Interpretation time.....

It's a very good song that was tacked onto the end of BTWN as a bonus track. Some people may have missed it because they have a hard time getting thru the 13 tracks before it.....

I feel this song is a very rare example of david in an insulting mood.

I has been rumoured to be a direct insult to Madonna
a) It has "dance" and a female name in the title
b)The "material world" line
c)nile rodgers produced BTWN...he also did "material girl" song as well as the "like a virgin' album
d) madonna recruited NR a year after he did the "let's dance" LP
e) The background organ-ish sound on LCD is a direct reference to the same sound on madge's "vogue" have a listen if you dunno believe me
f) madonna has been credited withthings david had probably done a few years earlier
g) madonna presented bowie "rock and roll hall of fame" award (DB did not attend)
h)madonna has useddb as an "influence" more times than i am comfortable with IMO

this song dates back to about 1988 when he first started his post NLMD solo albums which took 6 years to do finalize. It originally had the title of "lucille can't dance" but sounded better as "lucy'. "lucille" is of course BB king's guitar, and also a song by little richard.

I think this song is more of a stab at the general poor quality of late 80's early music scene in general.....

Just some of my thoughts and a little background......your thoughts...(and probably corrections as well)

bfp

Lyrics

Lucy i know what you are going to do
Oh lucy look what you're doing I'm doing it too
Now you're looking for God in exciting new ways
I trust Him at once which is something these days

Lucy can't dance to the noise but she knows what the noise can do
Lucy can't dance to the noise but she knows what the noise can do

Did the world just explode?
Don't recognize anyone
But you're still got me under your thumb

Lucy can't dance to the noise but she knows what the noise can do

Pursuing your frenzy in Ritz or Savoy
In this sexual noise, vicious chords offer joy
You live and you die in the blink of an eye
Well i can't make you dance
Dance to the noise

Lucy can't dance to the noise but she knows what the noise can do
Dance to the noise
Lucy can't dance to the noise but she knows what the noise can do

Lucy i know what you are going to do
But you can't buy me off in this serial world
Who died and made you material girl?

Lucy can't dance to the noise but she knows what the noise can do

So I'll spin while my lunatic lyric goes wrong
Guess I'll put all my eggs in a postmodern song

Lucy can't dance to the noise but she knows what the noise can do

Or this shallow orb mugged by reality
Just a few simple words like i love you, i need you
Live and you die in the blink of an eye
Still I can't make you dance
Dance to the noise

Lucy can't dance to the noise but she knows what the noise can do



When this song was heard by the record company they wanted it as a single apparently. david didn't even want it released but later agreed to put it on as a "bonus track" for the cd edition. It easily could have been a hit with a remix...and if word gor out about the subject matter.

bfp

In this sexual noise could be a reference to Madonna's image. The same could be said about Now you're looking for God in exciting new ways which was her philosophy around the time of "Like A Prayer" (1989). There is likely a touch of sarcasm, given the nature of the lyric.

The record company was correct. I think this was the catchiest tune Bowie has written in the last 17 years. Perhaps he could repeat the success of Lets Dance......but avoids it at all cost (????).

The Last of the Dreamers

According to Strange Fascination, Nile Rodgers was annoyed with Bowie for his casual treatment of Lucy Can't Dance. Buckley quotes Rodgers as saying:

'(Bowie) had another song, 'Lucy Can't Dance,' which was a guaranteed Number 1 record, and everyone around him was totally perplexed when it only appeared as a bonus track on the CD. He was running from success and running from the word 'dance.' Imagine David Bowie and Nile Rodgers together, and we come out with a song 'Lucy Can't Dance.' Smokin'!! I was already accepting my Grammy. But he was not budging. It was an exercise in futility - no matter who I tried to call, it fell on deaf ears.' (p. 431).

I think that this says one thing. Bowie did not want to tread down the path Let's Dance took him down a decade before. Bowie's quite perceptive - he probably knew that LCD would have been a hit single - but perhaps he figured that he didn't want it to be that sort of hit. Or perhaps he did intend it to be a criticism of Madonna, and decided that he didn't want it to get too much attention.

With all due respect to Nile, he's living in a dream world if he thinks "Lucy" would have been a hit in the U.S. in 1993. Even Madonna was through with that sound by then.

Bowie was correct to shun this song, IMO. Granted, "Jump" flopped in the U.S. as a single, but I think, given the whole mess with Savage Records and the type of music that MTV and radio stations were promoting then, db would not have had a hit with any song. At least "Jump" is a great song, with interesting, ambigous lyrics.

I'm in love with this small planet

IMO, Lucy Can't Dance is the worst song on BTWN. 'Nuff said, for now.

I see this song as far more suited to singles material than anything else on BTWN.....regardless of any lack of artistic achievement. I suspect Bowie found the song uncharacteristic of the rest of the album, so he dropped it. But I accept Nile's word about potential hit. He has overseen as many hit singles as anyone.

The Last of the Dreamers

In reply to:

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perhaps he did intend it to be a criticism of Madonna, and decided that he didn't want it to get too much attention

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That would be a shame. I delight in hearing a good songwriter attack another artist through their own lyrics. One of the most prominent examples is Lennon's How Do You Sleep? but Bowie has some even earlier examples, for instance Song For Bob Dylan.

Song For Woody - Hey Hey Woody Guthrie. I wrote you a song.
Song For Bob Dylan - Here this Robert Zimmerman. I wrote a song for you

Material Girl - We are living in a material world. And I am a material girl
Lucy Can't Dance - But you can't buy me off in this serial world. Who died and made you material girl?


The Last of the Dreamers

Insulting in a good way is really an art of its own! Sometimes, the "you moron" insults works quite well (am I right bowiefanpeter and twister???). However, most of the times you need to be more clever than that!
/jf

No one has said this song is an insult or not. It's too cryptic.

What other insulting songs does db have?

A pattern i've seen in db's career is that he will not insult an audience straight out, even if they deserve it. Instead he will chop out 30 minutes from the setlist. Now that is much more effective.

I do think insulting someone is a difficult task, and the subject matter of madonna he could have done it. the lennon is a good example of anger, and anger is something david has never really done as far as a writting technique.

If bowie had a clever, thought out insult, then no one would argue with it

bfp