Lyric discussion by tehfail 

"Inspirations have I none, just to touch the flaming dove"

That line kills me with its awesomeness.

what do you think the 'flaming dove' is?

The flaming dove is a more or less obscure symbol for the Holy Spirit. Seeing as Bowie first uses the image directly before he describes the spiritual love between man and God, I think it's fairly safe to assume that religion is referenced here.

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