Soul Singers

"I'm the cream Of the great utopia dream. And you're in the gleam In the depths of your banker's spleen."

"This is Major Tom to Ground Control. I'm stepping through the door, And I'm floating in a most peculiar way. And the stars look very different today.For here Am I sitting in a tin can, Far above the world. Planet Earth is blue, And there's nothing I can do."

"Ground Control to Major Tom. Ground Control to Major Tom. Take your protein pills and put your helmet on."

"If our love song Could fly over mountains, Could laugh at the ocean, Just like the films, There's no reason To feel all the hard times, To lay down the hard lines. It's absolutely true.Nothing much could happen Nothing we can't shake Oh we're absolute beginners With nothing much at stake As long as you're still smiling There's nothing more I need I absolutely love you But we're absolute beginners. But if my love is your love We're certain to succeed."

"All the young dudes Carry the news Boogaloo dudes Carry the news."

"I had to resign myself, many years ago, that I'm not too articulate when it comes to explaining how I feel about things. But my music does it for me, it really does. There, in the chords and melodies, is everything I want to say. The words just jolly it along. It's always been my way of expressing what for me is inexpressible by any other means. What is very enlightening for me right now is that I sense that I'm arriving at a place of peace with my writing that I've never experienced before. I think I'm going to be writing some of the most worthwhile things that I've ever written in the coming years. I'm very confident and trusting in my abilities right now. But I've got to think of myself as the luckiest guy. Robert Johnson only had one album's worth of work as his legacy. That's all that life allowed him."

"Heathenism is a state of mind. You can take it that I'm referring to one who does not see his world. He has no mental light. He destroys almost unwittingly. He cannot feel any Gods' presence in his life. He is the 21st century man. However, there's no theme or concept behind Heathen, just a number of songs but somehow there is a thread that runs through it that is quite as strong as any of my thematic type albums."

"Strangely, some songs you really don't want to write. I didn't like writing "Heathen". There was something so ominous and final about it. It was early in the morning, the sun was rising and through the windows I could see two deer grazing down below in the field. In the distance a car was driving slowly past the reservoir and these words were just streaming out and there were tears running down my face. But I couldn't stop, they just flew out. It's an odd feeling, like something else is guiding you, although forcing your hand is more like it."

"It's odd but even when I was a kid, I would write about "old and other times" as though I had a lot of years behind me. Now I do, so there is a difference in the weight of memory. When you're young, you're still "becoming", now at my age I am more concerned with "being". And not too long from now I'll be driven by "surviving", I'm sure. I kind of miss that "becoming" stage, as most times you really don't know what's around the corner. Now, of course, I've kind of knocked on the door and heard a muffled answer. Nevertheless, I still don't know what the voice is saying, or even what language it's in."

"Ageing is an extraordinary process... If you are pining for youth I think it produces a stereotypical old man because you only live in memory, you live in a place that doesn’t exist … I think ageing is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person that you always should have been."

"Never play to the gallery... Never work for other people in what you do. Always remember that the reason that you initially started working was that there was something inside yourself that you felt that if you could manifest in some way, you would understand more about yourself and how you co-exist with the rest of society... I think it's terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfil other people's expectations."

"[While filming 'Ashes to Ashes'] So we're on the beach shooting this scene with a giant bulldozer. The camera was on a very long lens. [The camera is along way away, but the artist fills the frame] In this video I'm dressed from head to toe in a clown suit. Why not. I hear playback and the music starts. So off I go, I start singing and walking, but as soon as I do this old geezer with an old dog walk right between me and the camera... Well, knowing this is gonna take a while I walked past the old guy and sat next to camera in my full costume waiting for him to pass. As he is walking by camera the director said, excuse me Mr do you know who this is? The old guy looks at me from bottom to top and looks back to the director and said... "Of course I do!!!! its some cunt in a clown suit." That was a huge moment for me, It put me back in my place and made me realize, yes I'm just a cunt in a clown suit. I think about that old guy all the time."

"Music has given me over 40 years of extraordinary experiences. I can't say that life's pains or more tragic episodes have been diminished because of it. But it's allowed me so many moments of companionship when I've been lonely and a sublime means of communication when I wanted to touch people. It's been both my doorway of perception and the house that I live in. I only hope that it embraces you with the same lusty life force that it graciously offered me."

"I think fame itself is not a rewarding thing. The most you can say is that it gets you a seat in restaurants."

"I'm terribly intuitive—I always thought I was intellectual about what I do, but I've come to the realisation that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing half the time, that the majority of the stuff that I do is totally intuitive, totally about where I am physically and mentally at any moment in time and I have a far harder time than anybody else explaining it and analysing it. That's the territory of the artist anyway: to be quite at sea with what he does, and working towards not being intuive about it and being far more methodical and academic about it."

"I get offered so many bad movies. And they're all raging queens or transvestites or Martians."

"I suppose I’ve been knocking on heaven’s door for about 11 years now, with one sort of high or another. The only kinds of drugs I use, though, are ones that keep me working for longer periods of time. I haven’t gotten involved in anything heavy since ’68. I had a silly flirtation with smack then, but it was only for the mystery and enigma of trying it. I never really enjoyed it at all. I like fast drugs. I’ve said that many times. I hate falling out, where I can’t stand up and stuff. It seems like such a waste of time. I hate downs and slow drugs like grass. I hate sleep. I would much prefer staying up, just working, all the time. It makes me so mad that we can’t do anything about sleep or the common cold."

"I'm an instant star. Just add water and stir."

"I always had a repulsive sort of need to be something more than human. I felt very very puny as a human. I thought, "Fuck that. I want to be a superman.""

"Fame, (fame) makes a man take things over Fame, (fame) lets him loose, hard to swallow Fame, (fame) puts you there where things are hollow Fame (fame)Fame, it's not your brain, it's just the flame That burns your change to keep you insane (sane)."

"Do you remember, your President Nixon? Do you remember, the bills you have to pay? Or even yesterday?"

"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!"

"You've got your mother in a whirl She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl. Hey babe, your hair's alright. Hey babe, let's go out tonight. You like me, and I like it all. We like dancing and we look divine. You love bands when they're playing hard. You want more and you want it fast."

"This ain't rock'n'roll. This is genocide!"

"Who'll love Aladdin Sane? Battle cries and champagne just in time for sunrise."

"Oh don't lean on me man, cause you can't afford the ticket Back from Suffragette City Oh don't lean on me man 'Cause you ain't got time to check it You know my Suffragette City Is outta sight...she's all right ...Ah wham, bam, thank you ma'am!"

"(Hey man) oh leave me alone you know (Hey man) oh Henry, get off the phone, I gotta (Hey man) I gotta straighten my face This mellow thighed chick just put my spine out of place."

"Ziggy played guitar."

"Making love with his ego Ziggy sucked up into his mind Like a leper messiah. When the kids had killed the man I had to break up the band."

"There's a starman waiting in the sky He'd like to come and meet us, But he thinks he'd blow our minds."

"Pushing through the market square, so many mothers sighing News had just come over, we had five years left to cry in. News guy wept and told us, earth was really dying Cried so much his face was wet, then I knew he was not lying."

"It's a god-awful small affair To the girl with the mousy hair But her mummy is yelling "No" And her daddy has told her to go But her friend is nowhere to be seen Now she walks through her sunken dream To the seat with the clearest view And she's hooked to the silver screen. But the film is a saddening bore 'Cause she's lived it ten times or more."

"Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes Turn and face the strange."

"I watch the ripples change their size But never leave the stream Of warm impermanence. So the days float through my eyes But still the days seem the same. And 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."

"Still don't know what I was waiting for And my time was running 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 caught a glimpse Of how the others must see the faker I'm much too fast to take that test."

"When all the world was very young And mountain magic heavy hung The supermen would walk in file Guardians of a loveless isle."

"We passed upon the stair, we spoke of was and when Although I wasn't there, he said I was his friend Which came as some surprise I spoke into his eyes I thought you died alone, a long long time ago."

"Live to your rebirth and do what you will (Oh by jingo) Forget all I've said, please bear me no ill."

"This time I think that my lover Understands me If we have faith in each other Then we can be Strong, baby I will be your father figure Put your tiny hand in mine I will be your preacher teacher Anything you have in mind I will be your father figure I have had enough of crime I will be the one who loves you … Til the end of time."

"Are you gay? No? Then fuck off! This is my culture!"

"I have to be honest here, I'm not really interested in selling records to people who are homophobic. I don't need the approval of people who don't approve of me."

"I spent the first half of my career being accused of being gay when I hadn't had anything like a gay relationship. So I spent my years growing up being told what my sexuality was really— which was kind of confusing."

"I guess somewhere along the way He must have let us all out to play Turned his back, and all God's children Crept out the back door"

"I've had enough of danger And people on the streets I'm looking out for angels Just trying to find some peace Now I think it's time That you let me know So if you love me Say you love me But if you don't just let me go..."

"Did you cling to the things they sold you? Did you cover your eyes when they told you That he can't come back, 'cause he has no children To come back for"

"I'm giving him something he can feel. Oh, ho, to let him know my love is real.Hey, hey, hey...I'm giving him something he can feel. Yes, I am, babe To let you know my love is real."

"Oh, many say that I'm too young To let you know just where I come from. Oh, but you will see that it's just a matter of time My love will surely make you mine.Ooh, living in a world of ghetto life, Everyone around seems so uptight. Nothing's wrong. It's alright with my man, my man."

"Let's do it in the mornin' Sweet breeze in the summer time. Feeling your sweet face All laid up next to mine. Sweet love in the midnight; Good sleep, come mornin' light. No worries 'bout nothin'; Just gettin' good, just gettin' good Just gettin' good love."

"We'll all turn black So who's to know? As a matter of fact, Color, creed and breed must go. There will be no light, So there can be no sight. And you'll judge your fellow man; Understand bout what is right. A million music, a million sound There's neutral thoughts For the underground."

"Hush now child and don't you cry; Your folks might understand you by and by. Move on up towards your destination; You may find from time to time, Complications."