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We passed upon the stair, we spoke of was and when
Although I wasn't there, he said I was his friend
Which came as some surprise I spoke into his eyes
I thought you died alone, a long long time ago
Oh no, not me
I never lost control
You're face to face
With The Man Who Sold The World
I laughed and shook his hand, and made my way back home
I searched for form and land, for years and years I roamed
I gazed a gazely stare at all the millions here
We must have died along, a long long time ago
Who knows? Not me
We never lost control
You're face to face
With the Man who Sold the World
Although I wasn't there, he said I was his friend
Which came as some surprise I spoke into his eyes
I thought you died alone, a long long time ago
Oh no, not me
I never lost control
You're face to face
With The Man Who Sold The World
I laughed and shook his hand, and made my way back home
I searched for form and land, for years and years I roamed
I gazed a gazely stare at all the millions here
We must have died along, a long long time ago
Who knows? Not me
We never lost control
You're face to face
With the Man who Sold the World
Lyrics submitted by magicnudiesuit
Track duration: 03:57
"The Man Who Sold the World" as written by David Bowie
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, TINTORETTO MUSIC, CHRYSALIS MUSIC GROUP
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The protagonist laughs this off and goes on his way, but in time he finds he has been changed by that meeting: no matter how he searches for something solid and meaningful in his life - for "form and land" - he can no longer find it. Instead he sees humanity as wandering aimlessly across the planet, and comes to believe that "we should have died alone, a long, long time ago". The second time the chorus is sung, it is not the stranger who identifies as The Man Who Sold The World, but the protagonist: he has lost any sort of faith which he previously had. The nonsense-poem about the "man who wasn't there" matches the absurdity of the human condition. Not only that, but this mournful realisation has been passed onto you, the listener, by contact with the song, in the same way as it was passed onto the protagonist by his encounter on the stair.
...which was nice.