Sounds kind of like meeting with a prostitute and then falling in love with her...
"It's safe in the city to love in a doorway" would describe their intial meeting. They're making love in the doorway of some old building, feeling safe because no one is around. The line "And isn't it me putting pain in a stranger" is very evocative- finding comfort and release through the act of sex with a stranger. I also love "Like a portrait in flesh that trails on a leash," as if through sharing his emotions, "putting pain" into her, he has turned her into a living work of art (as art is born from the artist's emotions). "Trails on a leash" could mean that she is expected to be obediant to him.
My favorite delivery in this song is "Will you see that I'm scared and I'm lonely?" Amazing. The character is giving his reason for sleeping with the girl- he just doesn't want to be alone. "So I break up the room and yawn and run to the center of things" sounds vague, but makes me think of someone desperately trying to get rid of boredom and rushing out to find action somewhere- maybe another reason for visiting the prostitute, but it seems to relate to a different aspect of the character's life... The chorus is most likely what the women are telling the men to entice them. "Boys, it's a sweet thing... if you want it, get it here..." and I think "hope is a cheap thing" means that it's not hard for the women to make their customers feel hopeful, or it could be that no one is hopeful anyway so why not throw your life away with meaningless sexual encounters?
After that, the narrator seems to be talking to a lover, maybe having fallen in love with the prostitute after seeing her more than once. I thought the line "I'm glad that you're older than me, makes me feel important and free" was ironic, but I realize that a younger person can feel important because the older person is in charge of taking care of him. He must have said this to the woman he's meeting with, because she reacts- "Does that make you smile? Isn't that me?" The most romantic line in the song follows- "I'm in your way and I'll steal every moment." He is really in deep with her, wanting to spend every moment in time with her. "If this trade is a curse, then I'll bless you..." refers to the woman's work as a prostitute, and how the narrator loves her anyway. The last line in the song is his mind wandering, as Candidate begins and he abadons his love momentarily for the promises that the candidate makes.
This whole trio on Diamond Dogs is incredible. My favorite part of the album.
@EnduringChill I agree with it being an amazing suite and an album (career) highlight.\r\nDon\'t know about the gender of the other person though, considering Bowie\'s proclivities of that time (and I know the 1984 origin, too). It\'s hard trying to decipher his lyrics at the best of times, but when they\'re mired in so very many layers of \'controversy\', it\'s especially difficult; I could be flippant/facetious and say the object is Angie (or Dana ... or why not even Iggy).\r\nThe line about Manson and Ali also add a cheeky punch of (black) provocation. And you\'re correct about this era being...
@EnduringChill I agree with it being an amazing suite and an album (career) highlight.\r\nDon\'t know about the gender of the other person though, considering Bowie\'s proclivities of that time (and I know the 1984 origin, too). It\'s hard trying to decipher his lyrics at the best of times, but when they\'re mired in so very many layers of \'controversy\', it\'s especially difficult; I could be flippant/facetious and say the object is Angie (or Dana ... or why not even Iggy).\r\nThe line about Manson and Ali also add a cheeky punch of (black) provocation. And you\'re correct about this era being his Midus one. Diamond Dogs took a good while to grow on me, but it\'s definitely got claws. It\'s got me. \r\nI also REALLY enjoy Alternative Candidate.
Sounds kind of like meeting with a prostitute and then falling in love with her...
"It's safe in the city to love in a doorway" would describe their intial meeting. They're making love in the doorway of some old building, feeling safe because no one is around. The line "And isn't it me putting pain in a stranger" is very evocative- finding comfort and release through the act of sex with a stranger. I also love "Like a portrait in flesh that trails on a leash," as if through sharing his emotions, "putting pain" into her, he has turned her into a living work of art (as art is born from the artist's emotions). "Trails on a leash" could mean that she is expected to be obediant to him.
My favorite delivery in this song is "Will you see that I'm scared and I'm lonely?" Amazing. The character is giving his reason for sleeping with the girl- he just doesn't want to be alone. "So I break up the room and yawn and run to the center of things" sounds vague, but makes me think of someone desperately trying to get rid of boredom and rushing out to find action somewhere- maybe another reason for visiting the prostitute, but it seems to relate to a different aspect of the character's life... The chorus is most likely what the women are telling the men to entice them. "Boys, it's a sweet thing... if you want it, get it here..." and I think "hope is a cheap thing" means that it's not hard for the women to make their customers feel hopeful, or it could be that no one is hopeful anyway so why not throw your life away with meaningless sexual encounters?
After that, the narrator seems to be talking to a lover, maybe having fallen in love with the prostitute after seeing her more than once. I thought the line "I'm glad that you're older than me, makes me feel important and free" was ironic, but I realize that a younger person can feel important because the older person is in charge of taking care of him. He must have said this to the woman he's meeting with, because she reacts- "Does that make you smile? Isn't that me?" The most romantic line in the song follows- "I'm in your way and I'll steal every moment." He is really in deep with her, wanting to spend every moment in time with her. "If this trade is a curse, then I'll bless you..." refers to the woman's work as a prostitute, and how the narrator loves her anyway. The last line in the song is his mind wandering, as Candidate begins and he abadons his love momentarily for the promises that the candidate makes.
This whole trio on Diamond Dogs is incredible. My favorite part of the album.
@EnduringChill I agree with it being an amazing suite and an album (career) highlight.\r\nDon\'t know about the gender of the other person though, considering Bowie\'s proclivities of that time (and I know the 1984 origin, too). It\'s hard trying to decipher his lyrics at the best of times, but when they\'re mired in so very many layers of \'controversy\', it\'s especially difficult; I could be flippant/facetious and say the object is Angie (or Dana ... or why not even Iggy).\r\nThe line about Manson and Ali also add a cheeky punch of (black) provocation. And you\'re correct about this era being...
@EnduringChill I agree with it being an amazing suite and an album (career) highlight.\r\nDon\'t know about the gender of the other person though, considering Bowie\'s proclivities of that time (and I know the 1984 origin, too). It\'s hard trying to decipher his lyrics at the best of times, but when they\'re mired in so very many layers of \'controversy\', it\'s especially difficult; I could be flippant/facetious and say the object is Angie (or Dana ... or why not even Iggy).\r\nThe line about Manson and Ali also add a cheeky punch of (black) provocation. And you\'re correct about this era being his Midus one. Diamond Dogs took a good while to grow on me, but it\'s definitely got claws. It\'s got me. \r\nI also REALLY enjoy Alternative Candidate.