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"Stage." The White Duke had almost completed the Berlin puzzle. One might even say that the heart of the Central European mosaic had already been put into action.
This live album documents the tour following the release of "Heroes" in 1977. However, to fully understand it, one must briefly consider the two preceding albums, in which the Duke entered the European avant-garde scene, developing mechanistic suggestions derived, in the musical field, from a certain "common feeling" towards a modern world (imagined as) devoid of humanism, crushed by the omnipresence of artificial creatures and the atomic nightmare. These trends, or needs of the soul, could not find expression in America; Europe was required; and it is here that Bowie decides to move, after the soul binge.
In Paris, he recorded most of "Low," with Brian Eno providing the final touch, and then in Berlin, Hansa by the wall, with Robert Fripp and Brian Eno (from the start, however). The intellectual humus found fertile ground in Germany, especially (but not solely) in the classical works of Kraftwerk and Neu!; artistically, the reference is certainly Orwell, cybernetics, and the depiction of the world à la "Metropolis." Needless to say, Berlin masterfully encapsulated these cultural urges, in the contradictions existing between an aristocratic past, yet completely destroyed, and a present marked by the tragedy of the Wall: in short, the kind of air that must have been breathed in 4th-century Rome, as described by Thomas Couture in "The Romans of the Decadence," displayed at the Orsay, just to give an idea. Furthermore, Bowie, not yet the White Duke, had a soft spot for such themes: see "Drive-in Saturday" or the album "Diamond Dogs."
"Stage," released in 1978, is nothing more than the live testament of this ideal environment. We find Bowie perfectly at ease, portraying the role of a detached post-modern intellectual. He appears before the audience in very wide pants, a white shirt, and a vaguely thirties hairstyle. A style, in short, that enhances the prevailing attitude throughout the concert: the aloof and aristocratic detachment, icy atmosphere, and formal perfection.
The tracks presented by the Duke come primarily from "Low" and "Heroes," apart from the segment dedicated to the mythical Ziggy Stardust. There are also instrumental compositions performed that, on the two mentioned albums, were found on the B-sides, including "Warsawa," "Sense of Doubt," and "Art Decade." Not missing, on the other hand, are the most representative pieces of Bowie as the Duke, such as "Speed of Life", the opening track from "Low"; "Heroes," simply one of the most moving love songs of all time, and "Beauty and the Beast," built on a simple riff, with cold keyboard gusts chasing each other. Not to mention the tormented "Breaking Glass," immersed in (plastic) soul reminiscences and a decided robotic pace.
The end of the concert, unfortunately not of the disc, was entrusted to the manifesto song "Station to Station," here masterfully performed. Composed and recorded in America, it encapsulates and embodies the cry of love for old Europe: "It’s not the side effects of the cocaine, I think it must be love […] the European Cannon is here!"
Behind the icy suggestions, the album oozes emotions, not easy to describe. Music rarely translates into images as in this case… hence the above need for references.
Sincerely, Lautrec
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Warszawa (06:52)
Mmmm-mm-mm-ommm
Sula vie dilejo
Mmmm-mm-mm-ommm
Sula vie milejo
Mmm-omm
Cheli venco deho
Cheli venco deho
Malio
Mmmm-mm-mm-ommm
Helibo seyoman
Cheli venco raero
Malio
Malio
05 Breaking Glass (03:29)
Baby, I've been, breaking glass in your room again
Listen
Don't look at the carpet, I drew something awful on it
See
You're such a wonderful person
But you got problems oh-oh-oh-oh
I'll never touch you
08 Blackout (04:01)
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 *?*
09 Beauty and the Beast (05:08)
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
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