Bowie, who was still in his teens when he wrote this, draws the listener in, and on the surface, allows the us to feel sympathy for Frankie Mear, the Little Bombardier. However, like many of Bowie's lyrics, the meaning behind the song is less straight forward than we might imagine. Therein lies is a distinct ambiguity; is the hero ( anti-hero ? ) of the story really a paedophile, or is Frankie Mear just a lonely ex-soldier who is wrongly targeted and ostracised by the community for simply being friendly towards children - hmmm ? Bowie leaves us to make up our own minds.
Bowie, who was still in his teens when he wrote this, draws the listener in, and on the surface, allows the us to feel sympathy for Frankie Mear, the Little Bombardier. However, like many of Bowie's lyrics, the meaning behind the song is less straight forward than we might imagine. Therein lies is a distinct ambiguity; is the hero ( anti-hero ? ) of the story really a paedophile, or is Frankie Mear just a lonely ex-soldier who is wrongly targeted and ostracised by the community for simply being friendly towards children - hmmm ? Bowie leaves us to make up our own minds.