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Changes
by Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)

I still don't know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I'm much too fast to take that test

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don't want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can't trace time

I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence and
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don't tell them to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Where's your shame
You've left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you can't trace time

Strange fascination, fascinating me
Changes are taking the pace I'm going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Oh, look out you rock 'n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Pretty soon you're gonna get a little older
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
I said that time may change me
But I can't trace time

musical icons archive
the man in black
by johnny cash

it's alright ma
(i'm only bleeding)
by bob dylan

watching the wheels
by john lennon

buy the song:
iTunes

sites about Ziggy Stardust:
the official david bowie site
the ziggy stardust companion
songfacts.com

a note from madswirl:
"Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes/Turn and face the strain/Ch-ch-Changes" The older I get the more I appreciate this song.

Growing up as the baby in my family I had the luxury of also being influenced by everyone in my family. My sisters dug everything from Three Dog Night, the Beatles and David Bowie to REO Speedwagon, Rush and Led Zepplin. My brother started me with Kiss and ended up with the Bee Gees. My mom and dad loved old and new country, Johnny Cash and Hank Williams to Charlie Daniels and Charlie Pride. I had more styles and tunes in my head by 10 then some people get in their whole lives. I had probably first REMEMBER hearing this songback when I was 6 in 1976 on my sister's record player.

The next time I actually REALLY heard it I was was 16 years old and seeing "The Breakfast Club" where the opening scene is of the lyrics from the song..."
And these children that you spit on/As they try to change their worlds/Are immune to your consultations/They're quite aware of what they're going through" comes up at the opening credits and smashes into hundreds of shards of glass. I was ripe for that line and that film which followed. Gen X angst all the way baby!

Now that I am in my thirties I can appreciate the song from a different point of view. A newly discovered set of lines speak to me. The poetry of going down that proverbial road of life and aging that has always evoked the hider and seeker inside of me. "
Ch-ch-Changes/Oh, look out you rock 'n rollers"/Ch-ch-Changes/Pretty soon you're gonna get a little older/Time may change me/But I can't trace time."

- johnny olson