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Scene 1
Country farmhouse, Sunday afternoon of a sunny and hot June. You're in bed with your significant other, who, as usual, knows how to bring you to states of excitement that reach the sublime. The sheets start to get warm and damp with the games. The taste of everything is what you know well, giving you security and certainty, the kind that won't induce performance anxiety. Suddenly, she gets up, opens the drawer of the dresser, and pulls out a strange leather harness from which a tool emerges that should be on your side, not hers. You widen your eyes, look at her, look at the object, and think that she is always her, what she is proposing is still sex, but you are convinced and traditional enough to think that you probably won't like it much, but will you still take this leap with her?
Scene 2
Record store, you take from the shelf the latest effort of your favorite artist. Persistent rumors suggested this work was remarkably different from what you were accustomed to. You look at it, turn it around, reading the titles, looking at the images and thinking it will be a leap into the void, but will you still take this leap with him?
Changes are there, and understandably so; as such, they can be accepted or immediately rejected, or appreciated over time, even if they turn out to be huge. So I took the leap, the second one, and bought this "Let's Dance" in its time.
In short, Bowie didn’t need more rhythm than he already had, he didn’t need more pop than he already had, he didn’t need more fame, he didn’t need more money (or maybe he did). What really prompted the White Duke to change his face once again and embark on this pop dance adventure? Who knows! He always said: "If something works, throw it away!" It’s in his nature not to remain stuck in things: change has always been his primary goal.
So back then, we found ourselves with a fresh vinyl, spontaneous, full of vibrant ideas that aimed to surprise the listener, but also and especially to prepare the ground for a mega live tour and to demonstrate how those pieces had their explosive force in concert.
Did it succeed? I saw him at the Frejus arena in France that same summer. Nice concert indeed. Bowie still had an impressive vocal pull and Carlos Alomar maintaining a musical (almost orchestral) volume that was breathtaking. But the album? Beautiful feelings, but only to a certain extent. Beautiful songs but already short-lived in prospect. And with all the crackling content that ends up being essentially an outer veneer that time, inexorably, erases. In fact, it has erased it. And, when all is said and done, from this Bowie and this handful of beautiful songs, a bit of bitterness remains and a series of tracks there to be appreciated by young people approaching Bowie for the first time. For those of us who saw him grow by our side, dazzling us with a goosebump-inducing Berlin trilogy, what remains? Only the vinyl remains because we didn’t buy the CD.
So, going back to the initial paraphrase, we would have done well to leave the equipment in the drawer, and make love in a traditional way.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Modern Love (04:48)
I don't want to go out
I wont stay in
Get things done
I catch a paper boy
But things don't really change
I'm standing in the wind
But I never wave bye-bye
But I try, I try
There's no sign of life
It's just the power to charm
I'm lying in the rain
But I never wave bye-bye
But I try, I try
Never gonna fall for
Modern love - walks beside me
Modern love - walks on by
Modern love - gets me to the church on time
Church on time - terrifies me
Church on time - makes me party
Church on time - puts my trust in god and man
God and man - no confessions
God and man - no religion
God and man - don't believe in modern love
It's not really work
It's just the power to charm
I'm still standing in the wind
But I never wave bye bye
But I try, I try
Never gonna fall for
Modern love - walks beside me
Modern love - walks on by
Modern love - gets me to the church on time
Church on time - terrifies me
Church on time - makes me party
Church on time - puts my trust in god and man
God and man - no confessions
God and man - no religion
God and man - don't believe in modern love
Modern love, Modern love, Modern love, Modern love, Modern love, Modern love
Modern love, Modern love, Modern love, Modern love, Modern love, Modern love
Modern love, walks beside me
Modern love, walks on by
Modern love, walks beside me
Modern love, walks on by
Never gonna fall for
Never gonna fall for
02 China Girl (05:33)
I couldn't escape this feeling with my China Girl
I feel a wreck without my little China Girl
I hear her heart beating loud as thunder
Saw these stars crashing
I'm a mess without my little China Girl
Wake up in the morning, where's my little China Girl
I hear her heart's beating loud as thunder
Saw these stars crashing down
I'm feeling tragic like I'm Marlon Brando
When I look at my China Girl
I could pretend that nothing really meant too much
When I look at my China Girl
I stumble into town just like a sacred cow
Visions of swastikas in my head
Plans for everyone
It's in the white of my eyes
My little China Girl
You shouldn't mess with me
I'll ruin everything you are
You know;
I'll give you television
I'll give you eyes of blue
I'll give you men who want to rule the world
And when I get excited
My little China Girl says
Oh baby just you shut your mouth
She says ... sh-sh-shhh
04 Without You (03:10)
Just when I'm ready to throw in my hand
Just when the best things in life are gone
I look into your eyes
There's no smoke without fire
You're exactly who I want to be with
Without you
What would I do
And when I'm willing to call it a day
Just when I won't take another chance
I hold your hand
There's no smoke without fire
Woman I love you
Without you
What would I do
05 Ricochet (05:13)
Like weeds on a rockface waiting for the scythe
Ricochet - ricochet
The world is on a corner waiting for jobs
Ricochet - ricochet
Turn the holy pictures so they face the wall
And who can bear to be forgotten
And who can bear to be forgotten
March of flowers, march of dimes
These are the prisons, these are the crimes
Men wait for news while thousands are still asleep
Dreaming of tramlines factories pieces of machinery
Mine shafts things like that
March of flowers, march of dimes
These are the prisons, these are the crimes
Sound of thunder, sound of gold
Sound of the devil breaking parole
Ricochet - it's not the end of the world
Sound of thunder, sound of gold
Sound of the devil breaking parole
Ricochet - ricochet
These are the prisons these are the crimes
Teaching life in a violent new way
Ricochet - ricochet
Turn the holy pictures so they face the wall
And who can bear to be forgotten
And who can bear to be forgotten
March of flowers, march of dimes
These are the prisons, these are the crimes
Early, before the sun, they struggle off to the gates
In their secret fearful places they see their lives
Unravelling before them
March of flowers - march of dimes
These are the prisons, these are the crimes
Sound of thunder, sound of gold
Sound of the devil breaking parole
Ricochet it's not the end of the world
That's when they get home, damp eyed and weary
They smile and crush their children to their heaving chests
Making unfulfillable promises
For who can bear to be forgotten
07 Cat People (Putting Out Fire) (05:09)
See these eyes so green
I can stare for a thousand years
Colder than the moon
It's been so long
Feel my love enraged
It's just the fear of loosing you
Don't you know my name
You've been so long
And I've been putting out fire
With gasoline
See these eyes so red
Red like jungle burning bright
Those who feel me near
Pull the blinds and change their minds
It's been so long
Still this pulsing night
A plague I call a heartbeat
Just be still with me
You wouldn't believe what I've been thru
You've been so long
Well it's been so long
And I've been putting out the fire with gasoline
Putting out the fire
With gasoline
See these tears so blue
An ageless heart that can never mend
These tears can never dry
A judgement made can never bend
See these eyes so green
I can stare for a thousand years
Just be still with me
You wouldn't believe what I've been thru
You've been so long
Well it's been so long
And I've been putting out fire with gasoline
Putting out fire with gasoline
See these tears so blue
An ageless heart that can never mend
These tears can never dry
A judgement made that can never bend
See these eyes so green
I can stare for a thousand years
Just be still with me
You wouldnt believe what I've been thru
It's been so long
Well its been so long
And I've been putting out the fire with gasoline
Putting out fire
With Gasoline
Been so long
Been so long
Well its been so long
Been so long
I've been putting out fire
Been so long
And its been so long
Been putting out fire
Well it's Been so long so long so long
Yes it's been so long so long so long
I've been putting out fire
Been so long so long so long
And putting out fire
Been so long so long so long
Yeah yeah putting out fire
Been so long so long so long
Been putting out fire
Been so long so long so long
Yeah putting out fire
Been so long so long so long
Putting out fire
Been so long so long so long
It's been so long
Been so long so long so long
It's been so long
Been so long so long so long
It's been so long
Been so long so long so long
I've been putting out fire
Been so long so long so long
08 Shake It (03:51)
I feel like a sail-boat
Adrift on the sea
It's a brand new day
So when you gonna phone me
I could take you to heaven
I could spin you to hell
But I'll take you to New York
It's the place that I know well
Sitting on a flagstone talking to a faceless girl
And I wondering what to say but my eyes do the talking so well
Duck and I sway - what's my line
Shoot at a full moon - what's my line
So what's my line - shake it baby
Cause love is the answer
Love's talking to me
I'd scream and I'll fight for you
You're better than money
We're the kind of people who can shake it if we're feeling blue
When I'm feeling disconnected well I sure know what to do
Shake it baby
Ah shake it shake it
I duck and I sway - what's my line
I shoot at a full moon - what's my line
So what's my line - shake it shake it baby
Shake shake it
Shake it baby
Shake shake it
Shake it baby
Shake it shake it
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Other reviews
By joshua
"Let’s Dance apparently stands at the antipodes of the musical exploration path followed until then, which is why it represents a disappointment and a definite step back for longtime fans."
"The singles, in their genre, are three excellent songs... but outside of the three aforementioned pieces, the album is forgettable, trivial, at times embarrassing."
