10 Bowie songs that mention “nothing” to preview Saturday’s Roundtable about Jordan Rothacker’s “Shrieking of Nothing”
Distinguished authors Lance Olsen and Jordan Rothacker will join me for an interview this upcoming Saturday to discuss Jordan’s new novel, The Shrieking of Nothing, which Bowie fans will note takes its name from a line in “Ashes to Ashes.” Lance and Jordan have both previously written novels connected to Bowie. Lance’s Always Crashing in the Same Car takes a fictionalized look at Bowie’s last days, while Jordan’s The Death of the Cyborg Oracle is a science fiction detective story set in a world that reveres Bowie as a “profane prophet.” Jordan’s latest book is the sequel and hinges a key plot point on the concept of “nothing.”
Another previous interview guest, Simon Critchley, once wrote, “The word ‘nothing’ peppers and punctuates Bowie’s entire body of work,” and it’s true. This almost certainly was not a coincidence. But why? For Bowie, did “nothing” mean something?
I’m not going to answer that today, but below, for your contemplation, you will find lyrics from ten Bowie songs that use the word:
1. “The shrieking of nothing is killing…” “Ashes to Ashes” (1980)
2. “For in truth, it’s the beginning of nothing; And nothing has changed, everything has changed” – “Sunday” (2002)
3. “Though nothing, nothing will keep us together; We can beat them, for ever and ever”- “Heroes” (1977)
4. “Hold on to nothing; And he won’t let you down” – “After All” (1970)
5. “If I never see the English evergreens I’m running to; It’s nothing to me; It’s nothing to see” – “Dollar Days” (2016)
6. “Nothing to be desired; It leaves nothing to be desired; Nothing” – “Nothing to be Desired” (1995)
7. “Nothing’s gonna touch you in these golden years” – “Golden Years” (1976)
8. You alone across the floor; You and me and nothing more; You’re the great mistake I never made” – “Survive” (1999)
9. “The vacuum created by the arrival of freedom; And the possibilities it seems to offer; It’s got nothing to do with you, if one can grasp it” – “Up the Hill Backwards” (1980)
10. “She was born in a handbag; Love left on a doorstep; What she lacks is a backup; Nothing seems to make a dent” – “Day in Day Out” (1987)
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The embedded video is Sébastien Bédé’s tribute mix of “Sunday.”