Can someone please explain the artwork of lodger, what the heck is David doing on the cover, is he dead or something? and all the strange pictures inside, what does they mean? Please explain...

Made for a real world

David was feeling a bit beat up in this period, I suppose.

The pictures inside of Bowie in drag are of course from the "Boys Keep Swinging" video.

I think the cover should basicly shock a little bit.

Just because I believe don't mean I don't think as well

He's reinacting the death photos of Che Guevera.

You who stand above them now, your hatchets blunt and bloody: you were not there before.

its a death pose. The inside art is various prone figures, including Jesus, so he is calling himself a saviour, dead like the others

if you dont behave, I'll turn this message board around and we'll just go home

> so he is calling himself a saviour, dead like the
others

hmmm - the squashed nose to me suggests more like being gawked at like a pressed flower or insect; with the [then] current address, it gave [in the same way bowienet does now] fans something to vent their passion towards - i think i sent a letter a day to that address for a while [red face /-:] But i never did understand it myself! Also what's he holding...!

I never know which side of the LP is the front and which is the back.

Everybody... Of all the posts in this forum, this particular post will remain with me the longest.

the cover is him under a microscope (squashed by the glass slide)

I think the rest of the pictures are a bit cheap, to tell you the truth.

Wow... throughout history people have been photographed dead. And lying down.

Which side of the gatefold is the cover keeps changing with different reissues... and I think peoples views on this depend on which issue they first had.

I will always consider the 'face' side the front. It just makes more sense. The fact that the title isn't on it doesn't mean anything.

In reply to:

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The fact that the title isn't on it doesn't mean anything.

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Of course it does and that's the point... as you are well aware! Face or title? I don't have a gatefold, I have the RCA reissue from 1983 and in principle the text on the spine should tell me the direction. Or the sense the record originally lay in the sleeve - but I didn't memorize that!

Everybody... Of all the posts in this forum, this particular post will remain with me the longest.

On the 1991 cd the face is the front but on the 1999 version the title is the front.
On vinyl I haven't got the gatefold, but the RCA international single sleeve (green label) INTS 5212 the title is the front cover but on RCA international NL84234 (black label with inner printed sleeve with lyrics and some of the pictures the face is the cover.
So even the record companies cannot work out which is which.
Has anyone got a gatefold copy? I saw one but didn't get it and I think it was the face on the front.


So long child, it's awful dark
I never felt the sun
I dread to think of when
When the wind blows

I clearly remember that someone posted on this very same forum, around last summer, a link to a painting (or was it a sculpture?) that beared striking ressemblances to the Lodger cover photo.

Needless to say, I CAN'T FIND that link right now, even though I'm searching everything related to Lodger/artwork/painting in the forums archive...oh well, does somebody remember what that link was?

Although not necessarily a definitive inspiration for Bowie, the ressemblances were similar enough to consider it as a serious model for what became the final photo.

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Music is the best.

Boy this is very confusing eh?,Apart from it resembling a postcard,Im none the wizer either,All i can say is that i managed to buy the book that goes with the music/lyrics from Lodger,And its got some really good photographs in.
Its about 8" by 14",Lots of pages(72),And pictures too of an Omega wrist watch,I bought it some time back now and its in perfect condition. Its published by Warner Bros,Inside the cover it has (c) 1979 Bewlay Brothers.Music & Fleur music LTD.On the back the price says $7.95 made in USA.

London Bye Ta-Ta...

Look at my cool imiatation!: ;)


Made for a real world

Cool, but you should have broken your nose first!

zigbot

Why Zigbot you cheeky devil you lol.

But how I LOved your reply:-)


________________________
Humming Rheingold
We scavenge up our clothes.
________________________
London Bye Ta-Ta...

"Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!"

You've made a bad connection 'cause I just want your sex.

the feet are the cover on the original album(at least LP).

PETE

In reply to:

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the cover is him under a microscope (squashed by the glass slide)

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That's also the impression that I always get. I think the squashed nose gives it away pretty easily. I didn't know it was supposed to be a microscope though, although that it a cool way to think about it.

The sisters fell back and said "Don't that man look pretty!"

I know that the Ryko version has the face on the front, while the 1999 Virgin remastered edition has his feet on the front.

The sisters fell back and said "Don't that man look pretty!"

the original 1979 LP i have has the title and writing on the front.
it definitely IS the front

the 1991 EMI reissue i have has the death pose as the front

"Don't listen to the crowd, they say jump"
www.fivedaysofstatic.cjb.net

Edited by jump93 on 03/14/04 04:09 PM (server time).

The cover always reminded me of the story of Flat Stanley... for those of you who haven't heard it, it's a children's story about a boy who is squashed flat and gets sent around on adventures in an envelope.

I'll be appearing LIVE in Toronto April 1st. Sure, it's a David Bowie show but you're all coming to see me. More importantly, you're coming to see me in my awesome new pants.