David Bowie

The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell

5 Meanings

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The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell Lyrics

What to do
What to say
What to wear on a sunny day
Who to phone
Who to fight
Who to dance with on a Sunday night

Reaching the very edge, you know
Reaching the very edge
Going to the other side this time
Reaching the very edge

CHORUS
You're still breathing but you don't know why
Life's a bit and sometimes you die
You're still breathing but you just can't tell
Don't hold your breath but the pretty things are going to hell

I am a drug
I am a dragon
I am the best jazz you've ever seen
I am a dragon
I am the sky
I am the blood at the corner of your eye
I found the secrets, I found gold
I find you out before you grow old
I find you out before you grow old

What is eternal?
What is damned?
What is clay and what is sand?
Who to dis?
Who to truss?
Who to listen to?
Who to suss?

I'm reaching the very edge, you know
I'm reaching the very edge
I'm going to the other side this time
I'm reaching the very edge

CHORUS

I am a dragon
I am a drug
I am the best jazz you've ever heard
I am a dragon
I am the sky
I am the blood at the corner of your eye
I found the secrets, I found gold
I find you out before you grow old
I find you out before you grow old

REPEAT (4x)
The pretty things are going to hell
They wore it out but they wore it well

You're still breathing but you don't know why
You're still breathing but you just can't tell
Don't hold your breath but the pretty things are going to hell

Submitted by

merchantpierce On Jun 17, 2002

Life on Mars?

Space Oddity

The Man Who Sold the World

Ashes to Ashes

Ziggy Stardust

What to do
What to say
What to wear on a sunny day
Who to phone
Who to fight
Who to dance with on a Sunday night

Reaching the very edge, you know
Reaching the very edge
Going to the other side this time
Reaching the very edge

CHORUS
  You're still breathing but you don't know why
  Life's a bit and sometimes you die
  You're still breathing but you just can't tell
  Don't hold your breath but the pretty things are going to hell

What is eternal?
What is damned?
What is clay and what is sand?
Who to dis?
Who to truss?
Who to listen to?
Who to suss?

I'm reaching the very edge, you know
I'm reaching the very edge
I'm going to the other side this time
I'm reaching the very edge

CHORUS

REPEAT (4x)
  The pretty things are going to hell
  They wore it out but they wore it well

You're still breathing but you don't know why
You're still breathing but you just can't tell
Don't hold your breath but the pretty things are going to hell

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merchantpierce

Submitter

2002-06-17 17:57:24

5 Meanings

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by dpakoha

20y ago

this is about consumerism

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by beer good

20y ago

Early 70s revisited; taking two songs Bowie worked on - his own "Oh! You Pretty Things!" and the Stooges' "Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell" and looking at where the world has gone since then.

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by guilhermelemmi

18y ago

To me the song should be taken litteraly, as we humans are decaying so quickly that soon all pretty things will be gone to hell...the dragon is the devil itself...

the song may also refer to something (bowie) crossing the invisible barrier to lower levels of reality (hell)...that would explain the 'I'm reaching the very edge, I'm going to the other side this time'....Also, the lines 'I found the secrets, I found gold' also seems significant to me, as meaning the occult acitivities that bowie was involved, and his relationship with the occultic 'The Golden Dawn' group.

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by wordbarber

15y ago

I think it should be taken as... the prettier you are, the more you think you deserve. The powerful commit things that are unkind, but get away with it. The more power you have, the more evil you are capable of... hence, the pretty things are going to hell... because they can. If you were pretty (or powerful) you'd be doing the same thing.

Personally, I've delved deep into my dreams and I've seen what ultimate power does to a person.

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by fregnus

12y ago

This song seems to encompass hubris a lot, as well as superficiality, pessimism and paranoia, and concludes that this reduced level of humanity (it implies this essence reduced by using "pretty") is going to "hell".

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