I was wrong with one of my "premoniotions" about this album though. His voice is on great shape on it. The two singles suggested he would have started to sound really old, but I haven't even noticed anything like that on most tracks.

novabrkr said:

I was wrong with one of my "premoniotions" about this album though. His voice is on great shape on it. The two singles suggested he would have started to sound really old, but I haven't even noticed anything like that on most tracks.

Personally, I think he sounds better than in years...and we're talking about a veeeeery long time.

Cinny said:

purplethunder3121 said:

The "ya ya ya" chant is really chilling...especially if you put it in a militay context... The first thing the chant reminded me of was of bullies taunting the bullied in school...and the resultant tragic reactions...which would also have a military context... The rhyme and taunting chant in the chorus also reminds me in a haunting way of certain simple but alienating rhymes chanted by childrren on playgrounds decade after decade... The percussion and bass underlying the chorus also punctuates the urgent point of view of the person in the lyrics when he is "ya ya ya" yearning to return to a past before all the bloodshed. This song, to me, is a savage mocking indictment, not only against war, but also against institutionalized ideas that make us afraid of "scary monsters" and cause us to act in ways we will ultimately regret...and will never forget.... But, there is also hope beyond dwelling on the violent past when Bowie writes:

There will be no tomorrow
Then you sigh in your sleep
And meaning returns with the day

These songs are multi-layered...the more I listen, the more I perceive...

[Edited 3/14/13 23:18pm]

Apache

Funny, I went on another board where they said Apache was credited...but it isn't on the CD I just picked up.. But it is on the internet:

“How Does The Grass Grow?” – (Bowie/Jerry Lordan)

• David Bowie – Vocals and Keyboards
• Gerry Leonard – Guitar
• David Torn – Guitar
• Gail Ann Dorsey – Bass
• Zachary Alford – Drums
• Gail Ann Dorsey – Backing Vocals
• Contains an interpolation of “Apache” written by Jerry Lordan and published by Regent Music Corp. and Francis, Day and Hunter.

Weird.

NoVideo said:

Cinny said:

Wow that's not what I conjured at all!

Really? I thought it was pretty clearly laid out in the lyrics, but I could be way off. What was your interpretation? That's the great thing about Bowie songs. People are still debating the meaing of songs that are 30+ years old

Valentine told me who's to go
Feelings he's treasured most of all
The teachers and the football star
It's in his tiny face
It's in his scrawny hand
Valentine told me so
He's got something to say
It's Valentine's Day

The rhythm of the crowd
Teddy and Judy down
Valentine sees it all
He's got something to say
It's Valentine's Day

Valentine told me how he'd feel
If all the world were under his heel
Or stumbling through the mall
It's in his tiny face
It's in his scrawny hand
Valentine knows it all
He's got something to say
It's Valentine's Day

Valentine Valentine
Valentine Valentine

It's in his scrawny hand
It's in his icy heart
It's happening today
Valentine Valentine

I get it. Nothing more to say,,,it's Valentines' Day...

Good album, nice to have him back. Cheers Dave.

purplethunder3121 said:

Cinny said:

Apache

Funny, I went on another board where they said Apache was credited...but it isn't on the CD I just picked up.. But it is on the internet:

“How Does The Grass Grow?” – (Bowie/Jerry Lordan)

• David Bowie – Vocals and Keyboards
• Gerry Leonard – Guitar
• David Torn – Guitar
• Gail Ann Dorsey – Bass
• Zachary Alford – Drums
• Gail Ann Dorsey – Backing Vocals
• Contains an interpolation of “Apache” written by Jerry Lordan and published by Regent Music Corp. and Francis, Day and Hunter.

Weird.

Yeah it's clearly an intententional use of "Apache". This song continues to stick in my head. It's gruesome and just really savage in a way; incredibly powerful.

If You Can See Me is another one that I absolutely adore. It's another really dark one. Could it be about the Nazis perhaps? The 'burning books' reference. Hard to pin down, exactly.

If you can see me I can see you

I could wear your new blue shoes
I should wear your old red dress
And walk to the crossroads
So take this knife
And meet me across the river

Just chutes and ladders and this is the kiss
American Anna, fantastic Alsatian
From nowhere to nothing
And I go way back

Children swarm like thousands of bugs
Towards the lights the beacons above the hill
The stars to the West, the South, the North and to the East

Now you could say I've got a gift of sorts
A fear of rear windows and swinging doors
A love of violence and dread of sighs

If you can see me I can see you
If you can see me I can see you

I have seen these bairns wave their fists at God
Swear to destroy the beasts, stamping the ground
In their excitement for tomorrow
I could wear your new blue shoes
I should wear your old red dress
And walk to the crossroads
So take this knife
And meet me across the river

I will take your lands and all that lays beneath
The dust of cold flowers, prison of dark of ashes
I will slaughter your kind who descend from belief
I am the spirit of greed, a lord of theft
I'll burn all your books and the problems they make

If you can see me I can see you
If you can see me.

Anyone found a decent copy of God Bless the Child to listen to online? I've had to order the jap version. Such a great song!

delicious said:

Anyone found a decent copy of God Bless the Child to listen to online? I've had to order the jap version. Such a great song!

i haven't yet but i am definitely keeping my eyes open for it.

'God bless the girl' is cool... nice addition!

*cough*

Very good album. Apart from the brilliant "Where Are We Now?", I absolutely love "You Feel So Lonely You Could Die", maybe one of his best melodies, and "Heat", again an experimental and bleak song to finish the record, just like "Bring Me the Disco King" in Reality. Great to have him back, and especially these three songs, which I would put side to side with his best stuff.

I replied to the thread when this album was streaming that it is right in his comfort zone, he's nit trying to be trendy with today's alt/rock sound. I don't know how many more CDs or downloads I'll buy this year but this will make it in the top ten for sure. Five Stars all around.

I realize finally who David is singing about during "You feel so lonely you could die" It is a DUH moment for me--he is singing about himself. That's why the song is so compelling--at least for me. "I can read you like a book...." Like knows like...

purplethunder3121 said:

I realize finally who David is singing about during "You feel so lonely you could die" It is a DUH moment for me--he is singing about himself. That's why the song is so compelling--at least for me. "I can read you like a book...." Like knows like...

You know i've been thinking about that, especially in relation to the snipping of the "Five Years" intro at the end. It's a sorta big clue. This is probably way off, but to me the song could be read as being sung to Ziggy Stardust, the character. There is 5 years left to live, and Ziggy is part of a culture of decadence, nihilism, narcissism. Which was part character, part Bowie himself. This song seems a searing indictment of that type of existence.

No-one ever saw you
Moving through the dark
Leaving slips of paper
Somewhere in the park
Hidden from your friends
Stealing all they knew
Love is thrown in airless rooms
Then vile rewards for you

But I'm gonna tell
Yes I've gotta tell
Gotta tell the things you've said
When you're talking in the dark
And I'm gonna tell the things you've done
When you're walking through the park

Some night on the thriller’s street
Will come the silent gun
You've got a dangerous heart
You stole their trust, their moon, their sun
There'll come assassin’s needle
On a crowded train
I bet you'll feel so lonely
You could die

Buildings crammed with people
Landscape filled with wrath
Grey concrete city
Rain has wet the street
I want to see you clearly
Before you close the door
A room of bloody history
You made sure of that

I can see you as a corpse
Hanging from a beam
I can read you like a book
I can feel you falling
I hear you moaning in your room
Oh see if I care
Oh please, please make it soon

Walls have got you cornered
You've got the blues my friend
And people don't like you
But you will leave without a sound, without an end

Oblivion shall own you
Death alone shall love you
I hope you feel so lonely
You could die
You feel so lonely
You could die
You feel so lonely
You could die

[Edited 3/18/13 19:04pm]

First album I've been excited to listen to every day for years. It's the greatest thing.

Hmmm, couldn't even get through this album, annoyed me too much, maybe it's grower...

delicious said:

First album I've been excited to listen to every day for years. It's the greatest thing.

Same here. I cannot remember the last time I've obsessively played an album this much. It's been a very long time.

the first few times I've listened to "The Next Day," I was really bored with it. but it's growing on me..

kinda like how I hated "Earthling" at first & now it's my favorite DB album

anesthetica said:

the first few times I've listened to "The Next Day," I was really bored with it. but it's growing on me..

kinda like how I hated "Earthling" at first & now it's my favorite DB album

Know what you mean about Earthling. I thought it was garbage at first, but it gets under your skin with repeated listens... Love Battle For Britain, Little Wonder, Dead Man Walking, Telling Lies... all great tracks.

Although I would say the album hasn't exactly aged well. That kind of industrial drum and bass sound is very mid-90s.

anesthetica said:

the first few times I've listened to "The Next Day," I was really bored with it. but it's growing on me..

kinda like how I hated "Earthling" at first & now it's my favorite DB album

I can understand that. I really liked it at first, but with repeated listens it's grown on me to the point where I think it's seriously as good an album as he's ever released. It really sinks in. Especially when you read the lyrics along w/ the tracks. Some of the best stuff he's written.

I was the same with Earthling too, although I didn't like it nearly at the same level as The Next Day. And I agree with MattyJam is hasn't aged particularly well; Outside has aged much better. But Earthling does have some great material on it. Battle for Britain (The Letter) is probably my favorite track.

Great album. One of his best in recent years. I heard he'll be at Coachella this year!