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Ziggy Stardust - Five Years


Nick_Burke

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I love Bowie / Ziggy Stardust! Unfortunatley, being 15 years old, that means that very few of my peers have head of him (although I did manage to play some of it on a teacher's laptop!) One thing that has been puzzling me:

In the song "Five Years" What the hell was that about? I'm sure I know, but the answer is lying just out of reach! The other thing was: He uses the phrase "and it's cold, and it rained, so I felt like an actor!" what was that about?

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First off, I think it is awesome you are already into Bowie and such a great record. I also had friends that didn't know alot of music I was listening to. The sad thing as you grow up, since you already have an interest in something different, only a handful of people will know what music you are into.

What I think Five Years is about is the world ending and how people are reacting to it. The part where he says "My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room to spare, I had to cram so many things to store everything in there" think about it if you knew the world was going to end what would you do? You would try to see everything and do everything. Thats what I think that line is about just cramming so much into a short time. The line "A cop knelt and kissed the feet of a priest, and a queer threw up at the sight of that" I think it means the cop is trying to make a death bed confession maybe he was a Sunday Christian that didn't make it on Sundays and now that the world is ending he is covering his bases. The gay guy probably doesn't believe in God because the bible says homosexuality is wrong. It would make me sick to see someone who lived a wild free life get down and try to repent at the last moment because they are scared of hell. The line you are talking about makes me think of some old black and white movie where the actor slowly walks through the rain looking sad. Think about how many movies use rain to illustrate sadness.

Since you like David Bowie you might like

Lou Reed's "Transformer". Bowie produced it.

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Don't forget they have to tilt their top hat, and throw their trench coat over their shoulder.

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: Thats so funny!!!!!

But I do love Ziggy Stardust. Transformer it's a bit too weird but still has some great stuff. Metal Music Machine is a very unique album, by Reed too. It's feedback heaven. :rockon:

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Don't feel lonely! I'm another teenage Bowie fan, and I've had to suffer persecution (well, light teasing) for it!

Anyway, if I remember correctly, I believe "Five Years" is about a young man coming to grips with the end of the world (we only have five years left to live, hence the song's title).

Take a look at these lyrics if you don't believe me:

"News had just come over, we had five years left to cry in

News guy wept and told us, earth was really dying

Cried so much his face was wet, then i knew he was not lying"

The "narrator" of the song prepares for the end by cramming his head full of everything, even the most mundane details of everyday life (I heard telephones, opera house, favourite melodies / I saw boys, toys electric irons and t.v.'s/My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room to spare/I had to cram so many things to store everything in there)

I suppose the reactions of the cop, soldier and so on are meant to illustrate others reactions to the terrible news of the upcoming Apocalypse.

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