One of the most important lines in Station To Station is "It's too late." Repeated dozens of times:

It's too late to be grateful
It's too late to be late again
It's too late to be hateful
The European Cannon is here.

Coming at the climax of the song, "it's too late," because of this placement and repetition, is the main idea.

But, exactly why, and what is it too late for ?

Bowie says "there are you" to one driving from station to station. This person is carrying the cross with the determination of a locomotive.

However, the Thin White One is "lost," by his own admission, stricken. He is moving, from Kether to Malkuth, in other words, deluded by grandeur, cocaine and occult mumbo jumbo.

Bowie is obviously contrasting one who is saved, with one who is lost.

As soon as "love" is mentioned, Bowie sings "it's too late."

We can only conclude that the Thin White Duke is singing a song of his own damnation.

"Drink, drink, drain your glass, drain your glass high" Bowie sings, but it's a hollow, worldly victory.

I could be wrong, but I believe that in the book Christiane F. that line is Christiane's justification for trying herion. "it's too late...I'm already too far gone...there's no saving me now...might as well go all out" sort of thing.

So that's how I always thought about the song as well. It's too late for enlightenment, on this plane...it's too late for normal social interaction. I firmly believe that in order for one to be guinus, one has to be insane. ANd I believe that all the answers cannot be learned on this Earth, and if they are then we can no longer exsist here. Like, for example, in the movie Pi, the closer the hero gets to the actual number...the worse his headaches get...the less he is able to function. At the end, he can no longer take. It's either the number or him...so he drills it out.
Kind of the same as with mysticism. Moving across the tree of life, maybe moving too fast, learning too much, maybe more than you should know...it comes to a point where you can never go back. WIth everything. So a combination of drugs, music and magick...it seems at this point it's gone too far, it's too late, and there's no question of regressing back to the normal or the mundane or even society's version of love.

JACCI

Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head.

I heartily agree with you, strangedrugs, it's too late to stop now. That's what the train symbolizes.

Notice how in the intro the train starts slowly and then speeds up rapidly.

The song itself follows this same parallel construction, starting slowly and deliberately, and then speeding up fully.

It is at the song's quickest acceleration that Bowie sings "It's too late." I think he is saying that he cannot stop the course he's on, he's too far gone.

In reply to:

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I could be wrong, but I believe that in the book Christiane F. that line is Christiane's justification for trying herion. "it's too late...I'm already too far gone...there's no saving me now...might as well go all out" sort of thing.

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You're right. I've read this book three times and I remember that part very well.

Sleigh bells and snow
Cinder colour blazing eyes
Some are bound to fail
Some will win too soon...