Day 208 | Zeroes

As far as I know, Bowie never covered a Prince song, but this song makes a Prince reference: “And me, my little red corvette has driven by…” Sounds like a lament, vaguely like the line from “Teenage Wildlife,” “Same old thing, in brand new drag comes sweeping into view.” On the other hand, what is he talking about? Often Bowie songs with a lot of words get pretty cryptic. This one has a lot of words. There are feints and hints at meaning and references- I have read that he was trying to come as close to copying the Beatles as he could get away with…but I wouldn’t have picked up on that had I not read it. The fake crowd sounds in the beginning are kind of like the opening of “Diamond Dogs,” … but the rest of the song isn’t. The title rhymes with “Heroes,” but what the heck are “the zeroes” anyway? Album: Never Let Me Down

Note from 2018: The audio link I am including here is of the 2018 version of the song (containing Bowie’s original vocals but new instrumental tracks) included in an album released as part of the box set, “Loving the Alien (1983-1988),” which sounds distinctly different than the original 1987 version.