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Time Lyrics

Time - He's waiting in the wings
He speaks of senseless things
His script is you and me boys

Time - He flexes like a whore
Falls wanking to the floor
His trick is you and me, boy

Time - In Quaaludes and red wine
Demanding Billy Dolls
And other friends of mine
Take your time

The sniper in the brain, regurgitating drain
Incestuous and vain, and many other last names
I look at my watch it say 9:25 and I think "Oh God I'm still alive"

We should be on by now
We should be on by now

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la (repeat)

You - are not a victim
You - just scream with boredom
You - are not evicting time

Chimes - Goddamn, you're looking old
You'll freeze and catch a cold
'Cause you've left your coat behind
Take your time

Breaking up is hard, but keeping dark is hateful
I had so many dreams, I had so many breakthroughs
But you, my love, were kind, but love has left you dreamless
The door to dreams was closed. Your park was real dreamless
Perhaps you're smiling now, smiling through this darkness
But all I had to give was the guilt for dreaming

We should be on by now (x5)
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la (repeat)

Yeah, time!
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26 Meanings

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Cover art for Time lyrics by David Bowie

I think the two lines, "flexes like a whore" and "wanking to the floor" are supposed to be interpretations of what the hands of a clock looks like. Just check it out for yourself.

10:10 - "flexes like a whore" 09:00 - "falls wanking to the floor" (no legs) 09:25 - '"Oh God I'm still alive"' (hurdled over [drunk or in pain, maybe?])

This may not be what he meant, but what a wonderful interpretation!

Cover art for Time lyrics by David Bowie

Reminds me of the void between input and output. Everyone goes through it once. That's adolescence. Artists go in and out and in and out and in and out again. That's just being an artist. It's a depression and a numb sort of cowardice. You know you could be doing something productive with your time, learning how to play another instrument or helping someone with their chores. You just can't seem to escape the sludge of your own spirits, and no amount of rationalising or motivational speeches will force you into doing so. That's why I'm wasting my own precious time commenting on David Bowie's lyrics. Not that the aren't worth commenting on.

Cover art for Time lyrics by David Bowie

I believe this song is about nothing more than knowing that time ends all things. Time is compared to a predator(he's waiting in the wings), a director (his script is you and me), and a few other things. Bowie is just saying that any second now he expects time to come and get him (Oh God I'm still alive). Then towards the end of the song he changes it and says "take your time" but I do not think he means you have the time to take. Instead I think he means use the remainder of your time before it's too late. At the end I think it's about someone dying; "Perhaps you're smiling now, smiling through this darkness But all I had to give was the guilt for dreaming" That concludes my interpretation.

@BowieOwnsAll brilliant.

Cover art for Time lyrics by David Bowie

This is one of the most underrated Bowie songs out there. What an amazing song!

Cover art for Time lyrics by David Bowie

This song is layered with meaning. An obvious one is the passing of time, not just the shortness of a lifetime, but the tendency for time to vary in it's pace, one moment it speeds by, the next it crawls in tedium, another interpretation of time 'flexing like a whore', not a physical flex, but a perception one, the juxtaposition between it's fleeting when youre enjoying yourself but showing no interest in passing when you're not. Touring is known for its long, dull, periods in between performances, travelling, sound checking, ect, often given as a reason for a lot of artist's drug taking, in this case quaaludes and red wine, and the generally missed double meaning of Billy Dolls (I'm looking at you, Wikipedia) not just a nod to the New York Dolls, but also amphetamine in capsule form (Billy Whizz, a character from the Beano comic, was a British slang term for speed, also known as just Billy or Whizz, 'dolls' is used as a term for capsule drugs in Jaqueline Susanne's cult 1966 novel Valley of the Dolls), 'other friends of mine' could well be referencing cocaine. A great song, RIP Mr Jones, I feel like I've lost a friend.

Cover art for Time lyrics by David Bowie

I agree with BowieOwnsAll (and oh he does!), however, Bowie himself, in an interview once said in regards to this song something like "Oh my god! I've written a GAY song!"

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Bowie himself, in an interview once said in regards to this song something like "Oh my god! I've written a GAY song!"

Bowie himself, in an interview once said in regards to this song something like "Oh my god! I've written a GAY song!"

lockquote>

To be fair, this is the entire quote:

To be fair, this is the entire quote:

"I've written a new song on the new album called 'Time', and I thought it was about time, and I wrote very heavily about time, and the way I felt about time - at times! - and I played it back after we recorded it and, my God, it was a gay song! And I'd no intention of writing anything at all gay. When I listened to it...

Not Valid

Funny he should choose this one to call gay. Read the lyrics to "Width Of A Circle"!

Not Valid

@QuietEarp I think the point is that Time wasn't meant to be "gay" but was perceived as such. I believe he knew very well how "gay" Width of a Circle is...lol

Cover art for Time lyrics by David Bowie

I like the intro alot and then how the song just explodes. Very glam, this one.

Cover art for Time lyrics by David Bowie

I think this song would of had critical and popular success if he had omitted the lines about time flexing like a whore and wanking to the floor.

Those lines define this as a Ziggy/ Bowie bisexual song though. I love it.

Cover art for Time lyrics by David Bowie

The sniper in the brain, regurgitating drain Incestuous and vain, and many other last names I look at my watch it say 9:25 and I think "Oh God I'm still alive"

Fucking Genius.

Cover art for Time lyrics by David Bowie

I feel like the lyrics of this song describe the feeling of being a actor and waiting to go on stage, an the way time has a distorted feeling about it-"time is waiting in the wings", the opening line shows the impatience of waiting to perform, and how time is "waiting" could show how it is frozen in the moment before going on stage. Additionally, "the script is you and me", could capture the feeling of rehearsing what you are supposed to say in the wings, hence why he mentions a script. Then the last lines of the song,"We should be on by now" is showing his growing impatience after snapping back to reality after his perception of time has gone back fromm being all distorted " he flexes like a whore" shows how time has become twisted.

My Interpretation