Lyric discussion by tmw009 

Cover art for The Bewlay Brothers lyrics by David Bowie

First of all, the lyrics seem to be incorrect. Bowie's own notes say "he can't sing above that", not "about that".

Bowie wrote that the song is simply intended to make no sense, but since he said that after taking on his trickster role and probably wanted to fend off questioning about the song, and the actual song seems brutally sincere and vivid and was part of his most brutally honest record, I don't believe that comment.

Third, the song contains religious imagery and sexual connotations that cannot be ignored. "The cathedral floor" "Corinthian and Caricature" "the devil may be here" "the blessed and cold", "with our backs on the arch", "real cool traders", "so turned on" "flayed our mark".

Allusions to secrecy: "the solid book we wrote cannot be found today" "the dress was hung the ticket pawned, the factor max that proved the fact is melted down"..

One things seems apparent, these guys are together through everything, In the feeble in the bad, in the devil may be here, in the blessed and cold, etc.

That, and the secrecy and darkness, is all I can come up with for now.