I listened to this song on the day it was released, and I thought this song was written in the voice of a character who was dying and felt that he could not finish give everything (wealth, ideas, art, love?) away fast enough before he passed. Little did I know, the character in question was David Bowie himself, singing this, the last song on what he knew would be his last album.
@steve10017 I've been reading way too many old interviews and articles about Bowie since he passed and I just came across the nugget from a September 1980 interview in the New Musical Express:
@steve10017 I've been reading way too many old interviews and articles about Bowie since he passed and I just came across the nugget from a September 1980 interview in the New Musical Express:
"Bowie laughs whenever it occurs to him that he's said or admitted something in a private encounter that is being recorded for public consummation. It's as if with this reflex reaction he can somehow shrug off the momentary anxiety he feels at having, perhaps, given too much way."
"Bowie laughs whenever it occurs to him that he's said or admitted something in a private encounter that is being recorded for public consummation. It's as if with this reflex reaction he can somehow shrug off the momentary anxiety he feels at having, perhaps, given too much way."
I wonder if Bowie read that press clipping and the phrase stuck with him, or if in this song, he was expressing the notion that the writer accurately described: From his early "my life is my artistic canvas" days to more recent years when he carefully avoided the limelight, he always had a private part of himself that he could not and would not give away, even when he knew he was nearing the end of his life.
I listened to this song on the day it was released, and I thought this song was written in the voice of a character who was dying and felt that he could not finish give everything (wealth, ideas, art, love?) away fast enough before he passed. Little did I know, the character in question was David Bowie himself, singing this, the last song on what he knew would be his last album.
RIP to a great artist.
@steve10017 I've been reading way too many old interviews and articles about Bowie since he passed and I just came across the nugget from a September 1980 interview in the New Musical Express:
@steve10017 I've been reading way too many old interviews and articles about Bowie since he passed and I just came across the nugget from a September 1980 interview in the New Musical Express:
"Bowie laughs whenever it occurs to him that he's said or admitted something in a private encounter that is being recorded for public consummation. It's as if with this reflex reaction he can somehow shrug off the momentary anxiety he feels at having, perhaps, given too much way."
"Bowie laughs whenever it occurs to him that he's said or admitted something in a private encounter that is being recorded for public consummation. It's as if with this reflex reaction he can somehow shrug off the momentary anxiety he feels at having, perhaps, given too much way."
I wonder if Bowie read that press clipping and the phrase stuck with him, or if in this song, he was expressing the notion that the writer accurately described: From his early "my life is my artistic canvas" days to more recent years when he carefully avoided the limelight, he always had a private part of himself that he could not and would not give away, even when he knew he was nearing the end of his life.
BTW, the article / interview is a long and fascinating read, and it can be found at this link: bowiegoldenyears.com/articles/800913-nme.html