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"The Chameleon of Rock": this is the most used (and abused) definition by the mainstream press to describe David Bowie. Undoubtedly, his albums up to 1980 offer a repertoire of different styles and languages, and represent works largely essential for the rock music aficionado as well as the pop culture scholar. "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.
To put things into context: in 1983, Bowie comes from 5 albums not adequately supported by his record label at the time, RCA, which barely tolerated the path of musical exploration undertaken with "Station to Station", the fusion of new age, ambient, and electronic in a pop sauce of "Low" and "Heroes", the embryonic ethno pop of "Lodger", and the synthesis of "Scary Monsters". However, the singles (with their respective videos) from the last work demonstrate an intact commercial appeal, which at the expiration of the RCA contract, after a bidding war, allows him to join EMI, with a multimillion-dollar advance and an option for five records.
The scent of money, destined to multiply with a global round of concerts, demands immediate and more accessible material, a glossy dance pop, with soul tinges but without any musical exploration ambitions. The disengagement is also evident in the studio: the one who once tinkered with all the instruments now doesn't play a single note and entrusts the production to Nile Rodgers and his chart instinct (Chic and Diana Ross, before being lured by Miss Ciccone for Like a Virgin). The other musicians summoned are honest session players, nothing to do with the Davis-Murray-Alomar trio employed in the late '70s albums: Steve Ray Vaughan stands out, an excellent blues guitarist who, however, does not manage to "characterize" the new songs much (as, for example, Fripp did on "Heroes" or Scary Monsters). In terms of appearance (we’re in the '80s!) the hair is shortened and dyed platinum blonde, good for teenagers but also for families, the former aloof white duke is now a heterosexual who flirts dancing and making out on the beach in the video of "China Girl," a boxer on the album cover, and a classy entertainer at concerts.
It's a smart move: first place everywhere, driven by "Let's Dance", "China Girl" and "Modern Love" which reach the podium almost everywhere in the world. The singles, in their genre, are three excellent songs, they have choruses that stamp in your head, and they start a series of hits that will infest the charts for the decade, in which the desire to please the audience and to ride the wave of success is evident, between a TV commercial, a movie, and a soundtrack. In this sense, "China Girl" is exemplary, a remake of a song written with Iggy Pop and recorded in 1977: where the original sung by Iggy is irritating, a proto-grunge with a vocal line more and more shouted and disturbing, the 1983 remake is pop (in the literal sense, i.e., popular and accessible) polished, keyboards and a nice bass line, a guitar riff pinned like a postcard from China, vocally starting low and confidential, then exploding in power and returning intimate ("oh baby, just you shout your mouth, she says ...shhh....") at the end.
Outside of the three aforementioned pieces, the album is forgettable, trivial, at times embarrassing, and it is not even an effective snapshot of those years, unlike other pop records of the era that have aged better (just to name one, Rio by Duran Duran): some of the material is also valid, but it is downsized by a production not up to the singles, "Cat People" is spoiled by a too stampeded drum, "Ricochet" has a vocal style too baritonal and self-satisfied, "Without You" has an annoying falsetto, not to mention the synthesizers honking a bit everywhere.
The umpteenth transformation of the chameleon, however, brings him the big audience and the real bucks: it is the start of a regression that traps Bowie in a creative swamp from which he will emerge after two decades, but that’s another story.
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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