Day 121 | Diamond Dogs

Bowie’s idea of doing a rock opera based on George Orwell’s 1984 morphed into this album when Orwell’s living widow killed the project. Several 1984-specific songs remain on the album, but the opening track establishes it as being something different. The song paints a bleak, possibly post-apocalyptic picture, but as is often the case with Bowie the picture is more impressionistic than explicit. I’ve never really figured out what “diamond dogs” means (although I recently read an interesting theory—dogs are man’s best friend and diamonds are a girl’s best friend, so by this theory “diamond dog” means bisexual). I’ve always thought the most arresting image from the song is captured by the line, “when they pulled you out of the oxygen tent, you asked for the latest party.” Bowie played with this idea in the “Jazzin’ for Blue Jean” video, when Screaming Lord Byron is brought to his dressing room on a stretcher and revived from what looks like a catatonic state before getting ready for the show. Album: Diamond Dogs