1
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
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
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by astrowsk, Allusi0, wharney2008, kerrylee69, And5300, Camille23
The Next Day Lyrics as written by David Bowie
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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According to Visconti it's about a European ruler in the Middle Ages:
"Bowie wails and at times approaches hysteria as his dark lyrics, which according to producer Tony Visconti reference a late medieval period European tyrant, allude to the hypocrisy of the church (“They can work with Satan while they dress like the saints/ They know that god exists for the devil told them so”) and recall the bleak Orwellian post-apocalyptic imagery used on Diamond Dogs (“He drags them to the river‘s bank in the cart/ Their soggy paper bodies wash ashore in the dark…”)"
I would also say it's metaphor for his career as well.
sitting here with a lot of vodka and weed and was just thinking the same thing......it's diamond dogs lyrics with scary monsters style accompaniment (sp?) ......thank you david.....xxx
David Bowie at last shows the public his Satanic ways. He's the Antichrist!
@Frangipanifleur - did you read that version of the bible where the devil is never mentioned nor quoted - what you seem to say is "don't make any arguments that use religion as a comparison or i will judge you as being a destructive human". how many people did david bowie ever murder.? what hatred did he ever incite? to be evil requires evil deeds. if he is still "satanic" then maybe satanism is not what the church tell you?<br /> personally i thought the song was about the necessary hypocrisies of banking and politics, but then i was never inclined to demonise someone instead of seeking their meaning.
Oh how we we're all so fooled by the man!
When this song was first released many people had many different interpretations as to what it means, something that we can still argue today.
However what's obvious is that this is when David found out about his terminal disease, who else takes that news and decides to write two final huge albums, starting with this song.
The level of genius here is so vast that I'll only explain a few and leave the rest for you to work out.
"Look into my eyes he tells her, I'm gonna say goodbye he says yeah" - this is clearly a line to Iman, also note in the video how the eyes on the plate coincide with blackstars' look where David presents himself with no eyes.
"Ignoring the pain of the perticular diseases" and "here I am, not quite dying" are obviously his battle cry against the news, his final stand and looking back, nobody can argue he beat death, not by carrying on living, but to end his career in such a way that his legacy will never die, well played Mr.Jones, well played!
For any Bowie fans, check out Ian Hunters tribute to him called "Dandy", tremendous tip of the hat!
@dante15119 He released the album on 2013, did he know about his cancer by then?
May deal with "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". Specifically the body being dragged about until being left in the hollow of a tree. This is how Zarathustra dragged the body of the tight rope walker. And then the metaphorical dragging through the streets that Zarathustra suffers in the cities.
"Look into my eyes, he tells her I'm gonna say goodbye, he says, yeah Do not cry she begs of him goodbye, yeah All the day she thinks of is love, yeah" :P