@ALBUM: diamond.dogs
@SONG: Lyrics to David Bowie's album _Diamond Dogs_ (corrected)
Scott Hannon. (with help from Ian Rogers)
Comments:
David slurs a lot of his singing on this album. He also uses what
seem to be foreign and hip (for 1974) phrases/names, which for the
most part I'm not familiar with. At times, he seems to mis-pronounce
words to try and force a rhyme. For the demo version of _Candidate_,
a few of the lines seem to be total nonsense (and I don't think its
just bad lyric transcriptions, although there is some of that).All the songs on the original RCA releases of the album, plus the
"bonus" tracks from the Ryko re-release, are included. Most of the
original tracks may be heard on the _David Live_ album as well,
although some of the lyrics are changed or pronounced differently.
Also, alternate studio takes of the songs _Rebel Rebel_, _1984_,
and _Do Do_ have been released (on the _Sound+Vision_ set).Album concept: The decadence and urban decay of an over-mechanized
society...one that has literally gone to the dogs.Songs : theme
Future Legend : life in the future, after some apocalyptic event
Diamond Dogs : the creatures of the future world above
Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing : Sex, drug addiction, and death
Rebel Rebel : a wild woman
Rock 'n' Roll With Me : I'm glad you enjoy my music
We Are the Dead : Our life-style is not accepted
1984 : An Orwellian nightmare future
Big Brother : More of the Orwellian future
Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family : chant to Big Brother
Do Do : More of the Orwellian future...you're being watched!
@SONG: Candidate : If your life-style is unacceptable, hide it
@SONG: Future Legend
And in the death, as the last few corpses
lay rotting in the slimy thoroughfare,
the shutters lifted an inch in Temperance Building
high on Poacher's Hill. And red
mutant eyes gazed down on Hunger City.
No more big wheels.
Fleas the size of rats sucked
on rats the size of cats.
And ten thousand people-oids split into small tribes,
coveting the highest of the sterile sky-scrappers,
like packs of dogs assaulting the
glass fronts of Love Me Avenue.
Ripping and re-wrapping mink and
shiny silver fox, now leg warmers.
Family badge of sapphire and cracked emerald.
Any day now, the Year of the Diamond Dogs.
This ain't rock 'n' roll,
this is GENOCIDE!@SONG: Diamond Dogs
As they pulled you out of the oxygen tent
you asked for the latest party
With your silicon hump and your ten inch stump
Dressed like a priest you was,
Todd Browning streak he was
Crawling down the alley on your hands and knee,
I'm sure you're not protected, for its plain to see
Diamond Dogs are poachers, and they hide behind trees
Hunt you to the ground they will,
mannequins with kill appeal*chorus*
Will they come?
I keep a friend serene
Will they come?
Oh, baby, come unto me
Will they come?
Well, she's come, been, and gone
Come out of the garden, baby
You'll catch a death in the fog
Young girl, they call them the Diamond Dogs
Young girl, they call them the Diamond DogsThe Halloween Jack is a real cool cat,
and he lives on top of Manhattan Chase
The elevators broke, so he slides down a rope
onto the street below, oh Tarzie, go man, go
Meets his little hussy with his ghost-town approach
Her face is sans feature, but she wears a Dali broach
Sweetly reminiscent, something mother used to bake
Wrecked up and paralyzed, Diamond Dogs are sable-ized*chorus*
Who-who-who
Call them the Diamond Dogs
Who-who-who
Call them the Diamond Dogs
Ahhh-whooo, ah
Ah-owwww
wuf-wufIn the year of the scavenger, season of the bitch
Sashay on the board-walk, scurry to the ditch
Just another future song, lonely little Keats
There's gonna be sorrow, try and wake up tomorrow*chorus*
Who-who-who
Call them the Diamond Dogs
Who-who-who
Call them the Diamond Dogs
Bow-wow, woof woof, bow-wow, wow
Call them the Diamond Dogs
Dogs
Call them the Diamond Dogs
Call them, call them
Call them the Diamond Dogs
Call them, call them, ooooo
Call them the Diamond Dogs
Keep cool
Diamond Dogs, OK
Hey-hey-hey-hey
Beware of the Diamond Dogs
Beware of the Diamond Dogs
Beware of the Diamond Dog
Beware of the Diamond Dog
Dog, dog, dog
Beware of the Diamond Dog@SONG: Sweet Thing
Its safe in a city to love in a doorway,
to wrangle some screens from the door
And isn't me, putting pain in a stranger?
Like a portrait in flashin', trails on a leash?
Will you see that I'm scared and I'm lonely?
So I beak up my room, yawn, and
roll into the center rings
And you know I once said*chorus*
Boys, boys, its a sweet thing
Boys, boys, its a sweet thing, sweet thing
If you want it, boys, get it here, thing
'Cause hole, boys, is a cheap thing, cheap thingI'm glad that you're older than me
Makes me feel important and free
Does that make you smile, isn't that me?
I'm in your way, and I'll steal every moment
If this trade is accursed, and I'll bless you
and turn to the crossroads, and hamburgers, and*chorus*
@SONG: Candidate
I'll make you deal, like any other candidate
We'll pretend we're walking home 'cause your futures at stake
My scent is amazing, it even smells like a street
There's a bar at the end where I can meet you and your friend
Someone scrawled on the walls "I smell the blood of La Tre Katers"
Rolled up scandal, and other bars
Having so much fun with the poisonous people,
spreading rumors and lies and stories they made up
Some make you sing, and some make you scream
One makes you wish that you'd never been seen
But there's a shop on the corner thats selling *Papya La Chea* {?}
Making bullet-proof faces, Charlie Manson, Cassius Clay
If you want it, boys, get it here, thing
So you scream out of line
"I want you! I need you! Anyone out there? Any time?"
Trey butch little number one say "Daddy, I want you"
When its good, its really good, and when its bad I go to pieces
If you want it, boys, get it here, thing
On the street where you live I put a hole in my head,
for I put all I had in another bed
On another floor, in the back of a car
In the cellar of a church with the *toy jar* {?}
Well, I guess we must be looking for a different kind,
but we can't stop trying 'til we break up our minds
'Til the sun drips blood on the seedy young knights
who press you on the prowl while shaking in fright
I guess we'll cruise down one more time,
with you by my side, it should be fine
We'll buy some drugs and watch a band
We'll jump in the river holding hands@SONG: Sweet Thing (reprise)
If you want it, boys, get it here thing
'Cause hole, boys, is a cheap thing, cheap thing
Is it nice in your snow storm, freezing your brain?
Do you think that your face looks the same?
Then let it be, its all I ever wanted
It's a street with a deal, and a taste,
its got powers, its got me, its got you@SONG: Rebel Rebel
(Hot tramp, I love you so {on single and live versions})
Doo doo doo-doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo-doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo-doo doo doo doo doo*verse 1*
Got your mother in a whirl (2nd time: 'cause)
She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl
Hey, babe, your hairs alright
Hey, babe, lets go out tonight
You like me, and I like it all
We like dancing, and we look divine
You love bands when they play it hard
You want more, and you want it first
Put you down, say I'm wrong
You tacky thing, you put them on*chorus*
Rebel Rebel, you've torn your dress
Rebel Rebel, your face is a mess
Rebel Rebel, how could they know?
Hot tramp, I love you so!Doo doo doo-doo doo doo doo doo
*repeat verse 1*
*chorus*
Don't ya?
Ow
Doo doo doo-doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo-doo doo doo doo doo*chorus* (except ends : I love you so much!)
You've torn your dress, your face is a mess
You can't get enough, but enough ain't the test
You've got transmission and a live wire
Got your cue lines and a handful of ludes
You wanna be there when they count up the dues
And I love your dress
You're a juvenile success
Because your face is a mess
So how could they know?
I said, how could they know?
To what you wanna know
Calamitys child, chi-chile, chi-chile
Where'd you wanna go?
Can I do for you? Looks like you've been there too
'Cause you've torn your dress
And your face is a mess
Ooo, ooo, your face is a mess
Ooo, ooo, so how could they know?
How could they know? Hah
Hah-hah@SONG: Rock 'n' Roll With Me (Bowie, Peace)
You always were the one, that you
They sold us for the likes of you
I always wanted new surroundings
A room to rent while the lizards lay crying in the heat
Trying to remember who to meet
I would take a foxey kind of stand
While tens of thousands found me and give inWhen you rock and roll with me,
no one else I'd rather be
Nobody here can do it for me
I'm in tears again,
when you rock 'n' roll with meGentle hearts are counted down
The cue is out of sight and out of sounds
Me, I'm out of breath, but not quite down ten
I've found the door which lets me out!When you rock and roll with me,
no one else I'd rather be
Nobody down here can do it for me
I'm in tears again,
when you rock 'n' roll with meOooo-oo-oo-oo
Oh, when you rock and roll with me,
there's no one else I'd rather be, oh
Nobody down here can do it for me
When you rock and roll with meWhen you rock 'n' roll, rock 'n' roll with me, yeah
No one else I'd rather, I'd rather be
Nobody down here can do it for me
Well, I'm in tears, I'm in tears
When you rock and roll with me@SONG: We Are the Dead
Something kind of hit me today
I looked at you, wondered if you saw things my way
People will hold us to blame
It hit me today, it hit me today
We're taking it hard all the time
Why don't we pass it by?
Just reply, you've changed your mind
We're fighting with the eyes of a lie
Taking it hard, taking it hard
But now
We feel that we are paid for, choking on you nightly
They tell me "Son, we want you." Be elusive, but don't walk far
For we're breaking in the new boys, deceive your next of kin
For your dancing where the dogs decay, defecating ecstasy
You're just an ally of the leecher
Procreator for the virgin king, but I love you in your funky pumps
And your nimble dress betrayals
Oh, dress yourself, my urchin one, for I hear them on the rails
Because of all we've seen, because of all we've said
We are the dead
One thing kind of touched me today
I looked at you and counted all the times we had laid
Pressing our love through the night
Knowing it's right, knowing it's right
Now I'm hoping some one will care
Living on the breath of a hope to be shared
Trusting on the sums of our love,
that some one will care, some one will care
But no...i..ho
We're todays scrambled creatures locked in tomorrows double feature
Heavens on the pillow, its silence competes with hell
It's a twenty-four hour service, guaranteed to make you tell
And the streets are full of brass men,
bent on getting hung and buried
And the legendary curtains are drawn 'round baby bankrupt,
who sucks you while you're sleeping
It's the theater of financiers,
count them, fifteen 'round the table,
white and dressed to kill
Oh, caress yourself, my juicy,
for my hands have all but whithered
Oh, dress yourself my urchin one, for I hear them on the stairs
Because of all we've seen, because of all we've said
We are the dead
We are dead
We are the dead@SONG: 1984
Someday they won't let you, now you must agree
The times, they are a-telling, and the changing isn't free
We've read it in the tea leaves, the tracks are on TV
Beware the sound mixture of 1984
They'll split your pretty cranium, and fill it full of air
They'll tell that you're eighty, but brother, you won't care
You'll be shooting up on anything, tomorrow's never there
Beware the sound mixture in 1984
Come see, come see, remember me?
We played love all my movie roll
You said it would last, but I guess we've grown
In 1984, who could ask for more
1984, who could ask for mor-or-or-or-ore
Mor-or-or-or-ore
I'm looking for a vehicle, I'm looking for a ride
I'm looking for a party, I'm looking for a side
I'm looking for the treason that I knew in '65
Beware the sound mixture of 1984
Come see, come see, remember me?
We played love all my movie roll
You said it would last, but I guess we've grown
In 1984, who could ask for more
1984, who could ask for mor-or-or-or-ore
Mor-or-or-or-ore
1984
1984
1984, more
1984,
1984, more
1984@SONG: Big Brother
Don't talk of dust and roses
Or should we powder our noses?
Don't live for last years capers
Give me steel, give me steel, give me pulses unreal
We'll build a glass asylum,
with just a hint of mayhem
We'll build a better whirlpool
We'll be living from sin, and we can really begin
Please Savior, save Your shores
Hear me, I'm graphically Yours*chorus*
Some one to claim us, some one to follow
Some one to shame us, some brave Apollo
Some one to fool us, some one like youWe want you Big Brother, Big Brother
I know you think you're awful square,
that you've made every one,
and been every where
Lord, I'd take an overdose if they knew what's going down*chorus*
*chorus*
*chorus*
We want you Big Brother
@SONG: Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family
*chant*
Brother
Who-who
Shake it up, shake it up
Move it up, move it up*chant*
*chant*
*chant*
*chant*
*chant*
Bro/bro/bro/bro/bro/bro/bro/bro/bro/bro/bro...
{1st syllable of "brother" repeated using a tape loop}
@SONG: Do Do
Now we can talk in confidence
Did you guess that we've been done wrong?
Lifes jumped the queue, to be first in line,
such a shameless desire
Ah, thinks he's well screened from the man at the top
It's a shame his children disagree
They coolly decide to sell him down the line
Daddys brainwashing timeHe's a do do, no no, didn't hear it from me
He's a do do, no no, didn't hear it from meShe's quite enthralled with the childhood of yore
When a unit was a figure, not a she
When lovers chose each other, and *the porks a Jew* {?}
another mammal to screwShe's a do do, no no, didn't hear it from me
She's a do do, no no, didn't hear it from meCan you wipe your nose, my child,
without them starting in your file a photograph?
Can you sleep alone at night?
Wake to find the scorching light of neighbor Jim,
he's come to turn you inAnother do do, no no, didn't hear it from me
Another do do, no no, didn't hear it from meAh, another do do, no, didn't hear it
do-do, do-do,
do@SONG: Candidate (demo)
Inside every teenage girl is a fountain
Inside every young pair of pants there's a mountain
Inside every mothers eyes is Tommy Tinkers bed
Inside every candidate waits a grateful dead
I make it a thing,
when I'm all alone to relieve myself
I make it a thing,
when I gazelle on stage, to believe in myself
I make it a thing,
to glance in window panes and feel pleased with myself
Yeah, and pretend I'm walking home
Took it so bad, I sat in a correction room
Took me a bath, and a kick in the moon
Well, I ain't gonna suck no radar wing,
because this tin is tin
Would you like techno-plate,
'cause I'm your candidate
It's a matter of life,
and the way you walk, you got a Brill Cream queen
It's a matter of tact,
and the things you talk, it keeps his passport clean
A matter of fact,
that cocking a cock on a twelve inch screen
So I'll pretend I'm walking home
Don't have to scream a lot
to keep an age in tune
Don't have to scream a lot
to predict monsoons
You don't have to paint my contract black
Now I've hustled a pair of jeans
Do I have to give your money back,
when I'm the fuehrer Allene?
I'll make you a deal,
I say I came from from Earth and my tongue is tape
I'll make you a deal,
you can set your kicks on the candidate
I'll make you a deal,
for your futures sake, I'm the candidate
Lets pretend we're walking home
uh-huh, uhhh
I'm the candidate
I'm the candidate
Vote now for the candidate
