David Bowie Webdream

Running Gun Blues

Posted by Moonage | Filed under Interpretations

Samina Malik won’t be going to prison for writing terrorist poetry. I really could care less. Here’s some of his “poetry”

It’s not as messy or as hard as some may think.
It’s all about the flow of the wrist.
Sharpen the knife to its maximum.
And before you begin to cut the flesh.
Tilt the fool’s head to its left.
Saw the knife back and forth.
No doubt that the punk will twitch and scream.
But ignore the donkey’s ass.
And continue to slice back and forth.
You’ll feel the knife hit the wind and food pipe.
But Don’t Stop.
Continue with all your might.
About now you should feel the knife vibrate.
You can feel the warm heat being given off.
But this is due to the friction being caused.

Terrorist or not, it’s just very, very, bad. You want proper terrorist poetry? Try this:

I count the corpses on my left, I find Im not so tidy
So I better get away, better make it today
Ive cut twenty-three down since friday
But I cant control it, my face is drawn
My instinct still emotes it

I slash them cold, I kill them dead
I broke the gooks, I cracked their heads
Ill bomb them out from under the beds
But now Ive got the running gun blues

It seems the peacefuls stopped the war
Left generals squashed and stifled
But Ill slip out again tonight
Cause they havent taken back my rifle
For I promote oblivion
And Ill plug a few civilians

Ill slash them cold, Ill kill them dead
Ill break them gooks, Ill crack their heads
Ill slice them till theyre running red
But now Ive got the running gun blues

Ill slash them cold, Ill kill them dead
Ill break them gooks, Ill crack their heads
Ill slice them till theyre running red
But now Ive got the running gun blues

Now, I’ve heard different interpretations. I think the most obvious is the soldier returning to peaceful life and not adjusting too well. Maybe that’s what Samina is thinking when he writes his tripe. Or, could just be going for the shock value. Either way, it’s not new, it’s not creative. And, it’s certainly not as good as Bowie did it before Samina was even born. The downside of all this is even though I do think Samina needs to be kept very closely watched, in order to support sending him to jail for his garbage, I would have to had made the same argument about Bowie 38 years ago. As it was, Bowie moved on to other issues. Somehow, I don’t think Samina’s that smart.

Here’s the original, in all it’s glory, from one of the best Bowie albums he ever made:

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Technorati Tags: david bowie, running gun blues, samina malik, terrorist, the-man-who-sold-the-world

Tags: david bowie, running gun blues, samina malik, terrorist, the-man-who-sold-the-world

Read more | Squawks (1) | June 23rd, 2008

Lulu Who Sold The World

Posted by Moonage | Filed under Interpretations

For today’s consumption, and an easy one at that, is Lulu doing The Man Who Sold The World. There are several versions of her performing the song, but this one is my favorite. Lulu originally remade this in 1974. Doubt it was much of a hit, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the studio version. In addition, it’s been a staple of her performances for the past thirty years apparently. It should be, she CAN do it well. ( I still prefer Cobain’s version, but he’s still dead so not really an option any more. ) Without any more annoyances, here’s Lulu:

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Technorati Tags: david bowie, Interpretations, lulu, the-man-who-sold-the-world

Tags: david bowie, Interpretations, lulu, the-man-who-sold-the-world

Read more | Squawks (0) | October 16th, 2007

All The Madmen

Posted by Moonage | Filed under Sound

When I was a kid, I used to watch Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert a lot. I also was glued to The Midnight Special. One particular evening this oddball guy with bright red hair and wearing bizarre clothes came on and sang a couple of songs on Don Kirshner’s show. I loved both songs and decided I had to have them. Now, you gotta understand, living in a small rural town pre-MTV and pre-internet made that no small task. I searched K-Mart and the local stores and just couldn’t figure out what the songs were. So, I did what most people did at that time, I went to the local head shop. The hippie running the place immediately identified the first song, Space Oddity, but he couldn’t put his finger on the second song. So, I did what every kid did at that time with money to spare and no bills to pay, I ordered Bowie’s first five LP’s. When they arrived, I started in chronological order with Space Oddity. My second fave song at that point was there, but not the one I had to have. The first album was a folksy sounding album with ultra-strange lyrics. But, it didn’t really catch me at that time. The second album, Hunky Dory, was more of the same. Folksy sounding, but a little brasher, with ultra-strange lyrics. However, I had a hard time getting past the third album. I couldn’t stop playing it. The Man Who Sold The World was completely different than the previous two. It was loud, it was in-your-face, it had LONG guitar solos, but it still had the strange tales. It was everything I wanted in a rock album right there. Several songs stood out, all in their own way. The album started off with a major bang with The Width of a Circle. This was the type of song usually reserved as the last song of a major effort. The Width of a Circle would become the highlight of the Ziggy Stardust tour. However, the second song was the one that stuck with me the most. All The Madmen flowed smoother, the lyrics seemed to mean something, but I couldn’t say what. And, it had one of those catchy refrains at the end, “Zane, Zane, Zane. Ouvre le chien”. Now, living in rural Kentucky, I did what any logical teen would do, I asked my French teacher what it meant. She just looked blankly at me and said “Open the dog”. Needless to say, for a fourteen year old, that was DEEP. I later learned she was wrong. I also later learned that the cover I got was not the original, this was:

Getting past All The Madmen, the album took a breather with a couple of songs, then came hammering back with Running Gun Blues. Now, this song would make Slipknot and Korn nervous with lyrics like:

I count the corpses on my left, I find I’m not so tidy
So I better get away, better make it today
I’ve cut twenty-three down since Friday
But I can’t control it, my face is drawn
My instinct still emotes it

But I’ll slip out again tonight
Cause they haven’t taken back my rifle
For I promote oblivion
And I’ll plug a few civilians

And, the chorus went something like:

I’ll slash them cold, I’ll kill them dead
I’ll break them gooks, I’ll crack their heads
I’ll slice them till they’re running red
But now I’ve got the running gun blues

That was kinda unnerving to me. I hadn’t heard quite a harsh tune like that before. Saviour Machine didn’t let up too much either with lyrics like:

‘Please don’t believe in me, please disagree with me
Life is too easy, a plague seems quite feasible now
or maybe a war, or I may kill you all

Don’t let me stay, don’t let me stay
My logic says burn so send me away
Your minds are too green, I despise all I’ve seen
You can’t stake your lives on a Saviour Machine

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any more violent, along comes She Shook Me Cold:

We met upon a hill, the night was cool and still
She sucked my dormant will
Mother, she blew my brain, I will go back again
My God, she shook my cold

I had no time to spare, I grabbed her golden hair
And threw her to the ground
Father, she caved my head, Oh Lord, the things she said
My God, she should be told

I wasn’t really sure what to make of that. He was either getting a blow job or committing violent rape. I went with the blow job. He then returned to his older style with The Man Who Sold The World and the spacey The Supermen.

It took me a while to move on through the other albums. The song I was looking for was Time from Aladdin Sane. Once I got back to Aladdin Sane, I grew to like that album almost as much as The Man Who Sold The World. To this day, this is probably my third favorite Bowie album.

Here’s my versions:

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Technorati Tags: all-the-madmen, david bowie, saviour-machine, Sound, the-man-who-sold-the-world

Tags: all-the-madmen, david bowie, saviour-machine, Sound, the-man-who-sold-the-world

Read more | Squawks (2) | November 16th, 2005

Klaus Nomi

Posted by Moonage | Filed under The World Of David Bowie

On December 19, 1979, Bowie was featured on Saturday Night Live. Quite frankly, at this point, Bowie had been in a bit of a creative funk. He had done some shows and such, but his performances were becoming “normal”. I didn’t like it either. However, that changed on that evening. Bowie pulled out all the creative juices and put together one of my favorite performances he would ever do. The description of that show is summed up best by teenagewildlife.com:

If viewers were expecting a typical Saturday Night Live performance of Bowie and a band playing as if at a concert, they were in for a rude shock. Instead, Bowie gave an extremely unusual performance, accompanied by two “drag” performers, Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias. .

Three songs were performed, The Man Who Sold The World, with Bowie carried to the front of the stage by Nomi and Arias, while wearing a man’s evening dress and a large bow tie (emulating the poet Tristan Tzara).

Next was Boys Keep Swinging. For this Bowie emulated a puppet trick (with the help of television) he had seen in German fairs. A small puppet’s trunk and limbs were situated just beneath Bowie’s head, giving the appearance of a marionette with a huge human head. In a trick he sneaked past the censors, the puppet took a look down Bowie’s trousers right at the end of the song.

Finally, for TVC15, Bowie wore a uniform that gave the impression of a Chinese airline stewardesses outfit. In addition, stage designer Mark Ravitz created a pink poodle with a small tv monitor in its mouth, broadcasting the song as it was performed

Although Bowie was at his oddest, what sold the entire event was Arias and Nomi. They were two Kooks who looked serious. Their robotic movements and semi-simultaneous jerks and twitches were a riot. Bowie did not acknowledge who they were on the show ( he had no speaking parts ). So, people were just kind of left in the lurch.

Klaus Nomi would later gather a certain amount of fame not from that show, but for another reason, he was one of the first star casualties of AIDS. Nomi was truly one of the oddest characters to ever grace the music scene. Be sure to visit that link up there, it’s a riot!