It just struck me, what if the young couple in the song are David Bowie and Angie his first wife?

"They're people I know - people I love"
Im sure no one would disagree David loves himself.
This is an extremely sly pun, Bowie would never identify the couple directly even if it was him, that would be too easy.

the song was released in 1980, the pair divorced that year.

"she cant talk anymore"

What if this refers to the divorce agreement preventing Angie from talking about David for a while. I know she said somethings on a Joan Rivers show once and david shut her up "She took back everything she said
Left him nearly out of his mind" , but im not sure of dates.

Then "A million scars" might refer to their son Duncans suffering as a result of the acrimonious split.

Most if not all of the parts of the above interpretation that deal with the lovers could be easily applied here as well.

The chorus could be advice from David to his innocent son about the poisonous nature of relationships.

Because you're young - you'll meet a stranger some night
Because you're young - what could be nicer for you and it makes me sad So I'll dance my life away A million dreams, a million scars

Would then be David talking to his young son, advising him bitterly about the negative consequences of falling in love. "what could be nicer for you." meaning it will start out nice, but he predicts it will only bring misery "it makes me sad" to him "a million scars".

The lines "you'll meet a stranger some night" hammers this idea home, he tells him that his future spouse will be a "stranger", meaning he will never really achieve intimacy in spousal love. Contrast this with his acknowledgement of the utter intimacy of the father-son blood ties. Love with"no sides", ie no way of escaping it.

Bowie once remarked that he was grateful he had never really been in love, that it was like a disease.

Then "they seem so unhappy dead or alive" refers to the media speculation about the happiness of the couple, David doesnt say "they are so unhappy" or "they act so unhappy" but they "seem" so unhappy. Lord you have got to admire the mans puns. "dead or alive" is the media speculating if the relationship is dead or alive.


I realised the chorus "because your young...million scars" couldnt be referring to Bowies son in the sense of the son suffering a broken heart as a result of a bad love affair, because the kid would only have been nine years old.

We live for just these twenty years
Do we have to die for the fifty more?

Edited by LaughingGnoome on 02/18/03 11:27 PM (server time).