So the kitty and I were driving around and David Bowie “Changes” comes on the radio. It struck us that the chorus sounded a lot like “Turn and face the strange” which was quite funny. Later we googled the lyrics and found it’s an even more cryptic “Turn and face the stranger.”
Anyways “strange,” for those unfamiliar with the term, refers to an anonymous sex partner. So it’s just a lot more fun to continue to hear it as “face the strange.”
This morning on the drive to work, Jim Morrison was elaborating on the plight of those who are strange. I’d never quite heard the song that way before the Bowie incident. But now the song, “When You’re Strange” has a whole new meaning for me: it’s from the perspective of an anonymous person.
So a couple months ago I’m walking across the street to the company parking lot. This kind of skeezy looking guy is crossing toward me, and all the sudden starts pumping his fist in the air and saying, “Bowie, man, Bowie”. I am confused. He sees this, and says, “Daniel Bowie, man!”. We meet in mid-street and stop, staring at each other.
Then he says, “Ziggy Stardust, man! Ziggy Stardust.”, and I finally kind of figured it out. I had played Let’s Dance at the company picnic the day before in my role as company dj. He was a neighborhood guy who had heard the music while walking by then, and stopped by and scarfed up some of our food. He was complimenting my musical taste, and maybe confusing David Bowie and Daniel Boone?
*People are strange when you’re a stranger
Faces look ugly when you’re alone
Women seem wicked when you’re unwanted
Streets are uneven when you’re down