasing his cocaine usage after a long time spent using all kinds of drugs. The previous year, he had overdosed a number of times. At the time he was also deeply interested in mythology and the occult. The song Quicksand, for instance, written in 1971, was full of references to the Golden Dawn and metaphysical notions Bowie himself had synthesized. So, abortion? Totally not. What then? I don't really know. Why not take it at face value? These men with blank looks, notebooks, crying and making love only once, rising for a year or two, "make war" whatever that means, then turning around and saying "it" couldn't be done--whatever that is, be it the war, or peace, or world government, some high achievement or plan of some sort. These characters and possibilities are interesting enough without foisting upon them some banal idea about abortion. |
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