Diamond Dogs by David Bowie Lyrics Meaning – The Glittering Facade of a Dystopian Vision

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You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for David Bowie's Diamond Dogs at Lyrics.org.

Lyrics

This ain’t rock’n’roll, this is genocide

As they pulled you out of the oxygen tent
You asked for the latest party
With your silicone hump and your ten inch stump
Dressed like a priest you was
Todd Browning’s freak you was

Crawling down the alley on your hands and knee
I’m sure you’re not protected, for it’s plain to see
The diamond dogs are poachers and they hide behind trees
Hunt you to the ground they will, mannequins with kill appeal

(Will they come?)
I’ll keep a friend serene
(Will they come?)
Oh baby, come unto me
(Will they come?)
Well, she’s come, been and gone
Come out of the garden, baby
You’ll catch your death in the fog
Young girl, they call them the Diamond Dogs
Young girl, they call them the Diamond Dogs

The Halloween Jack is a real cool cat
And he lives on top of Manhattan Chase
The elevator’s broke, so he slides down a rope
Onto the street below, oh Tarzie, go man go

Meet his little hussy with his ghost town approach
Her face is sans feature, but she wears a Dali brooch
Sweetly reminiscent, something mother used to bake
Wrecked up and paralyzed, Diamond Dogs are stabilized

(Will they come?)
I’ll keep a friend serene
(Will they come?)
Oh baby, come unto me
(Will they come?)
Well, she’s come, been and gone
Come out of the garden, baby
You’ll catch your death in the fog
Young girl, they call them the Diamond Dogs
Young girl, they call them the Diamond Dogs
Oo-oo-ooh, call them the Diamond Dogs
Oo-oo-ooh, call them the Diamond Dogs

In the year of the scavenger, the season of the bitch
Sashay on the boardwalk, scurry to the ditch
Just another future song, lonely little kitsch
(There’s gonna be sorrow) try and wake up tomorrow

(Will they come?)
I’ll keep a friend serene
(Will they come?)
Oh baby, come unto me
(Will they come?)
Well, she’s come, been and gone
Come out of the garden, baby
You’ll catch your death in the fog
Young girl, they call them the Diamond Dogs
Young girl, they call them the Diamond Dogs
Oo-oo-ooh, call them the Diamond Dogs
Oo-oo-ooh, call them the Diamond Dogs

Bow-wow, woof woof, bow-wow, wow
Call them the Diamond Dogs
Dogs
Call them the Diamond Dogs, call them, call them
Call them the Diamond Dogs, call them, call them, ooo
Call them the Diamond Dogs

Keep cool
Diamond Dogs rule, ok
Hey-hey-hey-hey
Beware of the Diamond Dogs
Beware of the Diamond Dogs
Beware of the Diamond Dogs

David Bowie, a chameleon of rock with an adeptness for presaging the cultural zeitgeist, weaves a post-apocalyptic tapestry in his song ‘Diamond Dogs’. At the precipice of glam rock, Bowie’s grittily decadent anthem epitomizes the intersection of hedonism and desolation—a curious glamour found in a world ravaged by its own excess.

Transitioning from the extravagant era of ‘Ziggy Stardust’, ‘Diamond Dogs’ is a track from the eponymous album that claws at the listener with its raw guitar riffs and haunting imagery. Bowie’s storytelling prowess is on full display as he paints a sordid picture of a ravaged society, where the sparkle of diamonds can’t hide the mangy plight of the dogs below.

An Ode to Decadence: Breaking Down Bowie’s Dystopian Dreamscape

A dive into ‘Diamond Dogs’ lyrics reveals the soul of a society in decay, shrouded in the guise of a never-ending party. The opening line, ‘This ain’t rock’n’roll, this is genocide’, fringes on irony, asserting that the very essence of the genre has morphed into something grotesque. Bowie’s imagery, bold and cinematic, evokes scenes reminiscent of the lavishness in despair—a paradox that only he could embroider with such vibrancy.

As the artist pulls the listener through the oxygen-tent entrails of this half-life celebration, the song becomes a mirror reflecting our cultural obsession with youth and beauty. The ‘silicone hump and your ten inch stump’ speak to a twisted consumerism that commodifies body parts and self-worth, augmenting the human form into a grotesque parody of idealized perfection.

The Feral Canines: Unleashing the Hidden Meaning of the Diamond Dogs

‘Diamond Dogs’ are not merely creatures; they are symbols, poachers of souls lurking within Bowie’s desolate urban jungle. They skulk ‘behind trees’, an emblem of both opulence and the savage, primordial instincts that drive humanity towards its own end. The dogs are hunters, and the hunted, much like the disenchanted youth of the time, searching for meaning in a cracked, diamond-studded world.

Bowie’s dexterous wordplay and uncanny ability to personify his conceptual ‘Diamond Dogs’ as both predators and prized catches only serve to thicken the plot. The refrain, a coy ‘Will they come?’ teases the inescapable game of chase, promising companionship but never quite delivering. This is the antithesis of ‘peace and love’—the carnal, chaotic reality beneath the sheen.

The Eccentric Herald: Halloween Jack’s Reign Over Manhattan Chase

Halloween Jack, a swaggering figure who rules over the decayed landscape of Manhattan Chase, epitomizes defiance amid disarray. Bowie conjures a character, both hero and anti-hero, navigating the broken elevators and downtrodden streets of a figurative and literal urban decline. This ‘real cool cat’ becomes our guide through the remnants of civilization.

The journey with Jack spirals into a subterranean world where the familiar becomes monstrous—’face is sans feature, but she wears a Dali brooch’—and art itself becomes a haunting patch over the void where humanity used to reside. Through Jack’s eyes, we navigate a disintegrating tableau, one that melds cultural artifacts with bleak reality.

Sonic Synthesis: The Melancholic Undercurrent in Bowie’s Score

Musically, ‘Diamond Dogs’ is a stormy amalgam of rock and Lurch influences—a testament to Bowie’s restless experimentation. The gritty guitar work, anchored by an underbelly of funk, mirrors the chaotic energy of the lyrics, and the sinister, almost predatory, advance of the melody enhances the feeling of a society on the brink.

In the interface of rhythm and discord, Bowie finds the heartbeat of ‘Diamond Dogs’. The howls and barks, interwoven into the sonic landscape, augment the eerie atmosphere, creating an auditory haunt that lingers long after the last guitar chord fades into silence.

Mystifying Lines: The Lyrical Hooks of Bowie’s Diamond-Studded Prophecy

In a sea of spellbinding lyrics, certain lines hook themselves into the consciousness of the listener. Phrases such as ‘Come out of the garden, baby, you’ll catch your death in the fog’ bridge biblical that existed emphasizing not only the danger lurking in the mist but also warning against the loss of innocence in the pursuit of hedonistic thrills.

Each line delivered by Bowie is a thread in the larger narrative tapestry of ‘Diamond Dogs’, where even the seemingly nonsensical ‘Bow-wow, woof woof, bow-wow, wow’ becomes a call to arms—a pawing reminder of the primal instinct that underpins the fall of empires. Bowie’s artistry lies not just in the crafting of words, but in imbuing them with the power to provoke thought and evoke emotion, even when the meaning eludes us at first listen.