David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), known professionally… Read Full Bio ↴David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, and his music and stagecraft had a significant impact on popular music.

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)

Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed
David Bowie Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Spy spy pretty girl
I see you see me through your window
Don't turn your nose up
Well you can if you need to you won't be the first or the last
It must strain you to look down so far from your father's house
And I know what a louse like me in his house could do for you
I'm the cream
Of the great Utopia dream

And you're the gleam
In the depths of your banker's spleen
I'm a phallus in pigtails
And there's blood on my nose
And my tissue is rotting
Where the rats chew my bones
And my eye sockets empty
See nothing but pain
I keep having this brainstorm
About twelve times a day
So nowYou could spend the morning walking with mequite amazed
As I'm unwashed and somewhat slightly dazed
I got eyes in my backside
That see electric tomatoes
On credit card rye bread
There are children in washrooms
Holding hands with a queen
And my heads full of murders
Where only killers scream
So now you could spend the morning talking with me quite amazed
Look out I'm raving mad and somewhat slightly dazed
Now you run from your window
To the porcelain bowl
And you're sick from your ears
To the red parquet floor
And the braque on the wall
Slides down your front
And eats through your belly
It's very catching

So nowyou should spend the mornings lying to your father quite amazed
About the strange unwashed and happily slightly dazed

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to David Bowie's "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" depict the mental and emotional state of a man who is unconventional, reckless, and isolated. The opening lines suggest that the singer is being spied on by a woman from her window, and although he is aware of her watchful eyes, he does not take offense to it. He recognizes that he is not the first or last person to be viewed with disdain and recognizes the social hierarchy that stratifies society.

Bowie uses vivid and metaphorical imagery to describe the singer's physical and emotional decay. He compares himself to a "phallus in pigtails," indicating both a childish innocence and an underlying sexual aggressiveness. He suggests that the singer is trapped in a decaying body that is being gnawed on by rats, and that his eyes see nothing but pain. The recurring "brainstorm" suggests that the singer is tormented by madness and cannot find peace.

The final lines of the song suggest that the singer recognizes that he is not only a social outcast but also a source of discomfort: he causes the woman watching him to become physically ill. The image of her sickness, in turn, causes him to imagine her lying to her father about him, suggesting that he feels undeserving of affection and is resigned to being an object of shame.

Line by Line Meaning

Spy spy pretty girl
Addressing a woman who's observing the singer

I see you see me through your window
The singer is aware that he's being watched by the woman

Don't turn your nose up
The singer is warning the woman not to judge him based on his appearance

Well, you can if you need to you won't be the first or the last
Acknowledging that the woman may still judge him despite his warning

It must strain you to look down so far from your father's house
The artist assumes that the woman comes from an affluent background and is looking down on him from her window

And I know what a louse like me in his house could do for you
The singer is aware that he's lower in social status compared to the woman

I'm the cream of the great Utopia dream
The singer views himself as someone with high ideals and aspirations

And you're the gleam in the depths of your banker's spleen
Contrasting the artist's idealism with the woman's materialism, represented by her 'banker's spleen'

I'm a phallus in pigtails
The artist sees himself as someone who's both masculine and feminine

And there's blood on my nose
Suggesting that the artist has been in a physical altercation and is wounded

And my tissue is rotting where the rats chew my bones
The singer is in a state of decay and has been neglected

And my eye sockets empty see nothing but pain
The artist is in a state of despair and sees nothing but suffering

I keep having this brainstorm about twelve times a day
The singer is constantly coming up with ideas or thoughts

So now you could spend the morning walking with me quite amazed as I'm unwashed and somewhat slightly dazed
The singer is inviting the woman to spend time with him despite his unkempt appearance and mental state

I got eyes in my backside that see electric tomatoes on credit card rye bread
The singer is experiencing hallucinations or delusions

There are children in washrooms holding hands with a queen
The artist is experiencing surreal or nonsensical imagery

And my heads full of murders where only killers scream
The artist is consumed by violent thoughts or fantasies

So now you could spend the morning talking with me quite amazed look out I'm raving mad and somewhat slightly dazed
The singer is warning the woman that he's mentally unstable

Now you run from your window to the porcelain bowl
The woman is running to the bathroom, possibly due to feeling sick or frightened

And you're sick from your ears to the red parquet floor
The woman is experiencing physical sickness combined with a sense of dread

And the braque on the wall slides down your front
The woman is experiencing a surreal or nonsensical event

And eats through your belly it's very catching
The woman is being affected by the artist's madness, which is spreading to her

So now you should spend the mornings lying to your father quite amazed about the strange unwashed and happily slightly dazed
The singer is suggesting that the woman should lie to her father about her experiences with him, emphasizing his eccentricity and instability

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DAVID BOWIE

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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