The Next Day

Design: Barnbrook
Portrait of David Bowie on "Heroes" by Sukita.
Inner portrait of David Bowie by Jimmy King

Released: March 2013
Label: Sony/RCA
Producers: David Bowie, Tony Visconti

The Next Day

Look into my eyes he tells her
I'm gonna say goodbye he says yea
Do not cry she begs of him goodbye yea
All that day she thinks of his love yea

They whip him through the streets and alleys there
The gormless and the baying crowd right there
They can't get enough of that doomsday song
They can't get enough of it all

Listen

Listen to the whores he tells her
He fashions paper sculptures of them
Then drags them to the river's bank in the cart
Their soggy paper bodies wash ashore in the dark
And the priest stiff in hate now demanding fun begin
Of his women dressed as men for the pleasure of that priest

Here I am
Not quite dying
My body left to rot in a hollow tree
Its branches throwing shadows
On the gallows for me
And the next day
And the next
And another day

Ignoring the pain of their particular diseases
They chase him through the alleys chase him down the steps
They haul him through the mud and they chant for his death
And drag him to the feet of the purple-headed priest

First they give you everything that you want
Then they take back everything that you have
They live upon their feet and they die upon their knees
They can work with satan while they dress like the saints
They know god exists for the devil told them so
They scream my name aloud down into the well below

Here I am
Not quite dying
My body left to rot in a hollow tree
Its branches throwing shadows
On the gallows for me
And the next day
And the next
And another day

Here I am
Not quite dying
My body left to rot in a hollow tree
Its branches throwing shadows
On the gallows for me
And the next day
And the next
And another day

Here I am
Not quite dying
My body left to rot in a hollow tree
Its branches throwing shadows
On the gallows for me
And the next day
And the next
And another day

Dirty Boys

Something like Tobacco Road
Living on a lonely road
I will pull you out of there
We will go to Finchley Fair

I will buy a feather hat
I will steal a cricket bat
Smash some windows, make a noise
We will run with Dirty Boys

When the sun goes down
When the sun goes down and the die is cast
When the die is cast and you have no choice
We will run with Dirty Boys

We all want men we all want you
Me and the boys we all go through
You've got to learn to hold your tongue
They said the moon was his burning son

When the sun goes down
When the sun goes down and the die is cast
When the die is cast and you have no choice
We will run with Dirty Boys

The Stars (Are Out Tonight)

Stars are never sleeping
Dead ones and the living

We live closer to the earth
Never to the heavens
The stars are never far away
Stars are out tonight

They watch us from behind their shades
Brigitte, Jack and Kate and Brad
From behind their tinted window stretch
Gleaming like blackened sunshine

Stars are never sleeping
Dead ones and the living

Waiting for the first move
Satyrs and their child wives
Waiting for the last move
Soaking up our primitive world

Stars are never sleeping
Dead ones and the living

Their jealousy's spilling down
The stars must stick together
We will never be rid of these stars
But I hope they live forever

And they know just what we do
That we toss and turn at night
They're waiting to make their moves
For the stars are out tonight

Here they are upon the stairs
Sexless and unaroused
They are the stars, they're dying for you
But I hope they live forever

They burn you with their radiant smiles
Trap you with their beautiful eyes
They're broke and shamed or drunk or scared
But I hope they live forever

Their jealousy's spilling down
The stars must stick together
We will never be rid of these stars
But I hope they live forever

And they know just what we do
That we toss and turn at night
They're waiting to make their moves on us
But the stars are out tonight

The stars are out tonight
The stars are out tonight

Love is Lost

It's the darkest hour, you're twenty two
The voice of youth, the hour of dread
The darkest hour and your voice is new
Love is lost, lost is love

Your country's new
Your friends are new
Your house and even your eyes are new
Your maid is new and your accent too
But your fear is as old as the world

Say goodbye to the thrills of life
Where love was good, no love was bad
Wave goodbye to the life without pain
Say hello
You're a beautiful girl

Say hello to the lunatic men
Tell them your secrets
They're like the grave
Oh, what have you done? 
Oh, what have you done?
Love is lost, lost is love

You know so much, it's making you cry
You refuse to talk but you think like mad
You've cut out your soul and the face of thought
Oh, what have you done? 
Oh, what have you done?

Oh, what have you done? 
Oh, what have you done?
 

Where Are We Now?

Had to get the train
From Potsdamer Platz
You never knew that
That I could do that
Just walking the dead

Sitting in the Dschungel
On Nürnberger Straße
A man lost in time
Near KaDeWe
Just walking the dead

Where are we now?
Where are we now?
The moment you know
You know, you know

Twenty thousand people
Cross Bösebrücke
Fingers are crossed
Just in case
Walking the dead

Where are we now?
Where are we now?
The moment you know
You know, you know

As long as there's sun
As long as there's sun
As long as there's rain
As long as there's rain
As long as there's fire
As long as there's fire
As long as there's me
As long as there's you

Valentine's Day

Valentine told me who's to go
Feelings he treasured most of all
The teachers and the football stars
It's in his tiny face
It's in his scrawny hands
Valentine sold his soul
He's got something to say
It's Valentine's day
The rhythm of the crowd
Benny and Judy down
Valentine sees it all
He's got something to say
It's Valentine's day

Valentine told me how he feels
If all the world were under his heels
Or stumbling through the mall
It's in his tiny face
It's in his scrawny hands
Valentine knows it all
He's got something to say

It's Valentine's day
Valentine, Valentine
Valentine, Valentine

It's in his scrawny hands
It's in his icy heart
It's happening today
Valentine, Valentine
It's in his scrawny hands
It's in his icy heart
It's happening today

Valentine, Valentine

If You Can See Me

If you can see me I can see you

I could wear your new blue shoes
I should wear your old red dress
And walk to the crossroads
So take this knife
And meet me across the river

Just shoots and ladders and this is the kiss
American ?
From nowhere to nothing
And I go way back

Children swarm like thousands of bugs
Towards the lights the beacons above the hill
The stars to the West, the South, the North and to the East

Now you could say I've got a gift of sorts
A fear of rear windows and swinging doors
A love of violence and dread of sighs

If you can see me I can see you
If you can see me I can see you

I have seen these bairns wave their fists at God
Swear to destroy the beasts, stamping the ground
In their excitement for tomorrow
I could wear your new blue shoes
I should wear your old red dress
And walk to the crossroads
So take this knife
And meet me across the river

I will take your lands and all that lays beneath
The dust of cold flowers, prison of dark of ashes
I will slaughter your kind who descend from belief
I am the spirit of greed, a lord of theft
I'll burn all your books and the problems they make

If you can see me I can see you
If you can see me.

I'd Rather Be High

N obokov is sun-licked now
Upon the beach at Gruenwald
Brilliant and naked just
The way that authors looks

Clare and Lady Manners drink
Until the other cows go home
Gossip till their lips are bleeding
Politics and all

I'd rather be high, I'd rather be high
I'd rather be flying, I'd rather be flying
I'd rather be dead or out of my head
Than training these guns on those men in the sand

I'd rather be high
The Thames was black, the tower dark
I flew to Cairo, find my regiment
City's full of generals
And generals full of shit

I stumble to the graveyard and I
Lay down by my parents, whisper
Just remember duckies
Everybody gets got

I'd rather be high, I'd rather be high
I'd rather be flying, I'd rather be flying
I'd rather be dead or out of my head
Than training these guns of those men in the sand
I'd rather be high

I'm seventeen and my looks can prove it
I'm so afraid that I will lose it
I'd rather smoke and phone my ex
Be pleading for some teenage sex, yeah

I'd rather be high, I'd rather be high
I'd rather be flying, I'd rather be flying
I'd rather be dead or out of my head
Than training these guns on the men in the sand

I'd rather be high, I'd rather be high
I'd rather be flying, I'd rather be flying
I'd rather be flying, I'd rather be high
I'd rather be flying

Boss of Me

Tell me when you're sad
I'm gonna make it cool again
I know you're feeling bad
Tell me when you're cool again

Who'd have ever thought of it
Who'd have ever dreamed
That a small town girl like you
Would be the boss of me

We fly through the night
The tears on your lips
Life has your mind and soul
It spins on your hips

Who'd have ever thought of it
Who'd have ever dreamed

Who'd have ever thought of it
Who'd have ever dreamed
That a small town girl like you
Would be the boss of me
Would be the boss of me
Would be the boss of me

You look at me and you reach for the free blue sky
I look to the stars as they flicker and float in your eyes
And under these wings of steel the small town dies

Who'd have ever thought of it
Who'd have ever dreamed

Who'd have ever thought of it
Who'd have ever dreamed
That a small town girl like you
Would be the boss of me

Who'd have ever thought of it
Who'd have ever dreamed
That a small town girl like you
Would be the boss of me
Would be the boss of me
Would be the boss of me
 

Dancing Out in Space

Cutting through the water
Hands upon the ghost
To the city of solid iron
Through the kingdom of the boats
Send your friend away now
Let him sail back home tonight

Something like religion
Dancing face to face
Something like a drowning
Dancing out in space

No-one here can see you
Dancing face to face
No-one here can beat you
Dancing out in space

Silent as Georges Rodenbach
Mist and silhouette
Girl, you move like water
You've got stars upon your head
You've got my name and number
You've got to take the floor

Something like religion
Dancing face to face
Something like a drowning
Dancing out in space

No-one here can see you
Dancing face to face
No-one here can beat you
Dancing out in space

Dancing face to face
Dancing out in space

Dancing face to face
Dancing out in space

Dancing face to face
Dancing out in space

How Does the Grass Grow?

There's a graveyard by the station
Where the girls wear nylon skirts and
Sandals ?
The boys ride their Riga 1's
Upon the little hill
Such sadness and grief
The trees die standing
That's where we made our trysts
And struggled with our guns
Would you still love me
If the clocks could go backwards
The girls would fill with blood and
The grass would be green again
Remember the dead
They were so great
Some of them

How does the grass grow
Blood blood blood
Where do the boys lie
Mud mud mud
How does the grass grow
Blood blood blood

But I lived a blind life
A white face in prison
But you made a life out of nothing
Now I ride my black horse
I miss you more
Than you'll ever ever know
Waiting with my red eyes
And my stone heart

How does the grass grow
Blood blood blood
Where do the boys lie
Mud mud mud
How does the grass grow
Blood blood blood

I gaze in defeat
At the stars in the night
The light in my life burnt away
There will be no tomorrow
Then you sigh in your sleep
And meaning returns with the day

Where do the boys lie
Mud mud mud
How does the grass grow
Blood blood blood

(You Will) Set the World on Fire

Midnight in the Village
Seeger lights the candles
From Bitter End to Gaslight
Baez leaves the stage
Ochs takes notes
When the black girl and guitar
Burn together hot in rage
You've got what it takes
You say too much

Oh you will set the world babe
You will set the world on fire
I can work the scene and
I can see the magazines
I can hear the nation
I can hear the nation cry
You will set the world babe
You will set the world on fire
You will set it on fire

Kennedy would kill for the lines that you've written
Van Ronk says to Bobby "she's the next real thing"
Crouched in the half light, screaming like a banshee
You're in the boat babe, we're in the water
You say too much

Oh you will set the world babe
You will set the world on fire
I can work the scene and
I can see the magazines
I can hear the nation
I can hear the nation cry
You will set the world babe
You will set the world on fire
You will set it on fire

Oh you will set the world babe
You will set the world on fire
Oh I can work the scene and
I can see the magazines
I can hear the nation
I can hear the nation cry
You will set the world babe
You will set the world on fire
You will set it on fire

Oh you will set the world babe
You will set the world on fire
I can work the scene and
I can see the magazines
Oh I can hear the nation
I can hear the nation cry
You will set the world babe
You will set the world on fire
You will set it on fire

You Feel So Lonely You Could Die

No one ever saw you
Moving through the dark
Leaving slips of paper
Somewhere in the park
Hidden from your friends
Stealing all they knew
Love is thrown in airless rooms
Then vile rewards for you

And I'm gonna tell, yes, I've gotta tell
Gotta tell the things you've said
When you're talking in the dark
And I'm gonna tell the things you've done
When you're walking through the park

Some night on a thriller street
Will come a silent gun
You've got a dangerous heart
You stole their trust, their moon, their sun
They'll come such assassin's needle
On a crowded train
I bet you feel so lonely you could die

Buildings crammed with people
Landscape filled with wrath
Grey concrete city
Rain has wet the street
I want to see you clearly
Before you close the door
A room of bloody history
You made sure of that

I can see you as a corpse hanging from a beam
I can read you like a book
I can feel you falling
I hear you moaning in your room
Oh, see if I care
Oh, please, please make it soon

Walls have got you cornered
You've got the blues, my friend
And people don't like you
But you will leave without a sound, without an end

Hopefully it'll shine on you
Death alone shall love you
I thought you feel so lovely you could die
(I feel so lonely) you could die
You feel so lonely you could die

Heat

Then we saw
Mission is dark
Trapped between the rocks
Blocking the waterfall
The songs of dust
The world would end
The night was always falling
The peacock in the snow

And I tell myself,
I don't know who I am
And I tell myself,
I don't know who I am
My father ran the prison
My father ran the prison

I can only love you
By hating him more
That's not the truth,
It's too big a word
He believed
That love is theft
Love and war,
The theft of love

And I tell myself,
I don't know who I am
And I tell myself,
I don't know who I am
My father ran the prison
My father ran the prison
But I am a seer, I am a liar
I am a seer, but I am a liar
My father ran the prison
My father ran the prison

So She

For the priceless man
Who suffers gloom
So slow
Eyes were stolen
For her
A sleeping sky
Takes the moon
So slow
I would slide away
Further out to sea
Further out to sea
So she

She saw me smile
Feeling like
I'd never been
She saw me smile
Feeling like I'd never been
In love
Feeling like I'd never been
The only one and all alone
The only one and all alone

I'll Take You There

Today, today is the 1st of May
Everything around us
Everything a lie
Your hearts beating fast
As we race through the dark
Past the really good people
Who do what they're told

What will be my name
In the USA?
Hold my hand and
I'll take you there
Who will I become
In the USA?
Hold my hand and
I'll take you there

Sophie and Lev are running away
These are the days
The days of gloom
Lev can't smile and Sophie can't sing
A mile to the future
Where tomorrow is king

What will be my name
In the USA?
Hold my hand and
I'll take you there
Who will I become
In the USA?
Hold my hand and
I'll take you there

I don't need to know
Know where you are
Only that you are
Safe in this world
Then I'll be content
To get on with my life
Eat, drink and sleep
Look up at the stars

What will be my name
In the USA?
Hold my hand and
I'll take you there
Who will I become
In the USA?
Hold my hand and
I'll take you there

What will be my name
In the USA?
Hold my hand and
I'll take you there
Who will I become
In the USA?
Hold my hand and
I'll take you there