Modern Love

OK, Bowie and Linkin' Park aside, this song is simply a great song, if albeit confusing. My take on it is this: Bowie is reluctant to go out and try dating/sleeping around, but he's single and knows he can't just "stay in". He meets someone but it's all the same and they're all talk ("I'm standing in the wind"). As much as he want's to, when they split his apathy won't even allow him to wave goodbye. He meets someonne else. He realises the dating scene is all about turning on the charm. He feels like he's drowning ("lying in the rain") and when the eventual split comes, again apathy. He still keeps on trying.

Bowie cleverly uses "gets me to the church on time" to mean that his shallow relationships drive him to find answers in church instead of leading to a church wedding (the normal use of the phrase). He's welcomed into the church ("make me party") and puts his belief in God. However, he feels no presence of God ("no confessions...no religion") and he realises that the preaching is juts another charm offensive and all talk. He's entered another loveless relationship so he turns his back, walks and doesn't wave goodbye.

In the end he's untimately left disappointed by all Modern Love and all relationships. Be they: Man/woman; man/man; man/God.

The religion thing seems pretty clear to me - faith should have never been institutionalised. Once it becomes an organisation, like church, dogmas arise and the whole faith turns into "being in church on time every sunday". Plus wars and power over people. David said that in interviews from 70s-80s that he believes in energy but he wouldn't put a name on it (God). I think that's because of the whole institution - church. The rest of the song is in my opinion about looking for a purpose in life. Like - you do lots of thing rather automatically and at the end of the day you question yourself if this is really what you're supposed to do, if this is how you want to fulfill your life. The modern love part is probably about commitment-free relationships that give you pleasure for a while and then leave you empty.

I CATCH A PAPER, BOY! BUT THINGS DONT REALLY CHANGE

• modern love, making a reference to reading the paper and there really is no news to read about. thinking modern love is lame and uninteresting.

NEVER WAVE BYE BYE - i guess this means he cant bring himself to end the relationship, BUT I TRY

THERES NO SIGN OF LIFE, ITS JUST THE POWER TO CHARM - exactly how it sounds, theres no more liking somone for who they are its all about how you look and act, putting on a show just to pick-up

IM LYING IN THE RAIN - making refference to the earlier comment about standing in the wind, now lying in the rain, almost completly giving up.

as for the religious comments i think it means having no faith in modern love.

of course you can interpret it differently, thats just how i see it.

It's about trying to put your faith in something and it not working. His relationships all fail, so he goes to church for guidance. He doesn't find it, so he goes back out and gets his heart broken again. It's a vicious cycle of him trying to find something meaningful and never being able to. Modern love fails him. God fails him. Yet he still succumbs to both, hoping things will change.

I think a lot of people are taking things too literally (what the backup singers are saying while he sings each part of the chorus).

The "hook" of this song is how it's cyclical. The way I always hear this song, it's about a guy and his conflict between "modern" cosmopolitan relationships and more "traditional" ones that still hold some draw.

On one hand you have modern love. No religion (tradition, maybe outdated and stodgy) and no hangups. It's freeing and liberated. It can be amazing when you have truly uninhibited love with someone...

...but at the same time that other side of you. Maybe it's upbringing. Maybe just tradition. Either way it's the desire for stability and safety that those traditions imply. "Gets you to the church on time" is a reference to getting married. The whole cliche is about making sure the bride or groom make it to the church on time.

That's where the cycling choral verses start to represent the thoughts of a young guy who is trying to find just what he really wants. Modern love is cool. It makes you happy and feels cool. You think you're happy but then you start to settle down and you think that maybe you want to marry. This terrifies you and brings a load of anxiety because you may not have thought that far ahead so your reaction is to go party and deny what you don't want to acknowledge. So before the relationship goes down that path toward stability (and maybe stagnation) you reject it all and go back to modern love...starting it all over again.

This sticks out because it's a cycle I've seen and experienced first hand. (hence tagged as personal interpretation). On one hand, freedom and liberation leads to passion and love. That naturally leads to talk of settling down which can be scary and restricting. As a young guy, that makes you want to react by rejecting all of that and splitting off to become single and repeat the process again.

Always dug this song. As a kid I just liked the upbeat tune with the dark lyrics. Now it hits all too close to home. Too bad I'm not David Bowie and can't just keep that cycle of arrested development going forever, huh? ;)

This song has nothing to do with religion. It's about marriage, and love. He contradicts himself on purpose, in order to demonstrate what "modern love" is, which is a changing thing. He believes in it, and he doesn't. He believes he'll get married whilst thinking that it's impossible because of modern love.

HAHAHA.

i can't believe someone compared this to LINKIN PARK.

Well after reading what you guys had to say, I went back and re-read the lyrics. This has always been a song that has captured my interest though I never knew its meaning. So here's my take after thinking about it a bit:

I think what he's trying to say is that he obviously hates modern love. Relationships bomb out, he cant keep a girl, etc. Modern love and the girls involved will date him (walk beside him) then leave him (walks on by). Modern love isn't so much hard work as it is the power to impress the girl you're with. The church reference to me is about getting to the alter before he's too old so he can have kids and that kinda stuff. His God and man line is referring to the distance that man has made from god through modern love. Modern love teaches that you dont have to feel guilt or be religious in general. He also states that God and man don't believe in modern love. I think this just says that a lot of people dont like the direction of modern love, including God. I dont think this is anti-religious because I believe Bowie belongs to a religion, though I dont know which one.

he's talking about a very common theme in music: the breakup...he continues to have his heart broken, but he "never waves byebye". But he tries. So he no longer believes in "modern love". As for the religious reference, I'm not sure what he means...maybe that he tries to believe in something besides modern love, but everything just leads back to modern love again...

Hmmm - read some interpretations and then I came up with something I haven`t read here:

What if he is discribing his relationship with media, the audience and public? "I know when to go out, when to stay in - get things done..." - as someone who is allways recogniced as soon as he is going out it starts beiing part of the job - hence "get things done". "I catch a Paper boy - but things dont really change - Im standing in the wind" - lets take the first part liturally - he is browsing threw media, but they dont give him a break and critisice him (standing in the wind). But he never turns his back on showbusiness even though he possible tryed. "Theres no sign of life - its just the power to charme" could be a reference of him standing on the stage - up there you cant recognice anyone below you with lights blinding but he is performing and everyone is happy. It could also mean, that from outside he seems to be partying on stage, but its all just a show... And it could be generally him beiing in the public perception. What he means with "lying in the rain" - no idea right now.

The thing with "church on time" could be the situation with a show/ an appearence. He is the preacher/Jesus and everyone is adoring him. It`s a "modern love" that terrifies him - imagine all the people in the audience - the energy of thousands screeming - singing his songs unisono - could be terrefying, or? "Makes me party" - but he still loves what he is doing - entertaining the masses. And when thousands peacefully come together and party with him it "puts his trust in god and man", because it is amacing to be in front of all those happy people - allmost magical/religious. But there are no confessions needed, its not a religion (but kind of allthough) - but then he doubts that those feeling of the public are true - things can change really quick - like the music that is turning dramatic for the break and solo at this instance.

"Its not really work - its just the power to charme" - is one of the lines, that made me think of the whole interpretation - cleare as water fresh from the mountains - the meaning - just straight what he is saying. "Still standing in the wind" - media still is critisicing him, but he is still holding on to his career. Since he is the preacher - he needs to be in church on time - do his job and apear on stage/in public make his appearances at parties,... English is not my first language and I cant make a sence out of everything - but I guess its at least a new interpretation =)

[Edit: Forgott something]