Music Review: David Bowie "Modern Love"
David Bowie
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Modern Love
Album: Let's Dance
Year: 1983
David Bowie searches for meaning in the "Modern Love."
An arty drum machine opens the single. Polished guitars accompany Bowie as he boasts that he knows the subtleties of social politics. ("I know when to go out/and when to stay in/get things done.")
In the first verse, he says he reads the newspaper. While the many editorials talk of change, nothing comes of it. He finds himself motionless outside as the wind blows past his face. Although he's thought of suicide, he's never done it. ("I catch a paper boy/But things don't really change/I'm standing in the wind/But I never wave bye-bye/But I try/I try.")
In the second verse, he sees life is nonexistent. Only a person's ability to please others is real. He's laying down in a street while it's raining. He doesn't like people but he can't live without them, either. ("There's no sign of life/It's just the power to charm/I'm lying in the rain/But I never wave bye-bye/But I try/I try.")
He's not going to give in to the new ideas about love. It's always around him. His guilt of ignoring it leads him to go to church. If he goes to church, perhaps he will find answers as to why he feels nothing. However, church scares him because it causes him to think. He doesn't want to think. His reaction is to celebrate with his hedonistic friends. He believes what he hears at church and it gives him faith in humanity. He prefers that people bury their sins. He declares he doesn't believe in love. ("Never gonna fall for/Modern Love walks beside me/Modern Love walks on by/Modern Love gets me to the Church on Time/Church on Time terrifies me/
Church on Time makes me party/Church on Time puts my trust in God and Man/
God and Man no confessions/God and Man no religion/God and Man don't believe/
in Modern Love.")
A 50s-esque saxophone solo is next. Then, Bowie resings the second verse and chorus again. "Modern love" is sung several times to end the single.
In the philosophical "Modern Love," Bowie hints at several ideas: love as a religion and religion as a way of finding meaning. He's living his life without any substance. He's blinding wading through it, closing out anyone who will reach out to him. "Modern Love" is a complex song which debates what it means to exist without love in life.
Album: Let's Dance
Year: 1983
David Bowie searches for meaning in the "Modern Love."
An arty drum machine opens the single. Polished guitars accompany Bowie as he boasts that he knows the subtleties of social politics. ("I know when to go out/and when to stay in/get things done.")
In the first verse, he says he reads the newspaper. While the many editorials talk of change, nothing comes of it. He finds himself motionless outside as the wind blows past his face. Although he's thought of suicide, he's never done it. ("I catch a paper boy/But things don't really change/I'm standing in the wind/But I never wave bye-bye/But I try/I try.")
In the second verse, he sees life is nonexistent. Only a person's ability to please others is real. He's laying down in a street while it's raining. He doesn't like people but he can't live without them, either. ("There's no sign of life/It's just the power to charm/I'm lying in the rain/But I never wave bye-bye/But I try/I try.")
He's not going to give in to the new ideas about love. It's always around him. His guilt of ignoring it leads him to go to church. If he goes to church, perhaps he will find answers as to why he feels nothing. However, church scares him because it causes him to think. He doesn't want to think. His reaction is to celebrate with his hedonistic friends. He believes what he hears at church and it gives him faith in humanity. He prefers that people bury their sins. He declares he doesn't believe in love. ("Never gonna fall for/Modern Love walks beside me/Modern Love walks on by/Modern Love gets me to the Church on Time/Church on Time terrifies me/
Church on Time makes me party/Church on Time puts my trust in God and Man/
God and Man no confessions/God and Man no religion/God and Man don't believe/
in Modern Love.")
A 50s-esque saxophone solo is next. Then, Bowie resings the second verse and chorus again. "Modern love" is sung several times to end the single.
In the philosophical "Modern Love," Bowie hints at several ideas: love as a religion and religion as a way of finding meaning. He's living his life without any substance. He's blinding wading through it, closing out anyone who will reach out to him. "Modern Love" is a complex song which debates what it means to exist without love in life.