The first verse throws me off since it's really abstract. I feel like that verse was added as an afterthought, since it doesn't really jive with the other verses (which seem more lighthearted on the surface, with playful talk of step dads and wives). Maybe he got sick of trying to come up with anything meaningful and just threw some words together that rhymed :)
The Bowie verse is my favorite. Lodger is a freakin' great & overlooked album. There's a strong sense of teenage rebellion going on here in the lyrics, and he sings it perfectly.
The third verse about the man and the wife hints at some unspoken tension between the two ('hadn't thought of it for awhile', with 'it' being undefined, and 'penetrate my comfort zone'... may be sexual, who knows)
The chorus is probably the most part of the song lyrically for me. There's a really great set of contrasting thoughts arranged side-by-side: selfish ('Without me there's nothing, I'm the only thing that dies') and unselfish ('If it came down to your life or mine, I would do the stupid thing and let you keep on living'). I'd wager that he's saying, despite all the BS that goes into dealing with so many people, he's willing to overlook it and focus on the good things rather than the bad.
The first verse throws me off since it's really abstract. I feel like that verse was added as an afterthought, since it doesn't really jive with the other verses (which seem more lighthearted on the surface, with playful talk of step dads and wives). Maybe he got sick of trying to come up with anything meaningful and just threw some words together that rhymed :)
The Bowie verse is my favorite. Lodger is a freakin' great & overlooked album. There's a strong sense of teenage rebellion going on here in the lyrics, and he sings it perfectly.
The third verse about the man and the wife hints at some unspoken tension between the two ('hadn't thought of it for awhile', with 'it' being undefined, and 'penetrate my comfort zone'... may be sexual, who knows)
The chorus is probably the most part of the song lyrically for me. There's a really great set of contrasting thoughts arranged side-by-side: selfish ('Without me there's nothing, I'm the only thing that dies') and unselfish ('If it came down to your life or mine, I would do the stupid thing and let you keep on living'). I'd wager that he's saying, despite all the BS that goes into dealing with so many people, he's willing to overlook it and focus on the good things rather than the bad.