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“This week dragged past me so slowly; The days fell on their knees”
“Is there concrete all around or is it in my head?”
“It’s not the side effects of the cocaine; I’m thinking that it must be love.”
“ Don't let the sun blast your shadow;Don't let the milk float ride your mind”
“ Someone scrawled on the wall, ‘I smell the blood of les tricoteuses;’ Who wrote up scandals in other bars; I am having so much fun with the poisonous people; Spreading rumors and lies and stories they made up”
“ Something happened on the day he died; Spirit rose a metre and stepped aside; Somebody else took his place, and bravely cried, ‘I'm a blackstar’”
“He looked a lot like Che Guevara, drove a diesel van Kept his gun in quiet seclusion, such a humble man”
“You’re the great mistake I never made”
“Same old thing in brand new drag comes sweeping into view”
“Nothing remains; We could run when the rain slows; Look for the cars or signs of life where the heat goes”
“Now that I've really got a chance; Everything's falling into place; Seeing my past to let it go; Throw me tomorrow”
Illustration for a post comparing Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime” to “Panic in Detroit”

Cheesy AI Image Post (but I think it’s cool)

OK, I usually reserve Fridays for a non-Bowie related post, but I was having too much fun with ChatGBT and this is the result. I know, I know— some people find AI and AI generated images to be offensive. So, I’m not doing anything special to promote this particular post, but if you find yourself here, this is what happened when I asked Chat to generate images inspired by particular Bowie lyrics. Yes, yes, humans are still more creative, but come on, man, this is cool!

I began the exercise the day before when I was looking for a good picture to illustrate my post comparing Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime” with “Panic in Detroit.” I couldn’t find one, so I had Chat make an image of a deranged looking urban warrior with the Aladdin Sane lighting bolt (it’s at the end of the series here). And then I just started going to town.

I found the more abstract images more interesting than the more literal images, at least for the most part. The pictures in the gallery include the lyrics form which they are inspired. Just as a self-observation, I kinda found it interesting which songs came to mind— “Stay;” “All the Young Dudes;” “Station to Station;” “Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide;” “Candidate;” “Blackstar;” “Panic in Detroit;” “Survive;” “Teenage Wildlife;” “Sunday” (maybe the best one); and “Thursday’s Child.” I went back and forth with Chat about an image for “‘Heroes’” but it wasn’t getting it right, so I’m not including one of those here. Also of note— Chat is a worse speller than I am, even when I fed it correctly spelled words (you’ll see).

Anyway, I know, this is a cheap-o post, but I had fun with it.

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