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homebrew

Posted at 2025-09-13 13:51:37(2 hrs ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 39)

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These articles appear just as they were posted in the Usenet group alt.fan.david-bowie by group member Jamie Soule aka AladINSAnE. I have made no attempt to alter the formatting, spelling, grammar or edit in any way.

*IMAGES*: PART 39

Bowie's disillusionment towards society, which sets the tone for Scary
Monsters, is evident from the first three words of the opening line of
It's No Game. "Silhouettes and shadows" The first verse reveals a major
change, a shift, and obviously not one that was in the right direction,
and it's not a game. There is a lot to be said about the sound of the
vocals on this track. According to Bowie he wanted part one of It's No
Game to covey a lot of "intensity." This was certainly accomplished by
Fripp's guitar, which does a fantastic imitation of a berserk chain saw
on speed, and the nerve rattling vocal "dual" between Bowie and Michi
Hirota. To add to the edginess, and feel of confusion on the track, it
was Bowie's intention to make the vocals sound almost inarticulate in
places. Bowie says he owes a lot to John Lennon, and he credits him
with the idea for the vocal sound on this track. Although he did not
elaborate, I believe he was trying to communicate the uncertainty, and
raw emotion that Lennon is able to convey so well with his voice.
"Mother", being a fine example. It is easy to hear the Lennon influence
on the vocals for part one of It's No Game, Bowie succeeded in this
regard, both in style, and in the intensity they project. It was Bowie's
intent to attack, and break down, the stereotypical attitude towards
women in this song also. He decided on doing so by selecting a Japanese
girl, because this stereotyping is best displayed by the attitudes
people have towards Japanese Geisha's. Bowie wanted to dispel the
notions of women being, sweet, non thinking, incapable of making
decisions and merely around to fill the role of servants. He wanted
Michi Hirota to sound more like a Samuri, rather than a submissive
female. There is a definite reason that the vocal styles on It's No Game
part one, and It's No Game part two, are radically different. The latter
of course, being much more subdued. Interestingly enough, Bowie did not
wish to have It's No Game come across as one blatant protest song. The
two different styles are to reflect that the feelings of anxiousness
about society can be expressed on different levels, and in different
degrees of intensity.

What is also rather intense also are the lyrics. This album is a
magnificent example, probably the best, of Bowie as a conceptual writer.
He wastes no time in using It's No Game to state the major points which
make up the "theme" of the album. These points he will elaborate on
later in the album. Bowie makes it clear, he did long before he wrote
this, that he shares a similar opinion to mine about society. I believe
that this society we live in is focused on those things which are
temporary, that which is superficial, things meaningless when compared
to eternity, we deny truth, choosing instead to live in a happy
illusion of our own making, believing in our own fabrication of a
world, rather than face the grimness of the real one. I stated this in
the last segment of *Images*. The distinction however is clear, the
majority "buy" into it, and some have the gift to see right through it
for what it really is. The lyrics on Scary Monsters are the written
observations of one of those who sees right through it. These
observations have been made by others before him, and many times over.
Even so, it doesn't detract from the fact that they are both eloquent,
and brilliant.

Now, before I begin discussing this writing, I wish to make a few points
so there will be no mistaking what is fact, and what is an opinion. As
in this case, I wrote a general overview of what Bowie's intentions were
for this song. All of that is fact, it came from Bowie. and I gathered
it from those interviews. I will provide Bowie's perspective for each
track that I mention. The sources for the interpretation of individual
lines or verses will be properly credited, if they are not mine.

"It defies, all logic, reasoning, intelligent thought and simple common
sense," would be the perspective one would gain by looking at society
from the outside. It is easy to see why someone wouldn't, "understand
the situation." The truth is that the ones who come to realize these
things about society obviously do not fit in, because they can't. This
is because they would have to go against their rational thought, defy
their senses of logic and reasoning, and rid themselves of common sense.
Now, since these are the things which are extremely valuable to these
individuals, their intellect would never allow them throw them away.
Even if it was possible, most of these types of thinkers have absolutely
no desire to fit, they do not need acceptance from society and therefore
would not lower themselves just for the sake of fitting in. They are in
fact, "barred from the event." The barriers between these people and
society are unconsciously "self imposed." They are unable, even if they
wanted, to think the same way as public opinion dictates that most do.
You see, most of society has their beliefs rooted in the truthfulness of
public opinion, and that which is widely accepted. They live their lives
based on it, and it governs everything. Public opinion comes from the
faith we have in ourselves because we are intelligent, and all of the
vast knowledge we have accumulated through achedemics and the sciences
Public opinion and the trends that it produces, becomes our reality.

The reality is that if "You throw a rock against the road" it will break
"into pieces." That is a fact Bowie states, it is the truth, it is
reality, and it is stated to demonstrate that what Bowie sees, and has
written about on this album, is in fact the truth. While the majority
of those have faith in the wisdom of humanity, and live their lives in
the belief of public opinion, people on the "outside" do not. These
individuals do not believe in public opinion, and that which is widely
accepted, they have no faith whatsoever in the combined wisdom of
mankind, or their trends, because public opinion is usually wrong, it
does not lead to any truth, but deception instead. Those on the
"outside" seek reality, while the majority prefer to believe the
nonsense of public opinion, and live in a world that is in fact an
illusion. What is worse we "draw the blinds on yesterday" as Bowie said,
meaning we "forget" our past, choosing to ignore it, and therefore we
are destined to never learn a thing from history.. This will guarantee
an endless repetition of our past mistakes forever, and going by
history, that's the way it's going to be. I agree with Bowie it's all
"so much scarier.

"Put a bullet in my brain, and it makes all the papers." You know, I
read that and I am reminded in an instant why I have been following this
guy's work religiously through three decades with no plans on ever
stopping, unless death gets in the way. It will get one Hell of a fight
first. If Death thinks that separating me from my Ryko AU20 remaster of
Station To Station is going to be a easy, he had better reconsider. If
he plans showing up at my place and taking me away without my AU20, then
he has another thing coming, First off, the guy desperately needs a
new costume designer, and second, I do not fear him at all, and be
warned that sickle of his may wind up sticking out of his ass if he
isn't careful. He had better be prepared to show me the sound system on
"the other side" first. If I can't take my Station To Station AU20
along, or if he has bad speakers, quite simply I am not going anywhere.
Station To Station and I will never be separated, even by the combined
forces of the universe. It would be wise for Death to stay home, because
if he even attempts to procure me without my cd I will in fact kill him.
One of my reasons for becoming interested in the work of Bowie was his
writing. He has a magnificent ability to take a thousand ideas, and put
them on one line. His descriptive abilities are amazing. He can be
serious or humorous, and quite often sarcastic as he plays with words.
Sometimes his words are penetrating when they strike you, often
emotional and deeply moving. In many instances Bowie's words are not
just heard, they are felt as well. To be able to draw emotion out of a
reader is a wonderful gift for a writer to have, and Bowie has this
gift. "Put a bullet in my brain, and it makes all the papers," is a
perfect example of all of his writing abilities, written in one line.

That lyric rates to me as one of his best. It certainly is one of the
most powerful statements he has ever penned. As is common though with
Bowie, he has riddled it with sarcasm, and it is necessary to look at it
closely to get the point he is making. This lyric to some is elusive,
and it is not difficult to explain why. It must be taken in context with
the overall subject matter of Scary Monsters. This line amazingly
clever, and it is a scathing attack on the priorities we have as a
society. Just look at the world. What do you see? The media has to carry
the information that the MAJORITY want to know, it's a matter of
economics. Radio, TV and the print media only survive by one means,
advertising dollars, and advertisers look at demographics when they
purchase space. There are TWO things that are most important to an
advertiser when they are selecting where to spend. First, they look for
the best vehicle with which to reach the audience that they have
targeted. The next is "cost per thousand." Simply put, this is how much
will it cost me to reach each person in my targeted audience. Take for
an example two television networks, I'll use ABC and NBC. The advertiser
knows that the best time to reach the audience he wants is Friday night
between 8 and 9 PM. Each network charges the same for a commercial,
let's say $100,000.00 for example. If the show on ABC draws two million
viewers, and the show on NBC draws three million, it costs less on NBC
per thousand. Your $100,000.00 will reach a million more potential
customers by advertising on NBC, over ABC. This is why the ratings are
so vital to media corporations, because the more viewers you attract,
the more advertisers you attract, and advertisers are money. To attract
these viewers the media must report what the majority of the people WANT
TO HEAR, and not what they determine is relevant to world events, or
they will not tune in. People do not really want to hear about the
reality of things, because it upsets them, and this is the reason for
the watered down sap we get called news.

Where, may I ask, was the media when Cambodian dictator Pol Pot
systematically murdered two and a half million of the country's
population, who were all innocent of any crimes? When children were
eating grass and plants in an attempt to fend off starvation in North
Korea, where was the media? There are nations in the world today who are
practising genocide against minorities, where is the media? There are
many in the world who eat from the garbage left over by others, and then
there are those who do not even have the luxury of garbage to eat. Where
is the media? The ONLY WAY that the evils in this world can be addressed
is if we are MADE AWARE of them. That is SUPPOSED to be the
responsibility of the media, but it is not. The news we receive today
has been tidied up and arranged into a nice little package designed to
attract an audience, rather than report on the true state of the planet.
A disaster is a great event in order to draw a crowd, and the bigger the
better. It is an awful thing to have to admit this, but the World Trade
Centre disaster was a jackpot to the media financially, especially to
newspapers and magazines. If a disaster strikes, let's say a famine, the
media will rush to cover the event. Now, a famine is quite serious,
unless you feel children dying from a lack of food is no big deal, and
this is the type of situation which should demand a lot of media
attention The more people that know about it, and the more they are made
aware of the gravity of the situation, then the more they will help. The
media coverage should be uncensored, and the pictures shown should
reflect the reality of the problem, even if they are graphic. The truth
must be conveyed, at any cost, because lives are at stake. The media
must cover such an event over a PROLONGED period, or until the problem
is solved, this reflects the true need for assistance, and keeps people
from forgetting about the problem. That is how the media should work,
but it doesn't.

As I said, wherever disaster strikes you will see the media run like
Hell to get there. Not only that, they will climb over each other in
order to get as close to the problem as possible. The way a story is
covered is important, as some are much better than others. In a war it
is best to get as close to where the bullets are flying, or hopefully
under a falling bomb. During a famine look for the thinnest people.
After a tornado the area that has suffered the most damage, or the area
where you find the most people who are sifting through the debris of
their homes, attempting to salvage what they can of their lives. If a
child is kidnapped or murdered try and get as close to the parents as
you can in order to get a few comments. Plane crashes are best if you
can get a picture of them on the way down, preferably in flames. If
there is a disease epidemic try to get pictures of as many of the
victims as possible, preferably all in a big pile. This is all of course
to get the "inside track," the closer you get, the more graphic the
coverage. Unfortunately this graphic coverage is not presented in a way
designed to draw any positive attention to an event, but instead it is
used as sensationalism, designed to grab the attention of people and
attract an audience. In this case graphic pictures are acceptable
because they are only shown for a brief period, long enough to get
someone's attention. They are not shown long enough however, to properly
convey the reality of a situation in most instances. This is because the
vast majority of people do not like to look a what mankind is capable of
doing to mankind, or the reality of the world, because it "upsets" us.
The old saying, "out of sight, out of mind," comes in to play here. The
media avoids portraying the reality of things because it hurts business,
the truth drives people away. Now, a disaster usually receives limited
coverage, rather than having it focused on long enough to make the world
respond. A disaster will only be covered long enough until the next one
occurs. This would not be so terrible if the media at least continued to
cover some of the previous events on an ongoing basis, but they don't.
As soon as the next news worthy tragedy appears, they all bolt like
lightening in that direction, dropping the old one as fast a copy of
Tonight, or Never Let Me Down. They do this because it is important to
be one of the first to cover a disaster, getting the "scoop" on things.
You see, a new story keeps your audience tuned in to your station, old
ones are useless, people get "bored," and that's bad for business. The
trouble is that once a story is out of the media it is forgotten by
people. We don't solve problems we can't remember, and the starving
continues.

The media pays little mind into giving any sort of worthwhile coverage
to the problems in the world that require them. However, should Britney
Spears break a fingernail, it hits the front page. A photographer was
caught behind the organ in the church Censored

was going to be married
in, he had been there for two days. Imagine, your blinds, pale blinds,
are drawn all day for one reason, to prevent someone from thrusting a
camera in your house to try and photograph you in a compromising
position. Why? To feed the insatiable desire of the public. Just think,
you will never be alone again, you will be watched either by a
bodyguard, the press, the public, or all three at once. Your privacy is
gone, forever. Why? It is because YOU ARE THE NEWS, AND PEOPLE WANT THE
NEWS. Diana Ross was involved in an incident once that was a travesty of
justice, and what occurred was so inhumane that it was covered by every
major television network, as well as the news papers. The security alert
was triggered after Diana Ross passed through a metal detector at
Heathrow Airport. The security personnel that were on duty actually had
the audacity to ask Miss. Ross to stop for a moment so they could
ascertain what caused the alarm to be triggered. It was wrong, of
course, for the security guards to do this. Ross refused to submit to
any further screening, and it was then when it happened. One of the
guards TOUCHED HER. Now, to touch Diana Ross is improper because she
sings songs, therefore she is above the law. Her "harassment" by the
security personnel at Heathrow made the news on every major television
networks, and it "made all the papers." Courtney Love skipped out on a
$15,000.00 massage bill, Britney Spears opened a restaurant, Tommy Lee
and Kid Rock love silicone, and Celine, Celine, Celine, Celine, Celine,
Celine, Celine, Celine, Celine, Celine. Ozzy Osboure, his foul mouth,
his wife. and one of his offspring, received FOURTEEN MILLION DOLLARS to
have their everyday lives filmed and shown on television. Now, you tell
me the state of this world, and the mindset of the majority of its
inhabitants, when we find other people's lives more valuable than our
own, so valuable that we idolize them. What is terrifying to me is not
just that, but LOOK AT WHOSE LIVES WE ARE INTERESTED IN. What are the
reasons to admire these people? Anna Nicole Smith is getting her own
show that is similar to the Osbourne's. What is her claim to fame? Her
value to us is the fact that she married an extremely wealthy man who
was in his nineties, when she was in her early twenties, to get his
money. Pamela Anderson has done what in life? Well? She wore a bathing
suit on television in order to display the results of the numerous
plastic surgeries she has had, she married a drummer from a famous band,
she was seen performing sex acts on a self made video that was stolen
from her house, she got divorced, starred in an awful movie, and is now
dating another musician. I see her in the paper three times a week. Why?
It is because she IS NEWS. Why? Well, truthfully, I don't know, ask
"THEM." The true indicator of the combined intelligence of society is
the television. Now, remember that these networks have to attract
viewers in order to sell advertising, and so in order to attract viewers
you do not put what YOU want on TV, you put the programs that THE PUBLIC
WANT. Well, look at what they want. Survivors, Friends, Seinfeld, Who
Wants To Marry A Millionaire, Greed, Fear Factor and the rest of it. I
admit it in front of millions of people on television that I have no
interest in marrying a person for their values, therefore I want to be a
contestant on Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire. Huh? Get the kids
together to watch Greed, so they learn something. The media ignores the
true issues of importance in this world, but if Bowie were to, " Put a
bullet in his brain, it would make all the papers." Bowie is right too.
Wonderful priorities we have.

"There's always tomorrow," is wishful thinking.
"To be insulted by these fascists - it's so degrading." It is an insult
to a thinking person to expect them to believe what they are told to by
society.
"It's no game." It's no laughing matter.

"It's an odd piece of music," Bowie said about Up The Hill Backwards.
I'll explain why.

AladINsaNE

To....................

*BACK TO THE INDEX <index.htm>*

Last edited by homebrew on 2025-09-13 13:55:22

""I don't begrudge any artist for finding an audience"
- David Bowie abt. 1987

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