Ziggy Stardust Lyrics
And the spiders from Mars. He played it left hand
But made it too far
Became the special man, then we were Ziggy's band
Like some cat from Japan, he could lick 'em by smiling
He could leave 'em to hang
'Came on so loaded man, well hung and snow white tan.
With just the beer light to guide us,
So we bitched about his fans and should we crush his sweet hands?
The kids were just crass, he was the nazz
With God given ass
He took it all too far but boy could he play guitar
Like a leper messiah
When the kids had killed the man I had to break up the band.
Hmm. All interesting. Maybe I'm wrong. I always just thought that Ziggy Stardust was David Bowie's glam alter-ego. Basically, like he was everything about him times a million. His own fears, inadequacies, ego, lust..etc just magnified.
I'm amazed that this hasn't been mentioned yet.
The band wasn't even "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" originally. It was just "The Spiders from Mars". Of course, because Ziggy got so much attention, suddenly the Spiders were Ziggy's backups.
They got annoyed after he got all big and whatnot, so they devised a scheme to bring him down. They "broke his sweet hands", thus rendering him unable to play guitar.
This, of course, killed Ziggy. They took away his life by breaking his hands, and so Ziggy literally took his own life. The band couldn't continue after their star guitarist was dead, so they had to break up the band.
But looking back on it, man, Ziggy COULD play guitar...
I have no idea where you got that from Pabstdrinkin. 1) Vince Taylor wrote "Brand new Cadillac" 2) Ziggy Stardust is a fictional character.
Anyway: Ziggy Stardust, like Major Tom, is a autobiographical character. Ziggy = Bowie. Though Bowie wasn't a guitar player, the point of the Rise and Fall album is Bowie's ascension into the media spotlight following the success of Man who Sold the World. With Hunky Dory Bowie reinvented himself, going into a singer/songwriter mode rather than the harder songs of Man who Sold the World. The differences between "Changes" and "Life on Mars" are completly different than "Width of a Circle" or "Shook me Cold." Bowie came to the realization that he didn't really need the band for Hunky Dory, as Mick Ronson played such a small roll. Bowie thought he was god. He moved into his androdgenous male period, especially with "Oh! You Pretty Things." But he realized he was wrong, he needed the other guys, they were a part of him as older fans complained about the lack of the guitars on Hunky Dory.
Lady Stardust is about people questioning his choices with "Oh! You Pretty Things", Ziggy Stardust is about Bowie realizing that he may have really killed his older fan base, which was important to him. So he went back to what got him there in the first place. The "death" of Ziggy is Bowie's change BACK the Bowie of "Man Who Sold the World."
However, Bowie quickly turned Ziggy into another part of himself, as you can see from Aladdin Sane's cover art alone. That's the rise of Glam rock.
You make some very good points....I feel compelled to point out, however, that Bowie was indeed very much a guitarist.
You make some very good points....I feel compelled to point out, however, that Bowie was indeed very much a guitarist.
"Ziggy played guitar" is the best thing Bowie ever wrote.
I really like the way that he starts the song by saying that, and then lets that linger and sink in for just a second before going on, and then ends it with that thought once again.
The album is about the rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust, of course. But with that line it is like Bowie is saying that no matter what the person is like, it's just his music we will be left with.
i noticed that this is the best song ever
it's funny, everybody says that the song is about something different. i think this song must've took so much work from bowie to write, i think he intentionally made the meaning so open to interpretation by incorporating all of his career, and all of the careers of other musicians. so this song speaks to just about everyone. i like to think of ziggy as a fictional character, created from the ashes of every musician before him, whose life tells the tale of those musicians, to give everyone a peek into what these people go through.
Who, to be honest, cares who exactly Ziggy is? The songs about a rock star who went a bit to far, had a massive ego, thought he was the best, etc, etc This really annoyed his band so they killed him (which is harsh!) But boy could Ziggy play guitar
I'm pretty sure Pabstdrinkin meant that Ziggy Stardust was supposed to be Vince Taylor. I would agree to the extent that Ziggy is kind of a mashup of every died-too-young rockstar as well as Bowie himself: it's the rockstar story blown up to planetary proportions. Instead of coming from some small town or something, he's from Mars, etc.
Scary to think how close Bowie himself came to dying too young as well. Thank God he lived a full life and continued to make great music.
Scary to think how close Bowie himself came to dying too young as well. Thank God he lived a full life and continued to make great music.
this song may be about himself, vince taylor, and all the 60's rockstars but i believe it has a special emphasis on jimi hendrix becasue of the left hand as well as the line saying "jiving us that we were voodoo" which may refer to jimi's song voodoo child
maybe
I really dont believe that it can be credited to any one person however
I agree...I think that Bowie took bits and pieces from different personalities....then combined it to make it totally Bowie!
I agree...I think that Bowie took bits and pieces from different personalities....then combined it to make it totally Bowie!
It's not "about" Hendrix, IMO, but parts of it are inspired by Hendrix (he played it left hand) and other rock stars, aswell as it being party autobiographical. All of those things together make Ziggy Stardust. Thats just my take on it.
Either way, it's the best song ever, in my opinion.
I agree....The story stands on its on, and is not about anyone in particular. However, I believe that his story was influenced by different figures, Hendrix, perhaps, being one of those influences.
I agree....The story stands on its on, and is not about anyone in particular. However, I believe that his story was influenced by different figures, Hendrix, perhaps, being one of those influences.