While I know the Thin White Duke is Bowie's Station to Station Era persona -- I think in this song itself the "Thin White Duke" is partially a symbol of the cocaine itself, or religion, or witchcraft itself -- whatever people use to get by and that subsequently may bloack the possibility of love and or happiness (Hence "Throwing Darts In lover's eyes." The sure white stains can be the trail of a coke line or semen stains on a sheet in other words, the remnants of whatever device was used to get the individual from station to station. Of course with the religious implications of the stations of the cross, Bowie is essentially connecting the acceptance of spirituality and the journey one may go through in pursuing that as a means by which to escape from his troubles. Station to Station, my favorite Bowie album -- despite it's mere 6 songs -- is a bittersweet triumph in that it essentially addresses How Humans Deal With Pain. Golden Years is an olive branch offered from jilted lover to lover -- Word On A Wing is an aknowledgement of guilt and a prayer to seek refuge from one's own devices, TVC15 is a parable on the escape that TV and the media provides and how TVs can nearly be compared to humans in terms of the supposed solace that they offer. The final song "Wild is the Wind" reaches the conclusion that life is like the wind -- meant to be wild and unpredictable and instead of seeking tangibles to cure one's pain, one should look within. It's remarkable that Bowie waxs so forgone when he recorded this album that doesn't remember it and yet it is imbued with a message that he was obviously trying to send himself. Station to Station the song is one of the pinnacles of Bowie. The music is exhilerating, and excuse the cliche but epic. It is a song about the quest -- living in the moment, shunning self doubt and relying on oneself. But at the same time seeking yet another external out -- the European Cannon -- which I presume is either a reference to the Christian faith of which their is a large European cannon or perhaps it is a preclude to his sobering up in Europe, obviously only achievable by the firing of him out a cannon. In the end, the singer is able to reach a peace with himself and learn not to have guilt but to move on to the future. Also a note about the "sideeffects of the cocaine" line -- he is in a way aknowleging that cocaine IS actually a factor in his newfound outlook -- why else would he say that line which in the present tense implies that he is on it right now. The unravelling obfuscation that drugs supplied Mr. Bowie could potetnially have been the neccessary trigger for him to confront his greater issues of control and/or letting go of oneself.
cannon means a set of rules/orders/creeds. I think it in this song it refers to rules - it was like a human rights convention thing after ww2 - the UN, which forever somehow and however well intentioned then dictated the future rules of politcs and peoples cultures and lives from that perspective. so yeah I think its about how now the modern age/cannon is encroaching and your just not free in that anyway more - ie. from now on people will always have to be protected from some sort of evil nature that is possibly within them because of ww2....
cannon means a set of rules/orders/creeds. I think it in this song it refers to rules - it was like a human rights convention thing after ww2 - the UN, which forever somehow and however well intentioned then dictated the future rules of politcs and peoples cultures and lives from that perspective. so yeah I think its about how now the modern age/cannon is encroaching and your just not free in that anyway more - ie. from now on people will always have to be protected from some sort of evil nature that is possibly within them because of ww2. sad. we won freedom though apparently so you know its all bad. thinking of churchill says by the kinks now! so the exilleration is like the freedom from without that. as though before the wars it never was - that growing political restriction and grip, and there was freedom.
While I know the Thin White Duke is Bowie's Station to Station Era persona -- I think in this song itself the "Thin White Duke" is partially a symbol of the cocaine itself, or religion, or witchcraft itself -- whatever people use to get by and that subsequently may bloack the possibility of love and or happiness (Hence "Throwing Darts In lover's eyes." The sure white stains can be the trail of a coke line or semen stains on a sheet in other words, the remnants of whatever device was used to get the individual from station to station. Of course with the religious implications of the stations of the cross, Bowie is essentially connecting the acceptance of spirituality and the journey one may go through in pursuing that as a means by which to escape from his troubles. Station to Station, my favorite Bowie album -- despite it's mere 6 songs -- is a bittersweet triumph in that it essentially addresses How Humans Deal With Pain. Golden Years is an olive branch offered from jilted lover to lover -- Word On A Wing is an aknowledgement of guilt and a prayer to seek refuge from one's own devices, TVC15 is a parable on the escape that TV and the media provides and how TVs can nearly be compared to humans in terms of the supposed solace that they offer. The final song "Wild is the Wind" reaches the conclusion that life is like the wind -- meant to be wild and unpredictable and instead of seeking tangibles to cure one's pain, one should look within. It's remarkable that Bowie waxs so forgone when he recorded this album that doesn't remember it and yet it is imbued with a message that he was obviously trying to send himself. Station to Station the song is one of the pinnacles of Bowie. The music is exhilerating, and excuse the cliche but epic. It is a song about the quest -- living in the moment, shunning self doubt and relying on oneself. But at the same time seeking yet another external out -- the European Cannon -- which I presume is either a reference to the Christian faith of which their is a large European cannon or perhaps it is a preclude to his sobering up in Europe, obviously only achievable by the firing of him out a cannon. In the end, the singer is able to reach a peace with himself and learn not to have guilt but to move on to the future. Also a note about the "sideeffects of the cocaine" line -- he is in a way aknowleging that cocaine IS actually a factor in his newfound outlook -- why else would he say that line which in the present tense implies that he is on it right now. The unravelling obfuscation that drugs supplied Mr. Bowie could potetnially have been the neccessary trigger for him to confront his greater issues of control and/or letting go of oneself.
cannon means a set of rules/orders/creeds. I think it in this song it refers to rules - it was like a human rights convention thing after ww2 - the UN, which forever somehow and however well intentioned then dictated the future rules of politcs and peoples cultures and lives from that perspective. so yeah I think its about how now the modern age/cannon is encroaching and your just not free in that anyway more - ie. from now on people will always have to be protected from some sort of evil nature that is possibly within them because of ww2....
cannon means a set of rules/orders/creeds. I think it in this song it refers to rules - it was like a human rights convention thing after ww2 - the UN, which forever somehow and however well intentioned then dictated the future rules of politcs and peoples cultures and lives from that perspective. so yeah I think its about how now the modern age/cannon is encroaching and your just not free in that anyway more - ie. from now on people will always have to be protected from some sort of evil nature that is possibly within them because of ww2. sad. we won freedom though apparently so you know its all bad. thinking of churchill says by the kinks now! so the exilleration is like the freedom from without that. as though before the wars it never was - that growing political restriction and grip, and there was freedom.