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All the Young Dudes Lyrics
Billy rapped all night 'bout his suicide
How he'd kick it in the head when he was 25
Don't wanna stay alive when you're 25
Wendy's stealing clothes from unlocked cars
Freddy's got spots from ripping off stars from his face
Funky little boat race
The television man is crazy
Saying we're juvenile delinquent wrecks
Man I need a TV when I've got T. Rex
Hey brother you guessed I'm a dude
All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news
All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news
Now Jimmy looking sweet though he dresses like a queen
He can kick like a mule
It's a real mean team
We can love
Oh we can love
And my brother's back at home
With his Beatles and his Stones
We never got if off on that revolution stuff
What a drag
Too many snags
Well I drunk a lot of wine
And I'm feeling fine
Gonna race some cat to bed
Is this concrete all around
Or is it in my head
Oh brother you guessed I'm a dude
All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news
All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news
How he'd kick it in the head when he was 25
Don't wanna stay alive when you're 25
Freddy's got spots from ripping off stars from his face
Funky little boat race
The television man is crazy
Saying we're juvenile delinquent wrecks
Man I need a TV when I've got T. Rex
Hey brother you guessed I'm a dude
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news
He can kick like a mule
It's a real mean team
We can love
Oh we can love
And my brother's back at home
With his Beatles and his Stones
We never got if off on that revolution stuff
What a drag
Too many snags
Well I drunk a lot of wine
And I'm feeling fine
Gonna race some cat to bed
Is this concrete all around
Or is it in my head
Oh brother you guessed I'm a dude
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news
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Some British slang that may not be obvious for non-Brits:
"Marks and Sparks" = Marks and Spencer, a high street clothing chain store.
"boat race" = face (Cockney rhyming slang)
Apparently this has become a bit of a gay anthem. I still use it as my song, even if I'm straight, because I'm a dude.
It's DEFFINATELY "news" not "nudes". But yeah, I feel this song not as an anthem of sexuality (since most glam artists were straight) but of rebellion. The reason they dressed glam was because it was taboo back then. Same with the New York Dolls, it was just a scene they were into. But yeah, it has such a good melody. I also like the way he drops the names of other bands like T.Rex and The beatles and stones.
GREAT TUNE
The line about Wendy depends on which edit you have - the radio edit has unlocked cars to stop M&S complaining. It's unlikely 'Freddie' refers to Freddie Mercury, Queen had only formed a year before the song was written, hadn't released their first album, and were probably not contemporaries - certainly not famous enough to be put in a song alongside the established T-Rex (who had kick-started the Glam Rock scene over a year before). Bowie offered the band Suffragette City - but they didn't like it so he wrote this song specifically for them - it was never written for the Ziggy album.
I like this tune a lot too. I guess it has some gay overtones, but I think if you look at the time it was written, it kind of fits into that whole early 70's androgynous glam rock scene. In fact, it was written by David Bowie, the king (queen?) of androgyny.
It's news, not nudes.
this is a great song, I use it as my song and im a chick...I think its about teens and how nobody trusts them cuz their "juvenile delinquent wrecks" and a little bit of gay or glam quotes... I love it, its my fave song.
What are the parts in the parenthesis about ? with the guy in glasses being brought to the front ?
Ian Hunter ad-libbing in the studio.
Ian Hunter ad-libbing in the studio.
@spanky2689 There's an interview on Uncut where Ian Hunter says that when they recorded it Bowie said it needed something more at the end, and he had dumped a bottle of beer on a heckler at the previous night's performance, so he added a rap based on what he had said to the guy
@spanky2689 There's an interview on Uncut where Ian Hunter says that when they recorded it Bowie said it needed something more at the end, and he had dumped a bottle of beer on a heckler at the previous night's performance, so he added a rap based on what he had said to the guy
"Oh Man I need TV when I got T.Rex" - Marc Bolan had a TV programme called Marc, but research has shown that it was ages after this song was written. Spooky. Or not, whatever.
@matthewsheffield, I take it that the TV he needs when listening to T-Rex isn't TeleVision but TransVestism.
@matthewsheffield, I take it that the TV he needs when listening to T-Rex isn't TeleVision but TransVestism.
@matthewsheffield, I take it that the TV he needs when listening to T-Rex isn't TeleVision but TransVestism.
@matthewsheffield, I take it that the TV he needs when listening to T-Rex isn't TeleVision but TransVestism.
I remember thinking when it came out that this song was perhaps inspired by A Clockwork Orange. Any ideas on that?