Cracked Actor

Love this sleazy, dark track from the bowster. Not my fav of his rock n' roll songs tho... that would go to Hang on to yourself. Just my opinion.

Agree with all 3 comments so far. The song was written after Bowie had travelled to Los Angeles for the first time and seen the aftermath of Hollywood gone wrong. His observations became this song.

This is a great song. It so gritty and sleazy. In my opinion, the song is about a washed-out star just going out for a night of decadent craziness and trying to subdue younger women with his star power.

Bonehead XL: I think the washed-out star is trying to subdue a young MALE prostitute with his star power..."give me your head"..."because you just got paid"...I always thought it was about Rock Hudson?! I like the "grunge" intro too!!

There is a fantastic version of this song on the bonus disc of Bowie at the Beeb. Unfortunately if you want to hear it you will have to download the album because I've looked and I've yet to find a copy of this complilation that has the third disc.

Thanks Croc. I think this is an example of Ziggy going to America, morphing into the Aladdin Sane character. Kind of a pimpish song, to me. I hate to say it, though, but the David Live version is my favorite.

The title may be playing on 'cracked pitcher' a slang term for a sportive deflowered woman, a prostitute.

I don't think subdue is the right word, as far as I interpret it. The young prostitute is trying to provide illusions, such as the illusion of a relationship. The older john doesn't want the illusions. He wants to have sex with the younger man.

its about a fifty year old has-been actor who is on the SoCal night life sexing up postitutes..or in even more of a nutshell, the "then" LA scene.

I think it's about a faded big-name star who's laying a male prostitute who's a wannabe actor: the line "You made a bad connection cause I just want your sex" implies that the partner thought he'd get more than cash out of the deal - maybe a break with the old star's agent? The agent Henry Willson (among others) was notorious for demanding sexual favours from his proteges and turning them into beefcake stars with awful fake names - at least Rock Hudson did better than the Tabs, Troys, Clints and Guys he mentored!