Time Lyrics
He speaks of senseless things
His script is you and me boys
Falls wanking to the floor
His trick is you and me, boy
Demanding Billy Dolls
And other friends of mine
Take your time
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
You - just scream with boredom
You - are not evicting time
You'll freeze and catch a cold
'Cause you've left your coat behind
Take your time
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
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la (repeat)
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!
This may not be what he meant, but what a wonderful interpretation!
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.
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.
@BowieOwnsAll brilliant.
This is one of the most underrated Bowie songs out there. What an amazing song!
@thinwhiteduchess agreed
@thinwhiteduchess agreed
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.
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!"
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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!"
lockquote>
To be fair, this is the entire quote:
lockquote>
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...
"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 back I just couldn't believe it." - Bowie, Jan 1973.
It's apparent that in terms of content and intent, this is merely a song about time, but even Bowie himself realized that people were going to take the general impression from the words (whore, wanking, boy) and declare it to be a gay song.
Recall that years later the gay community dropped him like a hot rock for having the audacity to write songs about, for, and with women, many of whom he was also sleeping with. And a very large percentage of "gay icons" aren't gay themselves, just seen as accessible to the gay community. Not all of them are very happy about that, but whatever, it's pretty graceless to slam one's fans when they are supporting you.
In recent years this has become a very polarizing issue. Ani DiFranco, who says she is bisexual, has stopped a number of shows right in the middle and flat-out asked the lesbians in the crowd to be more respective of the straight people (and men) in the crowd - she said the music is for everyone, she's glad it makes people feel, but doesn't want the feelings of one part of the crowd to drown out, prevent, or invalidate the feelings of others in the crowd - something the gay people in the crowd should have already thought about, since they're always upset about being on the other side of that equation. Later Ani married a man and at our local dyke bar the now ex-fans burned Ani's records, Cds, and t-shirts.
The point? This isn't a gay song, if there even is such a thing. It's a song, about time, but even Bowie realized it would be taken by the gay community to be one of 'their' songs. But all of that "us & them" "ours & theirs" stuff is after the fact, completely irrelevant, and missing the point. It's a song. It's a very, very good song. Listen to it. Enjoy it.
Funny he should choose this one to call gay. Read the lyrics to "Width Of A Circle"!
Funny he should choose this one to call gay. Read the lyrics to "Width Of A Circle"!
@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
@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
I like the intro alot and then how the song just explodes. Very glam, this one.
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.
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.
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.