Fill Your Heart

I must disagree with both of you, though I do agree this song is ironic to a certain extent.

During this period of his life, Bowie was experimenting with Thelema and the teachings of Alistair Crowley. It's all over this album, especially "Quicksand", the song right before this one (which isn't actually depressing at all if you read it right, but I'll mention that over on that song). He even has several Thelemically inspired pictures within the album liner (Egyptian stuff EVERYWHERE, sitting in metitative poses, etc).

This song is esentially a quick version of the first part of Book of the Law. There is only one rule in Thelema: "Do what thou Wilt shall be the Whole of the Law. Love is the Law, Love under Will." The "Love" he speaks of is the same Crowley described, which isn't love as we think of it. By Love, he means the awareness of the self and all others as complete individual entities with the potential to become gods, and the awareness that as such, individuals are free to do whatever they must in order to further their Will (goal in life, to oversimplify), so long as it doesn't affect anyone else's Will.

The whole idea of the past being only in your mind is a Thelemic concept rooted in the idea that all physical reality, and all time, is simply a construct by our minds to process our environment. Were we able to see our environment without our filtering systems, we would be able to see that all physical reality and time is simply an illusion covering the truth of the astral realm.

Of course, the only way to reach the astral realm, and the ultimate goal of Thelema itself (which I won't go into here), is to eliminate the Ego, thus "Forget your Mind."

It's interesting that "Free" is always capitalized, and I think it illustrates my point. Crowley always referred to people who have accepted the concepts of Thelema as "Free" people, no longer slaves to the chains of physical reality and organized religion. (Thelema is not a religion, it is a philosophy. To have religion, one must have worship, and Thelemites bow to no one.)

That he takes it to an extreme, verbally and vocally, does imply irony. It is obvious during this album he was studying the philosophies of Thelema, but never completely subscribed to them. By the time his next album came out, he had turned back to Christianity. Perhaps this song is almost a parody of the tenants of the Book of the Law, as if the idea is far too easy to be true.

On Hunky Dory this song is directly after the deeply depressing Quicksand. I love this bizarre contrast between sorrow and ridiculously extreme joy. This is just one of the reasons why this song makes me smile.

Maybe this song is expressing the sheer, dizzying happiness that Love brings: "Love cleans the mind And make you Free!" "Lovers never lose." etc.

It also explains that Ignorance Is Bliss: "Forget your head and you'll be free." This line also makes me think of the phrase "Off your head" which implies that the song is about drugs, most likely stimulents.

My pessimistic brother believes it's supposed to be ironic, like REM's "Shiny Happy People" but I think it's an overall feel good song, not recommended for the over-dignified.

I must kindly disagree with you. Bowie is most definitely being ironic in this song, but not sarcastic as your brother seems to think. Rather, Bowie is describing a thought that young people often have and is ascribing worth to it, but while also knowing that it doesn't last. Perhaps if you think this article of faith he describes can last, then it won't sound ironic, but I think he plays it a little too fast and the tones are painfully joyful.
I remember when my girlfriend and I were in college: we actually believed the words in this song as an article of faith. We believed that if human beings could simply "conquer fear" then thy could find ultimate happiness on earth. This is at once both a beautiful wish and a state of being that can never be attained. Both of these truths are conveyed at once in this song, making it an all-time classic in my book.

"During this period of his life, Bowie was experimenting with Thelema and the teachings of Alistair Crowley." , so what? This song was written by Biff Rose and Paul Williams.

"This song was written by Biff Rose and Paul Williams." So what? Musicians carefully choose which songs they cover, and context is the ultimate creator of meaning in music.

I agree with Alicelove fully.

is right 'rot' i agree with you mate!!!

Lovely comment there, Alicelove. I agree as well. A lovely Biff Rose cover. It's certainly playful song in Hunky Dory. I absolutely love it. To me, it explains how lovers can be a team. "Lovers never lose." Hmm? And "Don't play the game of time." I think it means that you might not want to race against the clock. Love is limited, that's for sure. Sure, you can find it in the craziest places, but not this song.

Lovely comment there, Alicelove. I agree as well. A lovely Biff Rose cover. It's certainly playful song in Hunky Dory. I absolutely love it. To me, it explains how lovers can be a team. "Lovers never lose." Hmm? And "Don't play the game of time." I think it means that you might not want to race against the clock. Love is limited, that's for sure. Sure, you can find it in the craziest places, but not this song.

This song always makes me feel better no matter how fucked up I am

Is it a cover or just written by other people?