We passed upon the stair
We spoke of was and when
Although I wasn't there
He said I was his friend
Which came as some surprise
I spoke into his eyes "I thought you died alone
A long, long time ago"

Oh no, not me
I never lost control
You're face to face
With the man who sold the world

I laughed and shook his hand
And made my way back home
I searched for form and land
For years and years, I roamed
I gazed a gazely stare
At all the millions here
We must have died alone
A long, long time ago

Who knows? Not me
We never lost control
You're face to face
With the man who sold the world

Who knows? Not me
We never lost control
You're face to face
With the man who sold the world


Lyrics submitted by magicnudiesuit, edited by Attap, BillIamBillIam, LukasKlein, smigon

The Man Who Sold The World Lyrics as written by David Bowie

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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The Man Who Sold the World song meanings
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  • +31
    General Comment

    I think that it goes like this:

    Bowie meets an old friend ( alcoholic, addict, somebody that stayed in the hood ).

    Although he ( Bowie ) was not there for a long time, this man calls him a friend, which suprises Bowie a lot, since he has been away for long time.

    Bowie tells this man to his eyes that he thought that this man has died a long time ago, knowing abut his sin. This man responses that he always had control ( over his addiction I suppose ), but he feels like failure after all ( he sold his career, his world, his everything )

    Now, Bowie shakes his hand, smiles politely, and goes away.

    After that, Bowie is travelling a lot, looking at millions of people, and then he realizes that we are the ones that have sold the world, we have died alone, and sold everything ( our worlds ) when we sold our dreams and became grown ups.

    ...

    Here in Serbia, we have a saying that goes something like: " God bless the man that goes crazy early in the life, at least he spends his life in joy ". To me, this song has a lot to do with it

    That is just how I see it :) Vlada

    vlada021on January 15, 2010   Link

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