Categories: Podcast

David Bowie – “Time”

With this song, David Bowie practically invents the Goth-Punk-Cabaret genre. It’s an epic song with brilliant piano by Mike Garson. Let’s explore the track and see what makes this masterpiece tick. And if you like the podcast, please share!

TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome to I’m in Love with That Song, the podcast where we listen to a different song each show. This episode, we’re listening to “Time” by David Bowie.

Hi, my name is Brad Page, and I am a music junkie. There’s really nothing that moves me as much as a great song. So with this podcast, I pick one of my favorite songs and just try to understand why it moves me so much by listening attentively to the little elements and details that make up a great song. And in this episode, we’ve really got something: David Bowie and “Time.”

“Time” was recorded for David Bowie’s sixth studio album called Aladdin Sane, released in 1973. It was the sixth song on the album and, if you were listening to it on the original vinyl, it would have been the song that opens side two.

The song was written by David Bowie while on tour in New Orleans. And while it was completed in 1972, the song was actually started by Bowie in ’71 with the working title “We Should Be All On By Now.” And the earlier version was initially given to his friend, George Underwood.

After Bowie rewrote it, the song took on a distinctly European cabaret feel. And to me, this song is patient zero for all of the goth punk cabaret and burlesque rock bands that came after.

The song was produced by Ken Scott, and the band features David Bowie on vocals and acoustic guitar; Mick Ronson on electric guitar and backing vocals; Trevor Bolder on bass; Mick Woodmansey on drums; and Mike Garson on piano.

Now, Mick Ronson was Bowie’s ace in the hole. He had so much to do with shaping Bowie’s early sound, and I think he’s a really underappreciated guitarist. But on this whole album, especially the title cut and this song, I think you have to give the MVP award to Mike Garson on piano, who brought a whole new depth and soundscape to Bowie’s music at this time. This was Garson’s first album with the band, and his input is essential.

The song opens with the sound of Mike Garson’s piano off in the distance. Imagine you’re walking into a half-empty cabaret hall from the back and slowly, gingerly, walking to your seat at the front. The piano is heavy in the right channel with plenty of reverb to give it that sense of depth and distance. Here comes the bass and vocals.

Some echo on the lead vocal. Now backing vocals and acoustic guitar enter. The whole band is on board now. Instead of just playing guitar chords, listen to how Mick Ronson uses the electric guitar to play like an orchestra.

The lyrics to this verse—”Time in quaaludes and red wine, demanding Billy dolls and other friends of mine.” The Billy dolls he’s referring to is Billy Murcia, the drummer for The New York Dolls, who died in 1972. Bowie had partied with him just a few months before.

The piano starts to get heavier here. Backing vocals again. Sounds to me like Mick Ronson is using a little bit of wah-wah pedal on the guitar on that short part. Just that little part there.

And this is the chorus. This is the first appearance of the chant or sing-along section, and check out the great piano parts that play behind him.

Now we’re back in that dark cabaret, and I love Mike Garson’s piano here. It is so evocative. And David Bowie really plays up the part, the way he points to us with each line.

Let’s go back and listen to this part again and notice how the reverb on the vocals disappears when he says the word “You.” That word, and only that word, are dry, meaning that there’s no reverb on them. That makes the word even more in your face.

This is another part of the song that I love. How Bowie just stops. Time freezes. And all he does is breathe, like he’s at a loss for words or there’s nothing more to say. Let’s go back, listen to him breathe, and then Mick Ronson lets out a guitar solo that’s more of a wail or a howl than any traditional guitar solo. It’s intense, and it’s such an interesting choice from Ronson.

Listen to how nasty that guitar tone is—distorted and scratchy. The orchestrated guitar and piano really add to the drama here. Check out the electric guitar part.

And here’s more great guitar playing from Mick Ronson.

We’ve reached the wordless chorus again, and this is one of the all-time great epic refrains, like The Beatles on “Hey Jude.” But where the sing-along on “Hey Jude” is celebratory and kind of life-affirming, here we get a refrain with a sense of foreboding. It’s a steady, forward march like the progression of time itself. We know we can’t stop time. It’ll have its way with us. But we’ll raise our voices against the darkness anyway.

Listen to the backing vocals. And catch the bass lick here. The backing vocals get more intense.

I like the way the bass is holding down the groove at this point. And the song doesn’t fade out. Instead, David Bowie surrenders to the inevitability of time, and the piano adds an exclamation point. There’s also a little bit of saxophone there that you can hear at the end.

So that is David Bowie and “Time.” The concept of time was a frequent subject for Bowie. On his previous record, the song “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide” opens with the line, “Time takes a cigarette and puts it in your mouth.” The song “Changes” references time and, well, really you can’t have change without the passage of time. In 1987, he wrote a song called “Time Will Crawl.” Those are just a few examples.

Time can be your friend, and it can be your enemy. Time can be fluid in the way that we perceive it. But more than almost anything else, time is the thing that defines our lives. Whether you try to ignore it, or outrun it, or make the best of it, we’re all limited by it. In the Buddhist philosophy of impermanence, nothing lasts forever.

Bowie created a body of work that will last as long as there are people to hear it. I’m a huge David Bowie fan, and there are few artists whose music means as much to me. I’m sure we’ll be dipping into his catalog again here on I’m in Love with That Song.

If you are looking for more info on David Bowie, there’s no shortage of great books on him. There’s at least a dozen that are worth checking out. I referred to Peter Doggett’s book, The Man Who Sold the World: Bowie and the 1970s, when I was prepping for this podcast.

So, that’s it for this episode. Thanks again for listening. My email is lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com, and you can also find the podcast on Facebook. If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a review on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. I’ll see you again next time on I’m in Love with That Song.

Thanks for listening to this episode on David Bowie and “Time.” To listen to the song again, complete and uninterrupted, stream it, download it, or buy it, and support the music you love.

Brad Page