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or the Sick Mysticism of the Thin White DukeThe Sound of the Occult
The artist is in the midst of the so-called "drug tunnel," and as if that weren't enough, he has an unhealthy passion for the occult and the ideal image of the Nazi dictator. It's said that, right after playing the detached alien in the film "The Man Who Fell to Earth," he plunged into mysticism, Jewish Kabbalah, Egyptology, and militarism. The character he has created is truly surrounded by an occult aura, and stories like the pool exorcism, semen stored in the freezer and urine in a bottle, secret messages in the Rolling Stones covers, black candles and haunted photos, and other demonic oddities only add to the mad legend of David Bowie, or rather the Thin White Duke.
Imagine what kind of album could come out of such a haunting atmosphere: regarding the sessions for "Station To Station", there are very interesting tales from his closest collaborators, also because Bowie still says he doesn't remember making this album; he knows he recorded it in Los Angeles because he read about it... I was completely out of it
he tells us, and again I listen to 'Station To Station' as if it's the work of a completely different person
.
Bowie emerges from the soul period completely disillusioned with show business, describing rock music as a dull dead end, an old toothless hag
and begins to work on the album with an entirely new approach: that of absolute artistic freedom on the part of the musicians and exaggerated perfectionism on his part. They worked and sniffed for days on end without pause in an atmosphere more than gloomy, unreal, completely unreal
, recalls the Duke in '83, with the curtains always drawn so the light wouldn't ruin the eternal present vibe
.
Now it's time to move on to the music. What to say? The songs are "only" six but the world they create is heterogeneous and contrasting: the sounds are new and ancient, pre-electronic and classical. The opening is one of the best for a Bowie record: the title track ranges from the mechanical rhythms of the new Central European sound to the intense solos of Slick and Alomar, while thematically introducing the character of the Thin White Duke, undefined and legendary like the past ones, perhaps a kind of noble searching for new spirituality moving along the Stations of the Cross, or making a symbolic journey through the Tree of Life of the cabalistic tradition ("From Kether to Malkuth"). Expressive and poetic abilities in the "European canon" are almost at a historical peak and the atmosphere of paranoia, obsession, and coldness that they manage to make us perceive is unique (fortunately it isn't the side effects of the cocaine, I think it's all about love!
) "Golden Years" instead presents this work as a transitional one: the sounds are more danceable and the singer's falsetto is up to the previous "Young Americans". His vocal study is perfected and gives the best evidence with the subsequent "Word On A Wing", a poignant and desperate prayer for salvation in which the Duke asks to forcefully enter into God's scheme.
But it is not yet time to receive this "blessing," and with "TVC15" it returns to hysterical, delirious, sick, and ultimately monotonous tones. "Stay", which alternates a well-paced and fast verse with a more crooner-like chorus, has become a classic of Bowie's production, especially for the effective guitar riffs. The last "Wild Is The Wind" is a cover of the great soundtrack composer Dimitri Tiomkin and closes the album in a worthy manner, transporting us to the smoky and romantic atmospheres of a refined 1950s Hollywood film, made of whispered "love me"s and piano sighs.
I too would like to say that with Bowie's music you touch me, I hear the sound of mandolins, you kiss me, with your kiss my life begins
, but these sounds lead directly to the deepest darkness of our souls, and we don't see the light again until after the slow Berlin detox...
from "Station To Station"
"The return of the Thin White Duke
throwing darts
in lovers' eyes
Here are we one magical moment
Such is the stuff from
where dreams are woven
Bending sound
Dredging the ocean lost in my circle
Here am I
Flashing no colour tall in this room
overlooking the oceanHere are we
One magical movement
from Kether to Malkuth 1
There are you
You drive like a demon
from station to station"
Quotes and information from "The Complete David Bowie" by Pegg, lyrics from VelvetGoldmine.it
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Station to Station (10:14)
The return of the Thin White Duke
Throwing darts in lovers' eyes
Here are we, one magical moment, such is the stuff
From where dreams are woven
Bending sound, dredging the ocean, lost in my circle
Here am I, flashing no colour
Tall in this room overlooking the ocean
Here are we, one magical movement from Kether to Malkhuth
There are you, you drive like a demon from station to station
The return of the Thin White Duke, throwing darts in lovers' eyes
The return of the Thin White Duke, throwing darts in lovers' eyes
The return of the Thin White Duke, making sure white stains
Once there were mountains on mountains
And once there were sunbirds to soar with
And once I could never be down
Got to keep searching and searching
Oh, what will I be believing and who will connect me with love?
Wonderful, wonder who, wonder when
Have you sought fortune, evasive and shy?
Drink to the men who protect you and I
Drink, drink, drain your glass, raise your glass high
TWO TIMES:
It's not the side-effects of the cocaine
I'm thinking that it must be love
It's too late - to be grateful
It's too late - to be late again
It's too late - to be hateful
The european cannon is here
I must be only one in a million
I won't let the day pass without her
It's too late - to be grateful
It's too late - to be late again
It's too late - to be hateful
The european cannon is here
Should I believe that I've been stricken?
Does my face show some kind of glow?
It's too late - to be grateful
It's too late - to be late again
It's too late - to be hateful
The european cannon is here, yes it's here
It's too late
It's too late, it's too late, it's too late, it's too late
The european cannon is here
02 Golden Years (04:00)
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Don't let me hear you say life's taking you nowhere, angel
Come get up my baby
Look at that sky, life's begun
Nights are warm and the days are young
Come get up my baby
There's my baby, lost that's all
Once I'm begging you save her little soul
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Come get up my baby
Last night they loved you, opening doors and pulling some strings, angel
Come get up my baby
In walked luck and you looked in time
Never look back, walk tall, act fine
Come get up my baby
I'll stick with you baby for a thousand years
Nothing's gonna touch you in these golden years, gold
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Come get up my baby
Some of these days, and it won't be long
Gonna drive back down where you once belonged
In the back of a dream car twenty foot long
Don't cry my sweet, don't break my heart
Doing all right, but you gotta get smart
Wish upon, wish upon, day upon day, I believe oh lord
I believe all the way
Come get up my baby
Run for the shadows, run for the shadows
Run for the shadows in these golden years
There's my baby, lost that's all
Once I'm begging you save her little soul
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Come get up my baby
Don't let me hear you say life's taking you nowhere, angel
Come get up my baby
Run for the shadows, run for the shadows
Run for the shadows in these golden years
I'll stick with you baby for a thousand years
Nothing's gonna touch you in these golden years, gold
Golden years, gold whop whop whop (10 times)
04 TVC 15 (05:33)
Oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh
Ohh
Up every evening 'bout half eight or nine
I give my complete attention to a very good friend of mine
He's quadraphonic, he's a, he's got more channels
So hologramic, oh my T V C one five
I brought my baby home, she, she sat around forlorn
She saw my T V C one five, and then baby's gone, she
She crawled right in, oh my
She crawled right in my
So hologramic, oh my T V C one five
Oh, so demonic, oh my T V C one five
Maybe if I pray every, each night I sit there pleading
Send back my dream test baby, she's my main feature
My T V C one five, he, he just stares back unblinking
So hologramic, oh my T V C one five
One of these nights I may just
Jump down that rainbow way, be with my baby, then
We'll spend some time together
So hologramic, oh my T V C one five
My baby's in there someplace, love's rating in the sky
So hologramic, oh my T V C one five
Transition
Transmission
Transition
Transmission
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Maybe if I pray every, each night I sit there pleading
Send back my dream test baby, she's my main feature
My T V C one five, he, he just stares back unblinking
So hologramic, oh my T V C one five
One of these nights I may just
Jump down that rainbow way, be with my baby, then
We'll spend some time together
So hologramic, oh my T V C one five
My baby's in there someplace, love's rating in the sky
So hologramic, oh my T V C one five
Oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh
Transition
Transmission
Transition
Transmission
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
Oh my T V C one five, oh oh, T V C one five
05 Stay (06:15)
This week dragged past me so slowly
The days fell on their knees
Maybe I'll take something to help me
Hope someone takes after me
I guess there's always some change in the weather
This time I know we could get it together
If I did casually mention tonight
That would be crazy tonight
Stay - that's what I meant to say or do something
But I never say is stay this time
I really meant to so bad this time
'cause you can never really tell when somebody
Wants something you want too
Heartwrecker, heartwrecker, make me delight
Right is so vague when it brings someone new
This time tomorrow I'll know what to do
I know it's happened to you
Stay - that's what I meant to say or do something
But what I never say is stay this time
I really meant to so bad this time
'cause you can never really tell when somebody
Wants something or wants to stay
That's what I meant to say or do something
But what I never say is stay this time
I really meant to so bad this time
'cause you can never really tell when somebody
Wants something you want too
06 Wild Is the Wind (06:00)
Love me, love me, love me, love me, say you do
Let me fly away with you
For my love is like the wind, and wild is the wind
Wild is the wind
Give me more than one caress, satisfy this hungriness
Let the wind blow through your heart
For wild is the wind, wild is the wind
You touch me, I hear the sound of mandolins
You kiss me
With your kiss my life begins
You're spring to me, all things to me
Don't you know, you're life itself!
Like the leaf clings to the tree,
Oh, my darling, cling to me
For we're like creatures of the wind, wild is the wind
Wild is the wind
You touch me, I hear the sound of mandolins
You kiss me
With your kiss my life begins
You're spring to me, all things to me
Don't you know, you're life itself!
Like the leaf clings to the tree,
Oh, my darling, cling to me
For we're like creatures in the wind, and wild is the wind
Wild is the wind
Wild is the wind
Wild is the wind
Wild is the wind
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Other reviews
By Perez
I find in this piece all the repertoire proposed up to that point, an excellent transition between the past and the imminent European future.
"Word on a Wing", a true prayer for help to God, a final appeal to religion to help him from cocaine, a chilling yet majestic image.
By Bowie_mangione
If we lived in an ideal world, there certainly wouldn’t be hunger, there would be no more wars, and (above all) a world day in honor of David Bowie would be celebrated.
Station To Station is a masterpiece, and even the deaf know it.
