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Where Are We Now? Lyrics
Had to get the train
From Potsdamer Platz
You never knew that
That I could do that
Just walking the dead
Sitting in the Dschungel
On Nürnberger Strasse
A man lost in time
Near KaDeWe
Just walking the dead
Where are we now?
Where are we now?
The moment you know
You know, you know
Twenty thousand people
Cross Bösebrücke
Fingers are crossed
Just in case
Walking the dead
Where are we now?
Where are we now?
The moment you know
You know, you know
As long as there's sun
As long as there's sun
As long as there's rain
As long as there's rain
As long as there's fire
As long as there's fire
As long as there's me
As long as there's you
From Potsdamer Platz
You never knew that
That I could do that
Just walking the dead
On Nürnberger Strasse
A man lost in time
Near KaDeWe
Just walking the dead
Where are we now?
The moment you know
You know, you know
Cross Bösebrücke
Fingers are crossed
Just in case
Walking the dead
Where are we now?
The moment you know
You know, you know
As long as there's sun
As long as there's rain
As long as there's rain
As long as there's fire
As long as there's fire
As long as there's me
As long as there's you
Song Info
Submitted by
manic4manics On Jan 08, 2013
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IMHO this is a very contemplative, introspective, sad, sad song. It is interesting if this is true that all the towns he names are of prior recording sites. It is also interesting about the Norway t-shirt in the video if it is related to the massacre that occurred. My impression is similar and could easily incorporate Norway as well as all the ills in the world but I think it is reflecting more on the current generation and those currently living in post-WWII Germany. While going on about our busy lives and doing this and that and suddenly while waiting here or crossing the street there, we get a moment, and epiphany of awareness, of truth, of knowing and asking where are we now as a people, a nation, a race, as humanity after all these manifestations of darkness and evil that rises out of our own very souls, our very nature, despite all that we accomplish and manage to do in our lives, just what exactly have we become now, where are we in this timeline of "human progress"? After all our major and minor holocausts have we grown or are we still the same? It is a very sad song. Yet there is a daily glimmer of Hope with each rising sun, a renewal and cleansing with every rain, purification with every fire, and some predictability in other aspects of nature that are basic and good, like the possibility of Love in me and in you. What do you think?
I came here with a strong impression about the song, without having given it much thinking through. I think your interpretation is captures the essence. It went right along with the impression I had. It's a powerful song, as is the imagery in the video. Subtle, but very deep. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I came here with a strong impression about the song, without having given it much thinking through. I think your interpretation is captures the essence. It went right along with the impression I had. It's a powerful song, as is the imagery in the video. Subtle, but very deep. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
@xtian777 I really like your interpretation...The Song of Norway t-shirt is about his first real love Hermione Farthingale. They broke up after she was in the movie Song of Norway. Nonetheless, the introspection ..etc. ..fits.
@xtian777 I really like your interpretation...The Song of Norway t-shirt is about his first real love Hermione Farthingale. They broke up after she was in the movie Song of Norway. Nonetheless, the introspection ..etc. ..fits.
A song about the uncontrollable course of time, with nature and love being the only constants. The speaker/"I" of the song seems to have been to Berlin before the wall came down and reflects about the events in and after 1989. He is overwhelmed by the power of history and clings to "fire", "rain", "you and me". Okay, the song mentions the club "Dschungel" — but does that suffice to interpret the lyrics as a reflection on Bowie's Berlin years during the late seventies? As Bowie fans we tend to look for autobiographical content, but to me there's not much of it in this song. Bowie has reached mastership in firing our imagination with a single word, a half line or a video image.
Dunno. I don't think this has a lot to do with mankind, people, humanity. This is very, very personal. It's rather "where am I now?", "what's happened to me between 1976, when I was in Berlin, and today?", "how have I, David Robert Jones, evolved?". But, of course, the world's in the back picture: the wall has fallen, music has changed, the dream of the seventies is over, etc.
All the places mentioned in the song are apparently the places he made his albums. I thought it was a reflection on all the people he's met throughout his time as a musician, about how much time has past since then and wondering 'where are we all now?'
He's reflecting the Berlin Wall and all evil in the world. In the videoclip you can see Bowie standing with a "Norway t-shirt" which is (I think) to remember the slaughter at Utøya. All the sick things that are happening due to mankind makes him lost. He doesn't know this is earth anymore, but he remembers by the basic earth principles as "sun" "fire" "rain" and his love for his partner / family ("me" "you")
Having now heard the rest of the album it seems "where are we now" is the final question after reflecting on what has happened to Bowie and Europe over the course of Bowie's life, there's the holocaust, Normandy, love and death, escape, youth and fame, the pointlessness of it all. Bruges la Mort meets industrial with fixes of psychadelia when its all too much.
My interpretation is a very old person on a day trip with a love from the past (who is dead). For a moment he becomes lost and compares this to being lost in the feeling of the love being present
Dunno. I don't think this has a lot to do with mankind, people, humanity. This is very, very personal. It's rather "where am I now?", "what's happened to me between 1976, when I was in Berlin, and today?", "how have I, David Robert Jones, evolved?". But, of course, the world's in the back picture: the wall has fallen, music has changed, the dream of the seventies is over, etc.
we're nowhere now.
saw this video when it came out and called it then and there - didn't want to say so publicly ofc. just look into his eyes and listen to his voice - he is telling us about his bad news.