The lyrics encapsulate the descent into madness during the Vietnam war. On March 16 1968, a US force entered the Vietnamese village of My Lai killing over 300 unarmed civilians (mainly women, children and elderly people).
So many great tracks on this album. Hearing it back in the day as a fifteen/sixteen year old, the guitars coupled with the scifi story-telling of Saviour Machine, The Supermen and many other Bowie classics hooked me in immediately, and it hasn't let go since. Still one of my favourite albums... by anyone!
Wow, regardless of being a Bowie fan for a good part of 45 years plus.. I'm still being introduced to new music of his. It's definitely a journey of discovery.
David's half brother Terry was a big influence on this album. He spent a large part of his life in Cane Hill Asylum (pictured in the US cartoon cover) before his eventful suicide.
Although it is strictly his third album, for most people it is his second, even for Bowie who titled the 2nd the same as the 1st "David Bowie" to forget about it. Then with the success of Space Oddity the record company changed it to the name that we all know: "Space Oddity".......both Space Oddity and TMWSTW are very good albums, in them we already see branches of Bowie's genius everywhere. still not completely polished, but they are already there 🙂
This album came out about the same time as Black Sabbath's first album, and is every bit heavy and every bit metal as Sabbath, though most people didn't realize Bowie was doing this at the time. But while for Sabbath it was a career, for David it was just another phase. And the whole band was performing at their peak. Keep checking out early Bowie, he's full of surprises.
Sometimes the record companies make great changes to the artists' chosen nomenclature. Imagine the Beach Boys actually going with The Pendletones?! Well done Capitol for changing that.
...i don't think this song is about religion, only. Maybe. But thanks for mentioning Fritz Lang movie " Metropolis". I think this intense piece of music was partly inspired by that old silent movie.