No, but it is about the Berlin wall. Itâs a very specific song. He wrote it while living in Berlin (which he had indeed moved to with Iggy Pop to get away from his demons) about some of the incidents of people escaping to the west that he knew about. And then he performed it at a concert in Berlin at the Wall in 1987, which helped lead to a crack down, and which some people think contributed to the fall of the wall (Iâd say there were other issues involved, but it certainly helped reveal some of the cracks that already existed).
I think weâre talking a bit past each other, as I was referring to the oh so nebulous concept of what the song is about, man, while youâre referring to what inspired it.
Jesus. Sorry. Iâll try to not discuss things that interest me anymore.
Another artifact of the time.
Uh, wow. Sorry didnât mean to offend. At the risk of offending more, Iâll try to expand my last post. I think you were approaching the song from a more concrete historical perspective while my approach was a more subjective one. One could charitably say that mine was an artistic approach, but the italicized man was an (apparently failed) attempt to self-deprecatingly compare it to that of a stoned hippie. (Not certain if a Lebowski GIF would have helped or hurt.)
I certainly wasnât trying to shut or shout you down, but merely say that we were unlikely to reach a point of agreement while we were communicating in these two different modes. (Not that itâs necessary that we reach such a point.)
(Frankly, I suspect this post may be more worthy of a âJesus,â but what do I know.)
Again my apologies for any offence.
Okay. Thank you. Sorry if I jumped to conclusions.
FWIW, I donât think that the historical concrete analysis of the song negates a subjective view - a subjective view is always that, in the mind of the listener, and the artist has little control over that aspect. I DO think that Bowie had a particular intention in mind with that song. My entire point was that I was wondering if the historical concreteness of the song would be lost over time. Seems like thatâs indeed the case. Again, I donât think you need to know the historical connections to enjoy or get something out of the song. But I do wonder if something is lost when the history isnât clear.
As someone who tends to stumble upon songs, even massively popular ones, long after their original release date â hell, the Stone Roses had split up more than five years before I ever heard them â I like to flip it around and consider something is found when the history is learned by the listener.
Like âCanât Help Falling in Love with You.â Before I found out it dated from the Civil War era, it was just a syrupy Elvis ballad. Now itâs a song with interesting longevity. As a bonus, I also now know the âwise manâ who said âonly fools rush inâ is Alexander Pope, which echoes it back to the 18th century as well.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Some days, you just need to say fuck it and put on Metal Machine Music - today is one of those days:
I choked up when I first heard the history of this one.
In the song, the narrator tells his lover she is free to mingle and socialize throughout the evening, but to make sure to save him the dance at the end of the night. During an interview on Elvis Costelloâs show Spectacle, Lou Reed, who worked with Pomus, said the song was written on the day of Pomusâ wedding while the wheelchair-bound groom watched his bride dancing with their guests. Pomus had polio and at times used crutches to get around. His wife, Willi Burke, however, was a Broadway actress and dancer.
The inspiration for some songs may remain forever a mystery. 
Interesting cover.
Want a song that will strain your brain a bit?
Electronica, early 20th century styleâŚ
Friday night Pulp.