David Bowie Quotes

David Bowie shares quirky, consoling reflections on life, identity and love that feel like a supportive, off-beat friend.

89 quotes

1. I'm an instant star. Just add water and stir.

2. I get offered so many bad movies. And they're all raging queens or transvestites or Martians.

3. I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human. I felt very puny as a human. I thought, 'Fuck that. I want to be a superhuman.'

4. It's odd but even when I was a kid, I would write about 'old and other times' as though I had a lot of years behind me. Now I do, so there is a difference in the weight of memory. When you're young, you're still 'becoming', now at my age I am more concerned with 'being'. And not too long from now I'll be driven by 'surviving', I'm sure. I kind of miss that 'becoming' stage, as most times you really don't know what's around the corner. Now, of course, I've kind of knocked on the door and heard a muffled answer. Nevertheless, I still don't know what the voice is saying, or even what language it's in.

5. Strangely, some songs you really don't want to write. I didn't like writing 'Heathen'. There was something so ominous and final about it. It was early in the morning, the sun was rising and through the windows I could see two deer grazing down below in the field. In the distance a car was driving slowly past the reservoir and these words were just streaming out and there were tears running down my face. But I couldn't stop, they just flew out. It's an odd feeling, like something else is guiding you, although forcing your hand is more like it.

6. Heathenism is a state of mind. You can take it that I'm referring to one who does not see his world. He has no mental light. He destroys almost unwittingly. He cannot feel any Gods presence in his life. He is the 21st century man. However, there's no theme or concept behind Heathen, just a number of songs but somehow there is a thread that runs through it that is quite as strong as any of my thematic type albums.

7. I had to resign myself, many years ago, that I'm not too articulate when it comes to explaining how I feel about things. But my music does it for me, it really does. There, in the chords and melodies, is everything I want to say. The words just jolly it along. It's always been my way of expressing what for me is inexpressible by any other means.

8. We can be heroes, for just one day.

9. I've nothing much to offer, There's nothing much to take. I'm an absolute beginner, But I'm absolutely sane. As long as we're together The rest can go to hell. I absolutely love you, But we're absolute beginners. With eyes completely open, But nervous all the same.

10. If our love song Could fly over mountains, Could laugh at the ocean, Just like the films, There's no reason To feel all the hard times, To lay down the hard lines, It's absolutely true.

11. Though we're absolute beginners With nothing much at stake As long as you're still smiling There's nothing more I need.

12. Put on your red shoes , and dance the blues.

13. I know when to stay in And when to go out Get things done!

14. I catch a paperboy, but things dont really change!

15. Im glad that you're older than me Makes me feel important and free Is that make you smile, isnt that me?!

16. Love is careless, in its choosing Sweeping over, cross a baby Love descends on those defenseless Idiot love, sparks the fusion Inspirations have i none, just to touch the flaming dove All i have is my love of love, and love is not loving!

17. Then i put my face in tomorrow, i believe we're not alone I believe in Beatles, i believe my little soul has grown And im still so afraid, yes im still so afraid, yeah im still so afraid, on my own!

18. Boys, boys, there's a sweet thing Boys, boys, there's a sweet thing, sweet thing, If you want it, boys, get it here thing Cuz hope, boys is a cheap thing, cheap thing!

19. Funny how secrets travel!

20. The clutch of love And the fist of life Over your head!

21. Who will love Aladdin Sane?

22. All the young dudes Carry the news Boogaloo dudes Carry the news.

23. There's such a sad love Deep in your eyes, a kind of pale jewel Open and closed within your eyes. I'll place the sky within your eyes.

24. Makes no sense at all Makes no sense to fall Falling As the world falls down Falling Falling Falling in love As the world falls down (down) Falling Falling Falling in love.

25. Time and again i tell myself I'll stay clean tonight But the little green wheels keep following me ! (Oh no, not again!) I'm stuck with a valuable friend I'm happy , hope you're happy too!

26. Ashes to ashes, funk to funky We know Major Tom's a junkie Strung out in heaven's high Hitting an all-time low.

27. I've never done good things I've never done bad things I never did anything out of the blue.

28. My mama said to get things done You'd better not mess with Major Tom.

29. You're such a wonderful person But you got problems

30. I'm having so much fun with the poisonous people Spreading rumours and lies and stories they made up Some make you sing and some make you scream One makes you wish that you'd never been seen.

31. Still don't know what I was waiting for And my time was running wild. A million dead-end streets and Every time I thought I'd got it made It seemed the taste was not so sweet. So I turned myself to face me But I've never caught a glimpse Of how the others must see the faker I'm much too fast to take that test.

32. Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes Turn and face the strange

33. I watch the ripples change their size But never leave the stream Of warm impermanence and So the days float through my eyes But still the days seem the same. And these children that you spit on As they try to change their worlds Are immune to your consultations They're quite aware of what they're going through.

34. Strange fascination, fascinates me Oh! changes are taking pace im going through!

35. I stumble into town, just like a sacred cow Visions of swastikas in my head, Plans for everyone. It's in the whites of my eyes.

36. My little China Girl You shouldn't mess with me I'll ruin everything you are Y'know, I'll give you television I'll give you eyes of blue I'll give you a man who wants to rule the world.

37. And when I get excited My little China Girl says 'Oh baby just you shut your mouth'.

38. Who wants the love of all the world When here was love in the eyes of just one girl That day, that precious day When even a fool learns to love.

39. In the event that this fantastic voyage Should turn to erosion and we never get old Remember it's true, dignity is valuable But our lives are valuable too.

40. We're learning to live with somebody's depression And I don't want to live with somebody's depression.

41. It's a moving world, but that's no reason To shoot some of those missiles Think of us as fatherless scum It won't be forgotten 'Cos we'll never say anything nice again, will we?

42. And the wrong words make you listen In this criminal world Remember it's true, loyalty is valuable But our lives are valuable too.

43. Bye bye love.

44. Ground to Major bye-bye Tom

45. God is an American.

46. I smiled sadly for a love I could not obey Lady Stardust sang his songs Of darkness and dismay

47. Oh wait, I'm getting ahead of myself Let me take you back to when it all began

48. One day nothing meant nothing Ten dollars tore us apart One thing led to a dead end One shot put her away

49. God is on top of it all That's all

50. There's a taste in my mouth and it's no taste at all

51. Oh no love! you're not alone No matter what or who you've been No matter when or where you've seen All the knives seem to lacerate your brain I've had my share, I'll help you with the pain You're not alone!

52. There's a starman waiting in the sky He'd like to come and meet us But he thinks he'd blow our minds.

53. Oh don't lean on me man, cause you can't afford the ticket Back from Suffragette City Oh don't lean on me man Cause you ain't got time to check it You know my Suffragette City Is outta sight...she's all right ... Wham, bam, thank you ma'am!

54. You - are not a victim You - just scream with boredom You - are not evicting time

55. Baby, I'll slay a dragon for you Or banish wicked giants from the land But you will find, that nothing in my dream can hurt you We will only love each other as forever

56. In this age of grand illusion, you walked into my life out of my dreams - I don't need another change - still you forced a way into my scheme of things. You say we're growing, growing heart and soul In this age of grand illusion, you walked into my life out of my dreams.

57. Just because I believe don't mean I don't think as well. Don't have to question everything in heaven nor hell.

58. Lord I kneel and offer you, my word on a wing And I'm trying hard to fit among your scheme of things It's safer than a strange land, but I still care for myself And I don't stand in my own light... Lord, Lord, my prayer flies like a word on a wing My prayer flies like a word on a wing Does my prayer fit in with your scheme of things?

59. Do you remember, your President Nixon? Do you remember, the bills you have to pay Or even yesterday?

60. All right. I want the young American.

61. We live for just these twenty years Do we have to die for the fifty more.

62. When the kids had killed the man, I had to break up the band

63. Ziggy played guitar

64. I've found that every time I've made a radical change, it's helped me feel buoyant as an artist.

65. If I feel comfortable with what I'm doing, something's wrong.

66. I won't be writing a song about this one. (Talking about his artery clogging incident in 2004)

67. Now that I understand myself and others, I'm supposed to die? What a crap game! I'd like to live to be 200 or 300 years old.

68. I re-invented my image so many times that I'm in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman. (During a spoof segment on 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien'.)

69. I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise that it won't be boring.

70. You would think that a rock star being married to a super-model would be one of the greatest things in the world. It is.

71. You would think that a rock star being married to a supermodel would be one of the greatest things in the world. It is.

72. You can't go on stage and live - it's false all the way. I can't stand the premise of going out in jeans and a guitar and looking as real as you can in front of 18,000 people. I mean, it's not normal!

73. As you get older, the questions come down to about two or three. How long? And what do I do with the time I've got left?

74. We see each other [ with Iman Abdulmajid] a lot. I couldn't stand to be separated for months. It became quickly apparent to me that I needed to find a balance between my absolute work obsession and a private life that we could share without my disappearing all the time.

75. I couldn't stand to be separated with my wife for months. It became quickly apparent to me that I needed to find a balance between my absolute work obsession and a private life that we could share without my disappearing all the time.

76. I'm not sure whether it is me changing my mind, or whether I lie a lot.

77. I do some kind of work, whether writing or painting or recording, on a daily basis. And it's so essential that when I'm involved in the actual process, my so-called 'real life' becomes almost incidental, which becomes worrying.

78. To not be modest about it, you'll find that with only a couple of exceptions, most of the musicians that I've worked with have done their best work by far with me.

79. I went mainstream in a major way with the song "Let's Dance." And what I found I had done was put a box around myself. It was very hard for people to see me as anything other than the person in the suit who did "Let's Dance," and it was driving me mad - because it took all my passion for experimenting away.

80. I'm in awe of the universe, but I don't necessarily believe there's an intelligence or agent behind it. I do have a passion for the visual in religious rituals, though, even though they may be completely empty and bereft of substance.

81. TV has eaten up everything else, and Warhol films are all that are left, which is fabulous. Pork could become the next I Love Lucy, the great American domestic comedy. It's about how people really live, not like Lucy, who never touched dishwater. It's about people living and hustling to survive.

82. I suppose for me as an artist it wasn't always just about expressing my work; I really wanted, more than anything else, to contribute in some way to the culture that I was living in. It just seemed like a challenge to move it a little bit towards the way I thought it might be interesting to go.

83. I think the first song I ever wrote ... was called "Can't Help Thinking About Me." That's an illuminating little piece, isn't it?

84. I've come to the realizations that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing half the time.

85. I never really felt like a rock singer or a rock star or whatever.

86. There have been times when I've written something and it goes out and it comes back in a letter from some kid as to what they think about it and I've taken their analysis to heart so much that I have taken up his thing. Writing what my audience is telling me to write.

87. Rock's always been the devil's music.

88. I knew that I was 'interesting' at 18 because I was aware that I could get away with doing things on stage.

89. The truest form of any form of revolutionary left, whatever you want to call it, was Jack Kerouac, E.E. Cummings, and Allan Ginsberg's period. Excuse me but that was where it was at. The hippies, I'm afraid, don't know what's happening.