Bowie agonizes over his social actions, worrying over how others will see him. He thinks about mens arms and perfume, but does not know how to act. He walks through the streets and watches men flirting. Night as a social engagement, but he cannot muster the strength to act, and he admits that he is afraid.


David's social paralysis is diagnosed in his poetry, the smallest action - descending stairs - is occasion for magnified self-scrutiny and the fear that he will "Disturb the universe". He continues asking himself questions about how to comport himself, but admits he will reverse these decisions soon. His inaction is constantly tied to the social world: "Should I, after "tongue swollen with Devils love", / Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?" The somewhat silly rhymes here underscores the absurdity of Davids concerns.

Yet he fleshes out Davids characters and makes his worries, however trivial, human. Bowie twice refers to his other self, describes his plain, young self, and draws us into his point-of-view of his social world. His eye is specific in its observation: "His nebulous body swayed above" Although the first line may well be an allusion to the line "A bracelet of bright hair about the bone" from John Donne's poem "The Relic," a line Eliot admired for its sharp contrast in his essay "The Metaphysical Poets" (1921), the specificity of Bowie's eye shows more the influence of the 19th-century French Symbolists, such as Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, Stephene Mallarme, and particularly Jules Laforgue. (In fact, Eliot's repeating line about Michelangelo is a somewhat parodic nod to a similar line by Laforgue about the masters of the Sienne school.) The Symbolists butted heads with the Realist movement, believing life could be represented only by symbols, however confusing or chaotic. Eliot's objective correlative serves a similar purpose, expressing David's own emotional life through concrete, oft-elusive symbols.

As detailed as Bowie's eye is, he feels the effects of the penetrating social gaze far more deeply:

"Day after day they take my friend's away"

refers to the practice of incarcerating people for study, suggesting Bowie feels similarly scrutinized, but the key here is Bowie's discussion of eyes. As with his catalogue of the "the sane stay undeground," Bowie isolates the mind from the rest of the body. Detached, the eyes multiply in power; they dominate both the room and the bodies of those who look at Bowies imprisoned self.

Anxiety is foremost a concern with the future, and Bowie continues to show his inability to advance in time. The structure suggests a repetitive, inescapable present tense. His mental logic conforms to a similar pattern; the "I looked and frowned and the monster was ME" lines make tiny steps forward ("And when..."/"When I am..."/"Then how..." rather than large leaps. Bowie's refrain "And indeed there will be time" is an allusion to Metaphysical poet Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" ("Had we but world enough, and time" , in which the speaker urges his lady to speed up their courtship. As with most of Bowie's allusions in "The Man WHo Sold The World," the Marvell reference is ironic. Rather than hurrying his prey, Bowie makes excuses for himself; he assures himself there will be time to act, although his repetitive, paralytic nature has so far belied that. The line also contains a possible pun; "indeed" can be read as "in deed," another reference to Bowie's inability to act (to do a deed). A further irony unfolds in Bowie's use of the word "me."

Not only is Bowie paralyzed in the present, but he seems to have a disordered sense of time. He subtly describes the "evenings, mornings, afternoons" , and the odd order gives us pause. While it primarily describes a cycle from night to the next day, reinforcing the idea of repetition, its abrupt switch from "evenings" to "mornings" echoes Crowleys images of vertical descent. He resumes the vertical descent motif randomly through this album he feels he "should have been somebody else at this point, his final alliterative image of debasement (the third person association for Bowie after the Devil and self connections) paints a pathetic portrait of Bowie, but the suggestion of a crab is perhaps an allusion to Shakespeare's "Hamlet," in which Hamlet mocks Polonius (Eliot later explicitly references "Hamlet," making this more plausible): "for yourself, sir, should be old as I am, if, like a crab, you could go backward".

Perhaps, then, Bowies propensity to move backwards through time and downwards is suggestive of his nearness to death, of his backpedaling down into Hell. The Dante epigraph casts a deathly pallor over the entire album, and Bowie himself sees "the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker". While he says in the next line "They take MY FRIENDS away to mansions cold and gray" is reference to his fear of social action, he may also be referring to this deathly figure awaiting him.

I think this may be Bowie at his darkest yet.

He may have been strung out and experimenting with pretty trippy drugs at this point.

This is possibly the weirdest thing I have ever heard.



"Crouching on his chair as he raves"

Shut it!

Whoa, dude! It's only rock 'n' roll!
Actually, when you parse anything that closely, worlds open up. The history of civilization can be contained in a recipe. Which one escapes me right now, but anxiety and alienation are the themes Bowie returns to again and again. So much so that when he writes something happy, it's jarring.

It was definitely murder - but was it art?

are you David Bowie...?



Tits and Explosions

I posted a long reply to this, but after 30 minutes of cross referencing other websites, cutting and pasting etc, my browser crashed and I lost it all - d'oh!

I'm going to stop at the first line of this incoherent, possibly drug induced essay.

The first line states, "Bowie thinks about men's arms and perfume." Where on this album does he do that?

This first line I noted is an example of this odd essay.

He struck the ground a cavern appeared
And I smelt the burning pit of fear
We crashed a thousand yards below
I said "Do it again, do it again"
(Turn around, go back!)

His nebulous body swayed above
His tongue swollen with devil's love
The snake and I, a venom high
I said "Do it again, do it again"
(Turn around, go back!)

Breathe, breathe, breathe deeply
And I was seething, breathing deeply
Spitting sentry, horned and tailed
Waiting for you

I think Sebastian may be using this as a metaphor Sam.



adios sexton splint

No, I don't see any reference to "men's arms and perfume" in the lyrics cited.

I have thought long and hard about this thread, and I think that when Bowie made this album he have had one of those 'bowel movements' bordering on mystical.

Sam...

you may be right about Sebastian being on drugs(pothead I reckon)

It's important to think Sam,it's what seperates us from lentils...!



Tits and Explosions

Sean, I tried to write an essay on Bowie's Rock 'N Roll Suicide. This thread is recent and entitled, "Should a rock star commit suicide?"

I tried to write a simple, easy to read, essay.

I'm not knocking you Sam..I agree with you..I cannot make head nor tail of Sebastians essay...!



Tits and Explosions

Seems to me you are presuming alot with this critique. I wouldn't assume you know what DB means, but rather question what he means.

You are really close to a good discription, but i think there is room to have a totally different take. That is not to say you didn't hit on some of the obvious themes. This is a complicated record so don't be discouraged.

This is very different reveiw in style to your last. I'd rather hear your thoughts on how this one compares to your impressions of the last one.

What will be interesting to me is how the tread lases though to Honky Dory.


And lastly don't "shut it". I'm interested in what you say. Thats why I open the thread.

Geo.

http://www.georgewolstenholme.com

I did not intend to presume. I did however intend to question the meaning of themes running throughout this body of work.

Comparing the previous album and this one? to me, it's like two old buddies meeting up after a long time.

One is waving a joint and the other a gun!

I think both albums are possibly reluctantly metaphorical but speak volumes about the possiblities occupying David's mind.

Running out of the house now, it's 8.48 here and my ride will be here anytime now.



"Crouching on his chair as he raves"

That was a very deep interpretation, dude.

Here's mine.

Trk 1 - The album starts out real scary about god and monsters and crap like that then some gay devil stuff happens. It seems to be about some guy on drugs (maybe, maybe not).

Trk 2 - Anyway, this guy is really messed up and wants to go crazy like a madman. The world doesn't make any sense to this guy (probably the drugs again).

Trk 3 - Then this guy rides a horse.

Trk 4 - After the horsey ride, the guy thinks how meaningless it all is. Some mention of orphanages.

Trk 5 - Ok. This is just crazy.

Trk 6 - More crazy.

Trk 7 - This is Bowie covering a Nirvana song. It doesn't really fit into the story line.

Trk 8 - Ok, this is the last song. This guy has given up drugs (i doubt it) and now reads comic books. Sweet!



Float on a river forever and ever.

Sean, is Sebastian another one of your pseudonyms?

Of course not...he never explains.

It was definitely murder - but was it art?

Sean is a man of many talents and hidden depths.

One of the funniest things he ever did was Brenda Benson.

There was the time he uploaded an mp3 of a radio DJ saying a message that he requested specifically for 2 members here, Rubbishness and Mist. You gotta give him a round of applause for that!




Anyway, 'Sebastian', as Geo said, keep 'em coming!

I think Sabastian is a bit weird Alan..even for me...!

Not one of my pseudonyms..nah.



Tits and Explosions

Sebastian

A work of wonderfulness.

May I also credit the 'Spiders from Mars'

and a salute to Tony Visconti for this work.

I always wonder where 'width of a circle' might have been without them..

rgds

billb

...painted some of the best harrowing, involved and cool pathways towards the inner workings of the disturbed mind, which of course, is close enough to brilliance if it's just so, and 'The Man Who Sold The World' is. It's such a killer album. It really takes you into its own world and shows you around. Best to all.



gge

-"Since I'm going to Hell, bet ya $20.00 it looks like a Rob Zombie production ."