@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 Dogs The 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-wuf In 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 thing I'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 in When 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 me Gentle 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 me Oooo-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 me When 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 you We 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 time He's a do do, no no, didn't hear it from me He's a do do, no no, didn't hear it from me She'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 screw She's a do do, no no, didn't hear it from me She's a do do, no no, didn't hear it from me Can 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 in Another do do, no no, didn't hear it from me Another do do, no no, didn't hear it from me Ah, 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