The Daily Bowie #57 - "Move On"

"Somewhere there's an ocean

Innocent and wild"

The Daily Bowie #57 - "Move On"

My journey of posting Bowie songs continues to evolve. I had "writing about Bowie songs," but I am not doing much writing. Yet, as I explore songs I have chosen for posting, I learn new things, such as the core of Bowie's "Move On" from his 1979 album Lodger is the chorus of Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes" backwards. And so, two videos today,. If you're really interested, play the "backwards" video. It's just "Move On" played backwards. Then you could listen to Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes" again (there's a link from the video maker's You Tube page), but if you know the song you'll here it.

From the "Move On" entry from PUSHING AHEAD OF THE DAME:

A working title for Lodger was Planned Accidents; “Move On” was an inspired one. Bowie had been sitting listening to some old tapes and accidentally played “All the Young Dudes” backwards. He was taken by the odd, strangled melody that resulted, and had Alomar write out the “inverted” chord changes and had the band learn to play it. Then Bowie crafted a vocal that would push against the new flow. Visconti, in his autobiography, described its recording: David and I flipped the new version’s tape over and played it backwards, and sang the melody of “All the Young Dudes” forwards—I know I’ve lost most of you—and that became “Move On.”

I have always liked "Move On" because in simplest terms it's just an ode to travel lust. I am a home body, but I often have wander lust and wish to cut loose and let serendipity rule. Fortunately, my wife shares these feelings, possibly more so.

Move On” is a travelogue whose lyric was inspired by Bowie’s recent journeys to Kenya (on vacation with his son), Japan and Australia; it’s also a record of a man fearful of being trapped in the past and, more pressingly, himself and so he pushes onward, without a plan, and with only vague fantasies to guide him. “Feeling like a shadow, drifting like a leaf,” Bowie sings as the song winds out; a new territory exacts a harsh cost.

more From the "Move On" entry from PUSHING AHEAD OF THE DAME (above).

DAVID BOWIE

LODGER

"Move On" - LODGER - 1979

"Move On" - BACKWARDS



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Move On"

Sometimes I feel

That I need to move on

So I pack a bag

And move on

Move on

Well I might take a train

Or sail at dawn

Might take a girl

When I move on

When I move on

Somewhere, someone's calling me

When the chips are down

I'm just a travelling man

Maybe it's just a trick of the mind, but

Somewhere there's a morning sky

Bluer than her eyes

Somewhere there's an ocean

Innocent and wild

Africa is sleepy people

Russia has its horsemen

Spent some nights in old Kyoto

Sleeping on the matted ground

Cyprus is my island

When the going's rough

I would love to find you

Somewhere in a place like that

Somewhere, someone's calling me

When the chips are down

I stumble like a blind man

Can't forget you

Can't forget you

Feeling like a shadow

Drifting like a leaf

I stumble like a blind man

Can't forget you

Can't forget you

Can't forget you

Can't forget you

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rest in peace, David. We miss you.

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1603.31 -  7:37

NOTE ON WHY THE DAILY BOWIE IS NO LONGER DAILY: For 53 days, I completed daily Bowie posts. My schedule is too demanding to make a post every day, so this will now be a feature that is called The Daily Bowie, but it will not be daily. I will post as I can. I will post often. But if I miss a day, I will skip it. Otherwise, I get in the position of making five Bowie posts all in one day, and that's a lot of Bowie for people to swallow all at once... (yeah, leaving that badly phrased, innuendo packed statement. I bet Bowie would have laughed at it).