theatrical, but sung like Sinatra - Bowie at his greatest, his best album of all. It's that great that even Rebel Rebel, insisted on being included by the record company because it's an obvious hit single, could be left off.
It's a good song but just doesn't fit the rest, kind of stuck on the end like a bonus track.
Anyway that's being negative, this is superb music
Have to agree: 'Possibly the best song on the Diamond Dogs album, If not one of his best ever' well said. The song is such an emotionally charged mixture of celebration and disgust, of the politically correct and incorrect, I think Bowie has shrank from highlighting it particularly after his ''74 Glory days.
@TheSanealaddin Bowie never really did causes; I've heard him in an interview saying he doesn't want to be anybody's spokesperson. I see this as just a song of Orwell's world, as that's what the record originally was: a musical. I tend to just treat Bowie's songs as stories: not particularly based on actual events.
@arabiansanchez Sweet Thing is nothing to do with Orwell's world, on the old vinyl album it was on side one, part of the Diamond dogs urban apocalyse section, the Orwell section does not begin until 'We are the dead'. Yes he's telling stories again; nevertheless the emotional power, and brilliant though hardly politically correct lyrics, were something that didn't fit with the official pop star image he adopted from the early 80s onwards, once the classic albums had dried up.
When I was a kid I worked in a dark room and I did a double shift with only one album (on 8 track by the way ) to listen to and this was it. I listen to this non stop for 16 hours straight. I STILL love this album to this day and truly think it's one of his most underrated earlier albums. I WILL NEVER GET SICK OF MY MAN BOWIE!! Bow down to the ROCKGOD!
Thank you Bowie! ... remember listening to this album as a teenager - at nights when the lights had gone out and I was alone with all my horrible thoughts and feelings - soooo scared and lonely - and the music just embraced me and carried me away to a beautiful place...
I listened to every thing from the first self titled album up to Scary monsters and super creeps for 2yrs straight except for Diamond Dogs, then yesterday i hotboxed my car and put this song on and i was not suprised by the brilliance i expect it but the fact that i overlooked this album makes me feel real dumb.. ne real bowie fans in SF hit me upp
I remember as a kid I had to work a double shift in a darkroom at a newspaper and this was the only tape I had in the room with me, I literally listened to this album 16 hours straight and people would come in during the shift and ask If I wasn't sick of listening to it. LOL .. NEVER!! This album never go the respect it deserved. Still love it and Bowie is still my favorite artist bar none.
Having said that Hunky Dory is my favorite after all these years, 8 line poem.Brilliant.
This is so gorgeous. I've listened to it nearly 30 years ago for the first time and now I like it even better than I did then... what a vocal performance ! It is an adventure to listen to it !
@cainespsychodelic27.as much as i appreciate and value bowie's art, as much as its been an important part of my life, i've never unserstand the worship relation some people establish with an artist. this star blindness, star struck..a certain godlliness hue they atribute to their persona. don't get it.find it somewhat ridiculous.bowie ain't god.there's no such thing to begin with.he's just an artist who has created some good, interesting enjoyable pop music.which is more than enough
"Bullet Proof Faces..Charlie Manson, Cassius Clay"...Poetry. I hear my brother (passed) every time in this song. Today is his BD, and this is already blasting out the neighbors.
The most unique and dynamic aspect of this song is the complexity and the foreshadowing of so many different genres of music. Aspects of rap/hip hop in candidate, the gloom/goth aspects that run throughout along with the cross gender theme. Even the heavy dirge guitar playing was way ahead of its time. Simplistic chord structure and playing that was so influential to other upcoming players. This song is a masterpiece, and yet so few understand the significance of the song
This is one of my favorite songs. I have like 20 or so that he sings, but I could name every one of them. :) But I won't. lol. I just really love this song!
bringing back memories of a time that does not exsist anymore, in the end he was right, we never got out of 1984 anymore....... Great music, great performer!
You can (and he has) strip away the costumes and makeup, the veneer and persona, what you're left with, at the bare minimum, is a man with incredible intellect and a DAMN good voice! :) But, of course, David is much more than that...
@liamtz and thank god for that! The whole buzz around this album is down to the fact he played the guitar and sax etc. it wasn't supposed to sound polished
Bowie was experimenting with a cut-up lyric technique, where he literally would put words on paper and cut them into slips and bump them together. So yes, there are some odd lyric juxtapositions on Diamond Dogs, one of them being the 'crossroads and hamburgers' line ... which upon further review isn't so silly. Turn to the crossroads and then turn to hamburgers (comfort food perhaps?).
Sweet Thing is my favorite Bowie song of all-time, it is just majestic, sad, moody, sexy and brilliant.
@Zobinski Not the only technique he was using at the time. He uses 5 different styles at the same time for his albums. Or so he says in an interview that's on here. I can't remember the guy's name who interviews him, but he is British also and has dark brown hair that's about shoulder length. (Interviewer) and I think it's from 2002 but he talks of the past mostly.
Considering Bowie fired Ronson and then went into the studio and took on the sax, piano and guitar playing (along with the vocals and writing), what can you say? This is sheer brilliance. I can't compare this to any other work that is this ambitious. The sax and guitar match the decadent feel of the lyrics. Sheer genius. Big Broither is the other sleeper track that never received its due.
@wpollock1 could'nt agree more it does have a decadent feel, a record of the times,Bowie's vocal is along with rock n roll suicide the best he's ever done in my opinion!!
@wpollock1 yes...I agree...I've loved this song for many years and didn't realise that he had played all of the guitar on it until about 2 years ago...it just drips...it is such a decadent piece...
This is by far the best song on Diamond Dogs. If you listen to all of Bowie's compositions you'll notice that some adhere to the symphony format with several movements. He definitely was (maybe still is; I'm not familiar with his recent stuff) a genius with enduring qualities.
I always thought Diamond Dogs was a far better album then 1984 was a book. Brave New World was a lot more of a future forecast and seems to be the less popular but more artfully portrayed book. Amazing song
Definitely my favourite Bowie track ever, track on the album runs into rebel rebel - brilliant. Bowie at his best. Glam, metal, jazz pop and a bit of folk all in one. I have this on LP and CD but still have to listen to it on youtube as well!! Thanks for the pics as well!
My favourite version of this, is on David Live (at the Tower, Philadelphia), which was the live album from the Diamond Dogs tour. Incredible double-cd set!
Of course, I listened to it, on vinyl, in 1974.
This is sheer, bloody genius.
So was the Diamond Dogs album, particularly if one has actually read George Orwell's 1984.
Bowie was on fire in the 70s and his lyrics, especially in the earlier half of the decade were incredibly odd and complex. The 80s were a little more mainstream for him, and the songs held less depth. It's too bad more people know him for Let's Dance than for, say, something like this.
@anchorlove06 I say this all the time, especially since folks around my age group (I'm 24) are mainly familiar with Bowie from Labyrinth. '80s Bowie kind of lost the artistry of everything he was doing before—with the exception of Scary Monsters, which fits right in with his '70s output and is one of his best, in my opinion.
....Bowie's best song and best record....I don't believe that he didn't clean up the lyrics after cutting them up though.....It always reminds me of the last scene in1984, when Julia and Winston meet up in a park and are strangers to each other...but, I guess "We are the Dead" does that as well....G'luck....
@kp9952 Dont forget Heroes, despite its Berlin influence (i still believe its about Julia and Winston) and the latter strangers when we meet...againt despite its mysogenistic undertone.
That said i fucking love the sax around 3.55....makes me think of dark dank wet days, a la the segue in TVC 15.
I have to go to bed, my husband is gonna catch me doing the Bowie thing again!! its 5.25 but this song gets me every time, haha all his songs do, i love them all.
Im gonna log off now and find Station to Station...
Bowie plays sax, piano and guitar on this album. He got into a fight with Mick Ronson prior to this album, so he did it himself. Awesone song. This captures Bowie at his creative best.
I thumbed downto this instead of thumbed up! Loved this comment. I wish I was turning tricks on Third Ave in the sixties - if that helps. There must be somebody though..
I cant begin to say how much this means Mr Bowie. Theres been lots of great music before and after this from him and many others but this is just ......it.
I love the decadent sound of the guitar as it matches the lyrics and the theme. This is genius. Bowie had a run in with Ronson and so he played piano. sax and guitar on this album. "Putting pain in a stranger/ like a portrait in flesh/ trails on a leash" - brilliant!
There is really no one quite like Bowie. His lyrics are surreal. Listening to some of his stuff is almost like watching a play. The images, I mean. "Low" is a masterpiece. Nice to read from someone who has a geniune appreciation of such a creative artist.
This is the best Bowie gets, vocally. Live versions, though, tend to fall short of this studio recording. But dear God, This song is almost 9 minutes long and it never gets boring.
The picture at 7:15 is scary, he mustn't have been very far from physical collapse at the height of his emaciation... I guess the cocaine keeps you going regardless.
I really love this song, but more for the music and the way it's sang, than the words. The truth is, I didn't pay that big attention to the lyrics until I read here how important to some they are. So I read the lyrics, but I didn't really get about what the song was. Can somebody lighten up my brain?
This is my favourite Bowie song of the moment eventhough I've heard it heaps before, what with being the daughter of someone who has seen Bowie live three times lol.
love it love it love it...one of the best songs!!! so much going off! i'd love to hear this in a musical or something lol! why does he say hamburgers at 2:27 though lol?
I don't know what you're all crying over the words for. I played this album to death back in 74, but never listened to the words. Words are just another instrument. Not worth listening to other than for the sound of them. I don't know or care what the song's about (it sounds a bit rude and perverted in places, actually), all I care about is how the words SOUND. This song really rocks, but people who listen to rock and roll for the words are like people who buy a car just to sit in and not drive.
It is possible to enjoy the sound of the song and words, and also understand the meaning of the lyrics, for me the song's lyrics can increase the enjoyment.
Because obviously the words themselves have no relevance to the song or feeling the artist is trying to get across, and artists like Bowie really don't put any though/effort into the words themselves... Little known fact: Bowie stole the lyrics to "Sweet Thing" from the back of a cereal box! True story.
... I get the "the voice solely as an instrument" philosophy you're aping, but to discredit the poetic/communicative quality of words in music is pretty stupid and missing half the picture.
@Jacobus180670 Good point Jacobus, that makes sense. By the way, wonder how many of us commenting on this song have in fact read 1984? Last time I read it was 29 years ago, so I'm overdue for a re-read. I think I still have a copy in the house somewhere. Then when I've finished it, I'll listen to Diamond Dogs again. LOUDLY ;-)
@niacom8 Surely you jest...LOL... Rock and Roll (other than Folk) is the only genre of music that uses the words to make a statement!! The Beatles used their music as a platform to put down war, and announce to the world that it was ok to "make love not war!" This is right out of Orsen Welles 1994 - Big Brother! Rock and Roll is a way to say what we feel even songs that are only - "Sex, drugs, and R n R"!
well, i'd say this song has still got it. I just got so wrapped up in listneing to it again that my dinner burned to a crisp. Bowie owes me one meal ;)
Saw David wear that twice in one day...Two concerts in beautiful Toronto,Canada...the matinee show at 2:pm and the eve show at 9:PM...what a way to kick off my last year of high school on a sunny June aft.noon in T.O.
Thanks for the memories...ya can't see his yellow socks and red ballet shoes though...but no matter...the padded shoulders n gold King crowns on his sweater is enough to satisfy!...
Every single time I hear the lyric "I'm scared...and I'm lonely" I burst into tears. The person that I love, lost EVERYTHING, and this song....this song could almost express him.
this song is so intense. the lyrics are outrageous and the intruments. JUST GENUIS!!! "will buy some drugs and watch a band and jump in the river holding hands."
he sings this song with the passion of the kings of old, the grace of the water on the rocks, and the originality and creativity (and the insanity) of van gogh.
the first time i heard sweet thing i was half paying attention. i read the lyrics and then hit play a second time. when he started singing, oh my gosh, that voice. it's so dark and dreadful(in a good way). :-o
This is an absolute masterpiece. I'm not old enough to remember Bowie's greatest days, I was born in the early 80's - but was brought up listening to his 70's stuff.
Brilliant music, DD has always been one of my favourites of his.
I was 10 years old in 1974 when DD came out and saved my money to buy it. My dad hated Bowie, I was completely obsessed with him. Between 1972-1975 he true rock GOD, no question. Nobody sounded like him, looked like him, or wrote music like him. Every generation has a legend and back then he was a tough act to follow. I agree this album is an absolute masterpiece. More artsy that " The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust ", it was his last true innovative album. Every song on it is Golden !!
I started buying his albums when I was young too, although it would have been in the mid 90's. Sometimes I wish i'd been born in the right time to hear all this wonderful music first time around. I absolutely idolised Bowie when I was younger for works like DD and Aladdin Sane, even 20 years on.
I agree also, Bowie IS a legend, no question - multi-talented instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, producer. Comparing him to popular music 'artists' of today highlights the point massively.
Just want to agree with keddw. I was weened on Bowie and loved everything he did up until Scary Monsters, but what the F@#k happened in the eighties???
@taylorkarn that's what i say about most of what happened in the eighties, lol. the cars, the fashion, the music... and yet many people i know wish they were back in the eighties.
Bowie plays all the guitar parts on this one, as well as sax and mellotron, check the credits on the album's sleeve or just type wikipedia and be enlightened.
Happy Birthday, unlikely recluse!
mpomo14 2 weeks ago
@S8OR In a way, I can see it. I suppose so.
arabiansanchez 1 month ago
theatrical, but sung like Sinatra - Bowie at his greatest, his best album of all. It's that great that even Rebel Rebel, insisted on being included by the record company because it's an obvious hit single, could be left off.
It's a good song but just doesn't fit the rest, kind of stuck on the end like a bonus track.
Anyway that's being negative, this is superb music
linclinc5 1 month ago
Have to agree: 'Possibly the best song on the Diamond Dogs album, If not one of his best ever' well said. The song is such an emotionally charged mixture of celebration and disgust, of the politically correct and incorrect, I think Bowie has shrank from highlighting it particularly after his ''74 Glory days.
TheSanealaddin 2 months ago 2
@TheSanealaddin Bowie never really did causes; I've heard him in an interview saying he doesn't want to be anybody's spokesperson. I see this as just a song of Orwell's world, as that's what the record originally was: a musical. I tend to just treat Bowie's songs as stories: not particularly based on actual events.
arabiansanchez 1 month ago
@arabiansanchez Sweet Thing is nothing to do with Orwell's world, on the old vinyl album it was on side one, part of the Diamond dogs urban apocalyse section, the Orwell section does not begin until 'We are the dead'. Yes he's telling stories again; nevertheless the emotional power, and brilliant though hardly politically correct lyrics, were something that didn't fit with the official pop star image he adopted from the early 80s onwards, once the classic albums had dried up.
TheSanealaddin 1 month ago
Pure genius.
spell71166 2 months ago
@S8OR too bad he cant write stuff like this!
chrisjohnfan 4 months ago
so underrated,so awesome too
kjsh987 4 months ago
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kjsh987 4 months ago
classic !!!!!
sootypunk 5 months ago
I'm glad that you're older than me, makes me feel important and free, does that make you smile, isn't that me? <3
daviniaosgood 5 months ago
When I was a kid I worked in a dark room and I did a double shift with only one album (on 8 track by the way ) to listen to and this was it. I listen to this non stop for 16 hours straight. I STILL love this album to this day and truly think it's one of his most underrated earlier albums. I WILL NEVER GET SICK OF MY MAN BOWIE!! Bow down to the ROCKGOD!
Johnnywhamo 5 months ago 2
BOWIE at his brilliant best amazing tune genius love it
scraggy61 5 months ago
God, he's such an amazing artist.
13hellkaat 5 months ago
My favourate Bowie song...thanks for shareing the awesome photos too!
paulabowieeaves 6 months ago
I think 1:04 has to be my absolute favorite part of this song
CherieBombx 6 months ago
so underrated. this is just too amazing, i can't handle it.
beanworldcows 6 months ago 3
Took me to places in the 70's where angels fear to tread. One of the best mind fucks of that era.
oSEIDOSHIo 6 months ago
I think the slide show is actually a very nice transition (well, early on especially) from what he was before he was really "Bowie'd".
Chibidia 7 months ago
a masterpiece in rock history--- David`s most underrated album ever. Love it.
Listen to this song is like watching a dramatic movie....
hajomajor 7 months ago
This song is so amazing, so crazy, so dramatic! When i listen to the music it depicts a visual image in my head-awesome
nick101984 7 months ago
Sensational, Mr Bowie!!!
ScudoBR 8 months ago
As good as it gets.
dantana11 8 months ago
Thank you Bowie! ... remember listening to this album as a teenager - at nights when the lights had gone out and I was alone with all my horrible thoughts and feelings - soooo scared and lonely - and the music just embraced me and carried me away to a beautiful place...
Miauuv 8 months ago
Best Bowie song ever IMO. Epic just doesn't describe it!
ricardod123 8 months ago
I listened to every thing from the first self titled album up to Scary monsters and super creeps for 2yrs straight except for Diamond Dogs, then yesterday i hotboxed my car and put this song on and i was not suprised by the brilliance i expect it but the fact that i overlooked this album makes me feel real dumb.. ne real bowie fans in SF hit me upp
HonestAbe3388 8 months ago
I remember as a kid I had to work a double shift in a darkroom at a newspaper and this was the only tape I had in the room with me, I literally listened to this album 16 hours straight and people would come in during the shift and ask If I wasn't sick of listening to it. LOL .. NEVER!! This album never go the respect it deserved. Still love it and Bowie is still my favorite artist bar none.
Having said that Hunky Dory is my favorite after all these years, 8 line poem.Brilliant.
Johnnywhamo 8 months ago
when it's good it's really good, and when it's bad i go to pieces <3
most underrated bowie song ever.
beanworldcows 8 months ago 2
My favourite Bowie piece. Incredible stuff.
JonathanBones 9 months ago
wow...just flawless.. :)
iloveebowie 9 months ago
This is so gorgeous. I've listened to it nearly 30 years ago for the first time and now I like it even better than I did then... what a vocal performance ! It is an adventure to listen to it !
ezaube1030 10 months ago
It is songs like this that made Bowie rock royalty. Every songwriter wishes they could do this.
sazerac1 10 months ago 12
One of my favorites of his. His voice is just incredible.
healthypanda 10 months ago
Nowhere else does David reach more unbelievable levels of excellence. What a voice.
bestNameICanThinkOf 11 months ago
this got me through some shitty times as a teenager,love you david
mijand 11 months ago
Ohhh that picture at 8:09
That is one handsome man.
WeAreEquality72521 11 months ago
my mother said he was totally high when he sang this song.
Ha. I think I love david. he's a living legend. he's god.
...a sweet thing ..
cainespsychodelic27 1 year ago 2
@cainespsychodelic27.as much as i appreciate and value bowie's art, as much as its been an important part of my life, i've never unserstand the worship relation some people establish with an artist. this star blindness, star struck..a certain godlliness hue they atribute to their persona. don't get it.find it somewhat ridiculous.bowie ain't god.there's no such thing to begin with.he's just an artist who has created some good, interesting enjoyable pop music.which is more than enough
JuanAndreful 9 months ago
This is Bowie to me. I am a fan of all his phases, but this is the heights. Gorgeous and daring. YEEEES. This is what I fell in love with.
geligniteandlilies 1 year ago 3
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AlizarinStag 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I'll make you a deal, like any other candidate...
PRIVATEAYEIEYE 1 year ago
eh man. bueno que lo subiste entero, completo. Salute!
elmundoalreves1 1 year ago
cause ho's is a CHEAP THING
tapeduk 1 year ago
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Sad and tragicundertone to all this , escapeism ..... selling hope..... Its a sweet thing?!!!
nitinjosh 1 year ago
Sad and tragicundertone to all this , escapeism ..... selling hope..... Its a sweet thing?!!!
nitinjosh 1 year ago
"Bullet Proof Faces..Charlie Manson, Cassius Clay"...Poetry. I hear my brother (passed) every time in this song. Today is his BD, and this is already blasting out the neighbors.
GoatBeach 1 year ago
diamond dogs>every other album combined
theawsomestdude 1 year ago
@theawsomestdude That's so hard...I love Hunky Dory and Aladdin Sane too. It's hard to choose a favorite.
healthypanda 10 months ago
This song always fucks-up my theory of 'Low' being his best album.
navroful 1 year ago 13
@navroful Yeah, this is possibly his absolute peak, even above 76-77. Possibly.
baboon2525 1 year ago
@navroful Low is good but I think Diamond Dogs is better...it's been awhile since I've heard Low though.
healthypanda 10 months ago
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kjsh987 4 months ago
@navroful you cant say what his best album was is - too impossible
Kobashimark1 1 month ago in playlist YouTube Mix for David Bowie
@navroful lol couldn't agree more
weirdogilly 4 days ago
Isn't that me???
tapeduk 1 year ago
Masterpiece! Definiteley the best song on Diamond Dogs.
Carloshache 1 year ago
is it about a prostitute/rentboy
hammbetta 1 year ago
is it about a prostitute
hammbetta 1 year ago
Final part sounds like Neu!'s "Negativland".
kaligula11 1 year ago
The most unique and dynamic aspect of this song is the complexity and the foreshadowing of so many different genres of music. Aspects of rap/hip hop in candidate, the gloom/goth aspects that run throughout along with the cross gender theme. Even the heavy dirge guitar playing was way ahead of its time. Simplistic chord structure and playing that was so influential to other upcoming players. This song is a masterpiece, and yet so few understand the significance of the song
cbmdg8551976 1 year ago 2
Earl Slick having a duel with David Sandborn! Magic! Our DJ loved this album and I knew it by heart long before I ever heard the original songs.
sazerac1 1 year ago
This is one of my favorite songs. I have like 20 or so that he sings, but I could name every one of them. :) But I won't. lol. I just really love this song!
BOWIEGIRL30 1 year ago
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lepaul2002 1 year ago
best bowie vocal in my opinion though rock n rol suicide runs it close!!
springycfc1 1 year ago
bringing back memories of a time that does not exsist anymore, in the end he was right, we never got out of 1984 anymore....... Great music, great performer!
schmitzf1957 1 year ago
You can (and he has) strip away the costumes and makeup, the veneer and persona, what you're left with, at the bare minimum, is a man with incredible intellect and a DAMN good voice! :) But, of course, David is much more than that...
bckm54 1 year ago
Four octaves! The only drawback to this album was the fact that he played most of the lead guitar parts.
liamtz 1 year ago
@liamtz and thank god for that! The whole buzz around this album is down to the fact he played the guitar and sax etc. it wasn't supposed to sound polished
stewballs7 1 year ago
Nice telling photo of him pointing to the Satanic pentagram. He sold his soul for rock n roll - mug !
jiggybilly 1 year ago
Damn,what Bowie album is best? I guess it will be the one your listening to that day or it is for me anyway.......
BowiesDog 1 year ago
Bowie was experimenting with a cut-up lyric technique, where he literally would put words on paper and cut them into slips and bump them together. So yes, there are some odd lyric juxtapositions on Diamond Dogs, one of them being the 'crossroads and hamburgers' line ... which upon further review isn't so silly. Turn to the crossroads and then turn to hamburgers (comfort food perhaps?).
Sweet Thing is my favorite Bowie song of all-time, it is just majestic, sad, moody, sexy and brilliant.
Zobinski 1 year ago
@Zobinski Not the only technique he was using at the time. He uses 5 different styles at the same time for his albums. Or so he says in an interview that's on here. I can't remember the guy's name who interviews him, but he is British also and has dark brown hair that's about shoulder length. (Interviewer) and I think it's from 2002 but he talks of the past mostly.
BOWIEGIRL30 1 year ago
Considering Bowie fired Ronson and then went into the studio and took on the sax, piano and guitar playing (along with the vocals and writing), what can you say? This is sheer brilliance. I can't compare this to any other work that is this ambitious. The sax and guitar match the decadent feel of the lyrics. Sheer genius. Big Broither is the other sleeper track that never received its due.
wpollock1 1 year ago 2
@wpollock1 could'nt agree more it does have a decadent feel, a record of the times,Bowie's vocal is along with rock n roll suicide the best he's ever done in my opinion!!
springycfc1 1 year ago
@springycfc1 Agree. Rock and Roll Suicide is a masterpiece of vocals - great point!
wpollock1 1 year ago
@wpollock1 yes...I agree...I've loved this song for many years and didn't realise that he had played all of the guitar on it until about 2 years ago...it just drips...it is such a decadent piece...
1442michael 1 year ago
I'm glad that you're older than me
Makes me feel important and free
Does that make you smile, isn't that me?
I'm in your way
And I'll steal every moment
If this trade is a curse
Then I'll bless you and turn
To the crossroads and hamburgers
wpollock1 1 year ago
this aint 'genocide'
this is Rok n Role
O
EBnFL0 1 year ago
Love that piano part at near the end of the song
RepublicOfVietnam 1 year ago 2
This is by far the best song on Diamond Dogs. If you listen to all of Bowie's compositions you'll notice that some adhere to the symphony format with several movements. He definitely was (maybe still is; I'm not familiar with his recent stuff) a genius with enduring qualities.
heidiho58 1 year ago
Just epic!
Kubrickfan1 1 year ago
best days of my life, great time thanks for the post
bozznick 1 year ago
Pure fucking gold. Absolute Genius and the forefather of all indie since.
GUNNAHZ70 1 year ago 2
I always thought Diamond Dogs was a far better album then 1984 was a book. Brave New World was a lot more of a future forecast and seems to be the less popular but more artfully portrayed book. Amazing song
screendrem 2 years ago
brilliant voice sounds so good
lolingsaraee 2 years ago
Definitely my favourite Bowie track ever, track on the album runs into rebel rebel - brilliant. Bowie at his best. Glam, metal, jazz pop and a bit of folk all in one. I have this on LP and CD but still have to listen to it on youtube as well!! Thanks for the pics as well!
powe0001 2 years ago 3
My favourite version of this, is on David Live (at the Tower, Philadelphia), which was the live album from the Diamond Dogs tour. Incredible double-cd set!
Of course, I listened to it, on vinyl, in 1974.
This is sheer, bloody genius.
So was the Diamond Dogs album, particularly if one has actually read George Orwell's 1984.
Stannage17 2 years ago
Bowie was on fire in the 70s and his lyrics, especially in the earlier half of the decade were incredibly odd and complex. The 80s were a little more mainstream for him, and the songs held less depth. It's too bad more people know him for Let's Dance than for, say, something like this.
anchorlove06 2 years ago 4
@anchorlove06 I say this all the time, especially since folks around my age group (I'm 24) are mainly familiar with Bowie from Labyrinth. '80s Bowie kind of lost the artistry of everything he was doing before—with the exception of Scary Monsters, which fits right in with his '70s output and is one of his best, in my opinion.
KriztofferSwank 1 year ago
....Bowie's best song and best record....I don't believe that he didn't clean up the lyrics after cutting them up though.....It always reminds me of the last scene in1984, when Julia and Winston meet up in a park and are strangers to each other...but, I guess "We are the Dead" does that as well....G'luck....
kp9952 2 years ago 3
@kp9952 Dont forget Heroes, despite its Berlin influence (i still believe its about Julia and Winston) and the latter strangers when we meet...againt despite its mysogenistic undertone.
That said i fucking love the sax around 3.55....makes me think of dark dank wet days, a la the segue in TVC 15.
GUNNAHZ70 1 year ago
4:18 ....just when you think it couldn't get better...he's on creative fire 74-77 (and before and after, but that period is just off the scale)
baboon2525 2 years ago 2
heard this the other night for the first time in an age and....sigh. Epic in the very best sense of the word.
baboon2525 2 years ago 2
GREAT GREAT
FreneticKey 2 years ago
this ain't rock 'n roll. this is genocide
BreakingGlass77 2 years ago 3
hope it's cheap thing
koba0228 2 years ago
I have to go to bed, my husband is gonna catch me doing the Bowie thing again!! its 5.25 but this song gets me every time, haha all his songs do, i love them all.
Im gonna log off now and find Station to Station...
mrssh 2 years ago 3
'when its good its really good and when its bad I go to pieces......
oARISTIDISo 2 years ago
And when its real, its a good old Bowie tune....
mrssh 2 years ago
Bowie plays sax, piano and guitar on this album. He got into a fight with Mick Ronson prior to this album, so he did it himself. Awesone song. This captures Bowie at his creative best.
wpollock1 2 years ago
I love it that so many people understand the mindfukkinblowin nature of this master piece.
In the immortal words of Martha Quinn,"Bowie is the Master of Music."
...indeed he is Mrs.Quinn, indeed he is.
czarmangis 2 years ago 5
This remind anyone of turning tricks on Third Av in the sixties? Port Authority? Anyone?
gendarpres 2 years ago
I thumbed downto this instead of thumbed up! Loved this comment. I wish I was turning tricks on Third Ave in the sixties - if that helps. There must be somebody though..
getmestarted 2 years ago
I cant begin to say how much this means Mr Bowie. Theres been lots of great music before and after this from him and many others but this is just ......it.
carrmcfc63 2 years ago 23
I love the decadent sound of the guitar as it matches the lyrics and the theme. This is genius. Bowie had a run in with Ronson and so he played piano. sax and guitar on this album. "Putting pain in a stranger/ like a portrait in flesh/ trails on a leash" - brilliant!
wpollock1 2 years ago 6
There is really no one quite like Bowie. His lyrics are surreal. Listening to some of his stuff is almost like watching a play. The images, I mean. "Low" is a masterpiece. Nice to read from someone who has a geniune appreciation of such a creative artist.
jgyll8mt 2 years ago 9
Wonderful slide show. and these are David's darkest most beautiful songs
PyramidHead2000 2 years ago 3
love the pic at 0:55
harrisongsrule 2 years ago
Been listening to this every few years since I was a kid, it never gets old.
BeetleMama 2 years ago 5
Classic... breathtaking piece of art.
David Bowie at his best. It is so dark and mysterious, I get a strange blurred feeling every time I listen to it.
Pollymax5 2 years ago 4
@Pollymax5 it is an incredible piece of music...I remember the first time I heard this....exactly where I was..it does move you into a space...
1442michael 1 year ago
my favorite bowie song EVER !!!
OILERGEORGE 2 years ago
You know, I can't take my eyes of this vid.
The song is the best but it's obvious.
I can't find a boyfriend because I still compare them to Bowie LOL They sucks
Even if I had a boyfriend ,he would stand far far far and far far behind DB:)))
szafi18 2 years ago
same here... I'm always thinking about Bowie and Laura Nyro. People don't make people like before.
wvnota 2 years ago
This is the best Bowie gets, vocally. Live versions, though, tend to fall short of this studio recording. But dear God, This song is almost 9 minutes long and it never gets boring.
gamma235 2 years ago 7
Penultimate Bowie!!!!!!!!!
brettishgal 2 years ago
a dark beauty like no other
abimnazar 2 years ago 32
This is the heaven
saintmorrigan 2 years ago 6
The picture at 7:15 is scary, he mustn't have been very far from physical collapse at the height of his emaciation... I guess the cocaine keeps you going regardless.
Parasmunt 2 years ago 2
I know Parasmunt :(
I'm glad he pulled through.
WoodRatGirl 2 years ago
I really love this song, but more for the music and the way it's sang, than the words. The truth is, I didn't pay that big attention to the lyrics until I read here how important to some they are. So I read the lyrics, but I didn't really get about what the song was. Can somebody lighten up my brain?
AijaP 2 years ago
Well from what I can gather it's about his bisexual period.
Don't quote me on that though.
Diamond Dogs was a Concept Album based on the book 1984.
WoodRatGirl 2 years ago
Quite right - Orwell's estate wouldn't let it be an official musical of 1984 but its based on it for sure. Beautiful stuff.
MrBowie 2 years ago
Sincerely I don't know.. :(
losmononos 2 years ago
This is my favourite Bowie song of the moment eventhough I've heard it heaps before, what with being the daughter of someone who has seen Bowie live three times lol.
I saw his Reality tour myself ;)
WoodRatGirl 2 years ago
thank you for putting it up. amazing !!
vadimbest 2 years ago
The whole album has even more power into it when you've read '1984' on which the whole album is inspired (! inspired, not some sort of a copy).
hetlot 2 years ago
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love it love it love it...one of the best songs!!! so much going off! i'd love to hear this in a musical or something lol! why does he say hamburgers at 2:27 though lol?
youmayrememberme 2 years ago
As far as I can tell, he says
'If this trade is a curse, the I bless you
And turn to the crossroads, and hamburgers and,
(Chorus etc.)'
There are a few lyrics on the internet which say 'the crossroads of Hamburg', but I really don't hear that.
Anyone care to help?
Izzierocks 2 years ago
@Izzierocks I hear "hamburg", but that might be related to the fact that I was born in and still live in hamburg. :D
zychozyborg 1 year ago
God his voice is soooo sexy on that one line, "I'll make you a deal like any other candidate." I LOVE the way he sings that...sooo sexy! :P
lizegan 2 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
YOU SHOULD HERE ME SING IT
jakeyboi2486 2 years ago
amazing song! great piano by Mike Garson
23ismagic 2 years ago 3
youre right!
ghdfsjnsbgr 2 years ago
I don't know what you're all crying over the words for. I played this album to death back in 74, but never listened to the words. Words are just another instrument. Not worth listening to other than for the sound of them. I don't know or care what the song's about (it sounds a bit rude and perverted in places, actually), all I care about is how the words SOUND. This song really rocks, but people who listen to rock and roll for the words are like people who buy a car just to sit in and not drive.
niacom8 2 years ago
I agree in the most part, but I think when he's written such splendid lyrics, that have got a meaning of a kind, you should take them into account.
After all, if you've got a nice a car as this song, sometimes it's nice just to sit in it :)
Izzierocks 2 years ago 7
It is possible to enjoy the sound of the song and words, and also understand the meaning of the lyrics, for me the song's lyrics can increase the enjoyment.
gullivera 2 years ago 4
Because obviously the words themselves have no relevance to the song or feeling the artist is trying to get across, and artists like Bowie really don't put any though/effort into the words themselves... Little known fact: Bowie stole the lyrics to "Sweet Thing" from the back of a cereal box! True story.
... I get the "the voice solely as an instrument" philosophy you're aping, but to discredit the poetic/communicative quality of words in music is pretty stupid and missing half the picture.
Christobird 2 years ago
and so the art is compromised or what? what's your point?
jjames9826 2 years ago
Thats some heavy cereal box then man, though I seriously doubt the accuracy of that fact....
Bowiehawk 2 years ago 5
@niacom8 I read you're comment and actually had to look to see if it was me who had wrote that. I agree 100% word for word.
mashamorgan 1 year ago
@niacom8
I think the song is depictive of Winston Smith's experience with the prostitute in 1984
Jacobus180670 1 year ago
@Jacobus180670 Good point Jacobus, that makes sense. By the way, wonder how many of us commenting on this song have in fact read 1984? Last time I read it was 29 years ago, so I'm overdue for a re-read. I think I still have a copy in the house somewhere. Then when I've finished it, I'll listen to Diamond Dogs again. LOUDLY ;-)
niacom8 1 year ago
@niacom8 Surely you jest...LOL... Rock and Roll (other than Folk) is the only genre of music that uses the words to make a statement!! The Beatles used their music as a platform to put down war, and announce to the world that it was ok to "make love not war!" This is right out of Orsen Welles 1994 - Big Brother! Rock and Roll is a way to say what we feel even songs that are only - "Sex, drugs, and R n R"!
Peace!
Craig
craggery 1 year ago
ta dave
mhark67 2 years ago
stunning, wierd, freak, wonderful, astonishing...GREAT!
walbianco 2 years ago 2
well, i'd say this song has still got it. I just got so wrapped up in listneing to it again that my dinner burned to a crisp. Bowie owes me one meal ;)
thomasjeromenewton47 2 years ago 3
I think this is probably his best vocal performance. The layers are fuckin crazy?
SomethingOhMy 2 years ago
unbelievable,seen The Master 4 times
each concert only seems like yesterday
To the unknown girl i stood with at Wembley stadium in 87 (glass spider tour) Thankyou i have never forgotten you
24435155 2 years ago
Saw David wear that twice in one day...Two concerts in beautiful Toronto,Canada...the matinee show at 2:pm and the eve show at 9:PM...what a way to kick off my last year of high school on a sunny June aft.noon in T.O.
Thanks for the memories...ya can't see his yellow socks and red ballet shoes though...but no matter...the padded shoulders n gold King crowns on his sweater is enough to satisfy!...
Dr.J
repelghosts 3 years ago
OhmyGawd.
Just...wow.
I know people who would listen to this song and go, 'What???'
And I just felt a stab of pity for those people.
How hauntingly dynamic and beautifully strange his voice is in this is just...
Gah...
-tripping out-
insaneforstuff254 3 years ago 7
That's exactly how I feel listening to this song.
I think I actually cried the first time
There aren't words... :)
Izzierocks 3 years ago
Every single time I hear the lyric "I'm scared...and I'm lonely" I burst into tears. The person that I love, lost EVERYTHING, and this song....this song could almost express him.
RBlovesKOP 3 years ago
this song is so intense. the lyrics are outrageous and the intruments. JUST GENUIS!!! "will buy some drugs and watch a band and jump in the river holding hands."
china027 3 years ago
dark depraved sickening brillent only bowie could get away with this a statment of our time dont for get x
jupitorman 3 years ago
great song from a great album
xxpiggystardustxx 3 years ago
7:31 is awsome!
wilderness333 3 years ago
i love the dude @ 7:14
thefrogofheck 3 years ago
love the solo at 6:19
GIJOE221294 3 years ago
he sings this song with the passion of the kings of old, the grace of the water on the rocks, and the originality and creativity (and the insanity) of van gogh.
vulgarvulcan 3 years ago 5
the first time i heard sweet thing i was half paying attention. i read the lyrics and then hit play a second time. when he started singing, oh my gosh, that voice. it's so dark and dreadful(in a good way). :-o
danceswithpigs 3 years ago 10
Highest high note: F6, Lowest full note: F#2 plus a (D2?) vocal fry note
lioralourie3 3 years ago
WRONG: High note is F5 in the backing vocals, and lowest note really is, I think a C2 which he hits for just a moment before it fries out.
lioralourie3 3 years ago
meravigliosa!!!
marilenasonia 3 years ago
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
I ABSOLUTELY love this song!
It's SO beautiful... it makes me cry! ç__ç
i1r3e 3 years ago 2
beatiful
orcsmart 3 years ago
This is an absolute masterpiece. I'm not old enough to remember Bowie's greatest days, I was born in the early 80's - but was brought up listening to his 70's stuff.
Brilliant music, DD has always been one of my favourites of his.
eradeziel 3 years ago 4
I was 10 years old in 1974 when DD came out and saved my money to buy it. My dad hated Bowie, I was completely obsessed with him. Between 1972-1975 he true rock GOD, no question. Nobody sounded like him, looked like him, or wrote music like him. Every generation has a legend and back then he was a tough act to follow. I agree this album is an absolute masterpiece. More artsy that " The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust ", it was his last true innovative album. Every song on it is Golden !!
sp4172 3 years ago 3
I started buying his albums when I was young too, although it would have been in the mid 90's. Sometimes I wish i'd been born in the right time to hear all this wonderful music first time around. I absolutely idolised Bowie when I was younger for works like DD and Aladdin Sane, even 20 years on.
I agree also, Bowie IS a legend, no question - multi-talented instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, producer. Comparing him to popular music 'artists' of today highlights the point massively.
eradeziel 3 years ago 2
Dont forget iggy pop
vulgarvulcan 3 years ago
Just want to agree with keddw. I was weened on Bowie and loved everything he did up until Scary Monsters, but what the F@#k happened in the eighties???
taylorkarn 3 years ago
Scary Monsters is probably my favorite bowie album.
bresmith 3 years ago
@taylorkarn that's what i say about most of what happened in the eighties, lol. the cars, the fashion, the music... and yet many people i know wish they were back in the eighties.
leonardiddy 1 year ago
Magnificent!oh I thought since my lp's scratched,I would never hear or see this again.Not as obscure as I thought!
d3kunut 3 years ago
Thx for posting this!!I saw the D.D. tour in Nashville in 1974,crummy seats but fantastic show.
gothsdontcry 3 years ago
Bowie plays all the guitar parts on this one, as well as sax and mellotron, check the credits on the album's sleeve or just type wikipedia and be enlightened.
corailgris 3 years ago