Five Years
David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust) Lyrics

Pushing through the market square,
Walking through the busy market square,

So many mothers sighing
Many women were feeling distressed,

News had just come over,
A recent piece of information had been announced,

We had five years left to cry in
There were only five years remaining before facing a calamity or apocalypse,

News guy wept and told us,
A man broadcasting the news was crying while informing us,

Earth was really dying
Planet Earth was on the verge of dying,

Cried so much his face was wet,
He had cried profusely and tears were falling down his face,

Then I knew he was not lying
His intense emotions showed that what he conveyed was truthful,

I heard telephones, opera house, favorite melodies
I heard various noises like ringing phones, operatic music, and favorite songs playing,

I saw boys, toys, electric irons and T.V.'s
I observed boys playing with toys, people using electric appliances like irons and televisions,

My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room to spare
My mind was overloaded with so much information that it felt painful and crammed,

I had to cram so many things to store everything in there
I had to forcefully store everything in my brain to avoid missing out,

And all the fat-skinny people, and all the tall-short people, And all the nobody people, and all the somebody people
I noticed people of all shapes, sizes, and levels of importance or obscurity,

I never thought I'd need so many people
I never imagined how extensively I'd depend on them,

A girl my age went off her head,
A girl of my age lost her mind or went insane,

Hit some tiny children
She accidentally injured some young kids,

If the black hadn't a-pulled her off
If a black person didn't come and pull her away,

I think she would have killed them
She could have killed them,

A soldier with a broken arm, Fixed his stare to the wheels of a Cadillac
A soldier with a broken arm was looking at the wheels of a Cadillac,

A cop knelt and kissed the feet of a priest,
A police officer knelt down and kissed the feet of a priest in a gesture of respect or devotion,

And a queer threw up at the sight of that
A homosexual person vomited at the sight of that unlikely scene,

I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlor,
I have a feeling that I saw you in an ice-cream parlor,

Drinking milk shakes cold and long
You were having long and cold milkshakes there,

Smiling and waving and looking so fine,
You were happy, cheerful, and looked attractive or appealing,

Don't think you knew you were in this song
You didn't know that you were part of this song,

And it was cold and it rained so I felt like an actor
It was cold and rainy, so I felt like I was acting as a character in a dramatic scene,

And I thought of Ma and I wanted to get back there
I recalled my mother and wanted to go back to her or my origins,

Your face, your race, the way that you talk
I like your looks, ethnicity, and way of speaking,

I kiss you, you're beautiful, I want you to walk
I want to kiss you as you're beautiful, and I want you to walk by my side,

We've got five years, stuck on my eyes
Five years countdown is on my mind constantly,

Five years, what a surprise
It is shocking that we only have five years left,

We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
The mere thought of the five years left causes me a lot of pain or agony,

Five years, that's all we've got
We literally have only five years left,