Bowie developed an interest in music from an early age. He studied art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. "Space Oddity", released in 1969, was his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart. After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The character was spearheaded by the success of Bowie's single "Starman" and album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which won him widespread popularity. In 1975, Bowie's style shifted towards a sound he characterised as "plastic soul", initially alienating many of his UK fans but garnering him his first major US crossover success with the number-one single "Fame" and the album Young Americans. In 1976, Bowie starred in the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth and released Station to Station. In 1977, he again changed direction with the electronic-inflected album Low, the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno that came to be known as the "Berlin Trilogy". "Heroes" (1977) and Lodger (1979) followed; each album reached the UK top five and received lasting critical praise.
After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s, Bowie had three number-one hits: the 1980 single "Ashes to Ashes", its album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and "Under Pressure" (a 1981 collaboration with Queen). He achieved massive commercial success in the 1980s starting with Let's Dance (1983). Between 1988 and 1992, he fronted the hard rock band Tin Machine before resuming his solo career in 1993. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including industrial and jungle. He also continued acting; his roles included Major Jack Celliers in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth (1986), Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Nikola Tesla in The Prestige (2006), among other film and television appearances and cameos. He stopped touring after 2004 and his last live performance was at a charity event in 2006. In 2013, Bowie returned from a decade-long recording hiatus with The Next Day. He remained musically active until his death from liver cancer at his home in New York City. He died two days after both his 69th birthday and the release of his final album, Blackstar (2016).
During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at over 100 million records worldwide, made him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. In the UK, he was awarded ten platinum, eleven gold and eight silver album certifications, and released 11 number-one albums. In the US, he received five platinum and nine gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Rolling Stone ranked him among the greatest artists in history. As of 2022, Bowie was the best-selling vinyl artist of the 21st century.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bowie
Studio albums
David Bowie (1967)
David Bowie/Space Oddity (1969)
The Man Who Sold the World (1970)
Hunky Dory (1971)
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
Aladdin Sane (1973)
Pin Ups (1973)
Diamond Dogs (1974)
Young Americans (1975)
Station to Station (1976)
Low (1977)
"Heroes" (1977)
Lodger (1979)
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980)
Let's Dance (1983)
Tonight (1984)
Never Let Me Down (1987)
Black Tie White Noise (1993)
The Buddha of Suburbia (1993)
Outside (1995)
Earthling (1997)
Hours (1999)
Heathen (2002)
Reality (2003)
The Next Day (2013)
Blackstar (2016)
An Occasional Dream
David Bowie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On the corner of a bed
And we'd speak of a Swedish room
Of hessian and wood
And we'd talk with our eyes
Of the sweetness in our lives
And tomorrows of rich surprise
Some things we could do
In our madness
We burnt one hundred days
Time takes time to pass
And I still hold some ashes to me
An occasional dream
And we'd sleep, oh, so close
But not really close our eyes
'Tween the sheets of summer
Bathed in blue
Gently weeping nights
It was long, long ago, long ago
And I still can't touch your name
For the days of fate
Were strong for you
Danced you far from me
In my madness
I see your face in mine
I keep a photograph
It burns my wall with time
Time
An occasional dream
Of mine
An occasional dream
Of mine
An occasional dream
Of mine
The song An Occasional Dream by David Bowie is an introspective track that looks back on a past relationship, reflecting on the things that were and what could have been. The opening lines of the song describe an intimate moment between two people on a bed, as they speak of the possibility of a Swedish room with hessian and wood. They speak with their eyes, acknowledging the sweetness in their lives and the exciting prospects that lay ahead. Despite the positive tone, the song quickly reveals that this relationship was defined by a sense of fleetingness, as time takes time to pass, and the singer is left holding onto ashes of what used to be.
The second verse of the song describes the physical closeness between the two people, but the emotional distance that existed between them. They slept close together but did not really close their eyes, hinting at an unease or tension that they could not overcome. The line "It was long, long ago, long ago/And I still can't touch your name" highlights the distance that has grown between them, a distance that was caused by the "days of fate" that danced the other person "far from me."
The song's chorus emphasizes the singer's sense of loss and how they are haunted by the memory of this relationship. Despite this, Bowie does not wallow in the melancholy of the situation, but rather suggests that even brief moments of happiness are worth holding onto, even if only as an occasional dream.
Line by Line Meaning
I recall how we lived
I remember the way we used to live.
On the corner of a bed
We used to sit on the corner of a bed while talking.
And we'd speak of a Swedish room
We talked about a specific kind of room called a Swedish room.
Of hessian and wood
The Swedish room was made of hessian and wood.
And we'd talk with our eyes
We communicated with each other using only our eyes.
Of the sweetness in our lives
We talked about the good things in our lives.
And tomorrows of rich surprise
We spoke about the exciting things we hoped would happen in the future.
Some things we could do
We talked about things we could do together.
In our madness
During a period of insanity or strong emotion.
We burnt one hundred days
We wasted a lot of time during that period.
Time takes time to pass
Time moves slowly.
And I still hold some ashes to me
I still have some remnants of that time with me.
An occasional dream
A dream that only happens sometimes.
And we'd sleep, oh, so close
We used to sleep very closely together.
But not really close our eyes
But we didn't actually close our eyes while lying in bed.
'Tween the sheets of summer
During a summer season.
Bathed in blue
Lit by a blue light.
Gently weeping nights
Sad nights.
It was long, long ago, long ago
It happened a very long time ago.
And I still can't touch your name
I can't bring myself to say or think your name.
For the days of fate
The fateful days that changed everything.
Were strong for you
Those days affected you deeply.
Danced you far from me
Those days caused us to drift apart.
In my madness
During a period of insanity or strong emotion.
I see your face in mine
I see your face when I look at myself.
I keep a photograph
I still have a photograph of you.
It burns my wall with time
The photograph has aged and is slowly fading.
An occasional dream
A dream that only happens sometimes.
Of mine
A dream that belongs to me.
An occasional dream
A dream that only happens sometimes.
Of mine
A dream that belongs to me.
An occasional dream
A dream that only happens sometimes.
Of mine
A dream that belongs to me.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: David Bowie
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
DrJKintobor
on I Can't Give Everything Away
I can totally imagine this being the end theme of Sabrina Online, when Sabrina marries Richard and they drive off into the sunset...
Peter Bonney
on Diamond Dogs
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