David Bowie: Changes Meaning

Song Released: 1972

Changes Lyrics

Oh, yeah
Mmm

Still don't know what I was waitin' for
And my time was runnin' wild
A million dead end streets and
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I've never...

1. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 22nd 2022 !⃝

   Impermanence is evident evertime I change the song when this one comes on. I do like the song, but that doesn't mean a thing to Herrculitus. I struggle with this.
2. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   May 9th 2018 !⃝

   A bit more than 'puberty???', I think, though certainly the song revolves around the transformations teens and young adults go through adapting to the real world beyond their childhood's "stream of warm impermanence".
   
   One strand of this song is rejection of the establishment:
   "Where's your shame
   You've left us up to our necks in it"
   though with a good deal more understanding of both self and the world than knee-jerk rebellion would involve:
   "...these children that you spit on
   As they try to change their worlds
   Are immune to your consultations
   They're quite aware of what they're going through"
   - that's sure telling 'em!
   
   And that mature self-awareness is a second strand throughout the song, e.g.:
   "A million dead-end streets
   And every time I thought I'd got it made
   It seemed the taste was not so sweet"
   
   A third strand relates to Bowie himself "running wild" and his layers of identity as an actor and performer:
   "...I've never caught a glimpse
   Of how the others must see the faker
   I'm much too fast to take that test"
   
   Finally Bowie acknowledges that the transformations are something he can understand but cannot really control: " time may change me / But I can't trace time."
3. Ziggy

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Sep 12th 2016 !⃝

   Puberty???

Latest Articles

• 
  That Time Ronnie James Dio Saved Black Sabbath’s Bacon
• 
  What is a Left Hand Path? - Entombed and Swedish Death Metal
• 
  Song Analysis Corner: Convoy (1975)
• 
  What’s Up With Margaritaville?
• 
  This Album Links Duran Duran, Andy Warhol, and Kurt Vonnegut
• 
  Your Back-To-School Playlist