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...It's evening, 10:09 PM, it's raining and a radio is playing a Bowie gem, "Heroes"... rummaging through the drawers I search for a CD; well, they say that those who search find...
the atmosphere heats up with "Beauty And The Beast", the glam vapor of the track gradually unfolds, but it's just a delusion, that period is now past for David. The guitar intertwine introduces "Joe The Lion" which almost feels like a Nordic ballad, then it leads to the title track. Boom! (or rather, no) ...boom. The (sound) wall you hit is that of Berlin, the cold Berlin, stage of an artist's heartaches, but you bump into it gently, it's a pleasant surrender, everything ends sooner or later, one can be anyone, one can be heroes just for one day... we can be heroes just for one day. Bass and sax take us to "Neukoln". Closing, there's "The Secret Life of Arabia" which anticipates by a few years Bowie's calm tendencies towards oriental rhythm.
Whether it’s rock, new wave or electronic, it doesn't matter much, what matters now is that the White Duke is reborn... yes, reborn, because "Heroes" is a rose grown among thorns... back in '77, the success of the manic era of transvestitism seemed to Bowie like the flame of a candle in the gusts of wind, blame Los Angeles, blame the coke. A friend of his named Lennon would have sworn he would die within a few months. In this sad tale, the turning point comes with the return to Berlin, the artistic partnership with Iggy Pop first, with Brian Eno later.
Rejoice people, the White Duke emerges from the tunnel, stronger than ever, standing against the wind, instead of the damn candle flame.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Beauty and the Beast (03:36)
Weaving down a by-road
singin' a song
That's my kind of high road
gone wrong
MY-MY
smile at least
you can't say no to
The Beauty and the Beast
Something in the night
Something in the day
nothing is wrong
but darling something's in way
there's slaughter in the air
protest on the wind
someone else inside me
someone could get skinned
how?
MY-MY
someone fetch a priest
you can't say no to
The Beauty and the Beast
I wanted to believe me
I wanted to be good
I wanted no distractions
Like every good boy should
Nothing will corrupt us
Nothing will compete
Thank God heaven left us
standing on our feet
MY-MY
The Beauty and the Beast
02 Joe the Lion (03:07)
Joe the lion
Went to the bar
A couple of drinks on the house an' he said
"Tell you who you are if you nail me to my car"
Boy
Thanks for hesitating
This is the kiss off
Boy
Thanks for hesitating
You'll never know the real story
Just a couple of dreams
You get up and sleep
You can buy god it's Monday
Slither down the greasy pipe
So far so good no one saw you
Hobble over any freeway
You will be like your dreams tonight
You get up and sleep
You get up and sleep
Joe the lion
Made of iron
Joe the lion
Went to the bar
A couple of drinks on the house an' he was
A fortune teller he said
"Nail me to my car and I'll tell you who you are"
Joe the lion, yeah yeah
Went to the bar, yeah yeah
A couple of dreams and he was
A fortune teller he said
"Nail me to my car tell you who you are"
You get up and sleep
The wind blows on your check
The day laughs in your face
Guess you'll buy a gun
You'll buy it secondhand
You'll get up and sleep
Joe the lion made of iron (repeat ad inf.)
04 Sons of the Silent Age (03:19)
Sons of the silent age
Stand on platforms blank looks and note books
Sit in back rows of city limits
Lay in bed coming and going on easy terms
Sons of the silent age
Pace their rooms like a cell's dimensions
Rise for a year or two then make war
Search through their one inch thoughts
Then decide it couldn't be done
Baby, I'll never let you go
All I see is all I know
Let's take another way down (sons of sound and sons of sound)
Baby, baby, I'll never let you down
I can't stand another sound
Let's find another way (sons of sound and sons of sound)
Sons of the silent age
Listen to tracks by Sam Therapy and King Dice
Sons of the silent age
Pick up in bars and cry only once
Sons of the silent age
Make love only once but dream and dream
Don't walk, they just glide in and out of life
They never die, they just go to sleep one day
Baby, I won't ever let you go
All I see is all I know
Let's take another way down (sons of sound and sons of sound)
Oh baby, baby, baby, I won't ever let you down
I can't stand another sound
Let's take another way in (sons of sound and sons of sound)
(Sons of sound and sons of sound)
Baby, baby, baby, fire away!
05 Blackout (03:49)
Oh you, you walk on past
Your lips cut a smile on your face
Your scalding face
To the cage, to the cage
She was a beauty in a cage
Too, too high a price
To drink rotting wine from your hands
Your fearful hands
Get me to a doctor's I've been told
Someone's back in town the chips are down
I just cut and blackout
I'm under Japanese influence
And my honour's at stake
The weather's grim, ice on the cages
Me, I'm Robin Hood and I puff on my cigarette
Panthers are steaming, stalking, screaming
If you don't stay tonight
I will take that plane tonight
I've nothing to lose, nothing to gain
I'll kiss you in the rain
Kiss you in the rain
Kiss you in the rain
In the rain
Get me to the doctor
Get me off the streets (get some protection)
Get me on my feet (get some direction)
Hot air gets me into a blackout
Oh, get me off the streets
Get some protection
Oh get me on my feet (wo-ooh!)
While the streets block off
Getting some skin exposure to the blackout (get some protection)
Get me on my feet (get some direction, wo-ooh!)
Oh get me on my feet
Get me off the streets (get some protection)
In a *?* second *?*
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Other reviews
By Perez1
"The title track goes directly among the giants of music of all time."
"The entire sense of oppression and darkness that weighs on the album has not lost any of its shine from that era."
By Dune Buggy
With 'Heroes,' we soar high into the sky, reaching one of the most magnificent peaks of all Bowie’s production and perhaps all of music ever.
Bowie’s therapy continues with a second instrumental side that can remind us of 'Low,' although the tones are more varied and less 'metallic.'
By Caccòn
"Heroes by Bowie belongs to that group of albums that, by popular and critical acclaim, are considered the crème de la crème of music."
"The Heroes are others, but he got the Fame."
