Oh, yeah
Mmm
Still don't know what I was waitin' for
And my time was runnin' wild
A million dead end streets and
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse of
How the others must see the faker
I'm much too fast to take that test
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
Don't want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
Mmm, yeah I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
Don't tell them to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
Where's your shame?
You've left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you can't trace time
Strange fascination, fascinatin'
Ah, changes are takin'
The pace I'm goin' through
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
Oh, look out you rock 'n' rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
Pretty soon now you're gonna get older
Time may change me
But I can't trace time I said that time may change me
But I can't trace time



Lyrics submitted by magicnudiesuit

Track duration: 03:34

"Changes" as written by Perry/scott

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, EMI Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., TINTORETTO MUSIC, CHRYSALIS MUSIC GROUP

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64 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:Warm impermanence as corporeal life. Strain(Ge) as Boson.
    Flag Musieon January 09, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:everything changes but basically stays the same
    Flag jigsaw888on December 01, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:This is a gr8 song! If you dont like it... Kiss my hairy ass!
    Flag MSHOR34on April 04, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"Time may change me"-well said. :)
    Flag Thia007on November 30, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:What does "trace time" means? Is it about "finding" the time?
    Is he saying that time can change him, but he can't find what's exactly changing him? Or that tima may change him, but he can't find time, so he can't change?
    Flag lucasmagalhaeson July 31, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's basically self explanatory Hehe! :) Great song! We should all prepare to change is what he's basically getting at ,but the catch is changes can be bad and good. You can't avoid changes but stil in your heart your that same person just you changed on the outside.
    Flag Bowiesbiggestfanon June 29, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Time might change me.
    But I can't change time.

    Sounds as if he wants to go back or change something that was in the past.
    I wish he was on this website so we didn't need to make so many assumptions :D
    Flag jasonwoodlandon September 26, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:And these children that you spit on
    As they try to change their worlds
    Are immune to your consultations
    They’re quite aware of what they’re going through

    Children just want to be taught and have someone take an interest in their interests. They want to know that those teaching them have their best interest and their families best interests at heart. Unfortunately that isn't always the case. Some adults can be involved with their own stupid and petty agendas and therefore lack pure motives. Why are they even in the positions they are? Good question right? The children are aware though because the have an uncanny knack of being able to see through what is fake and what is real.
    Flag Arachidamiaon February 15, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment: Hey i know this is old but i kinda wanna put my two cents in on what i think about this song, first of all i dont think there is one particular meaning, its meant to be interpreted differently depending where you are in your life, thats what makes this song so awesome, the cleaver use of words allowes ppl to take different things from it well still getting the general point across, so this is what i take from the song, and i believe the song is third person of him looking at his life.

    the beggining is talking about how before in his life he didnt know what he wanted and did many different things and tried many things only to find out when he got what he thought he wanted he found out it really wasnt what he needed, then he talks about facing himself, so trying to figure out what he really wanted and realize how he doesn't know and others can see this "faking it" without him ever realizing, i,e talking about wanting to do something with your life then changing you plans, think of ppl youve told of what u wanna do and then what ended up happening.

    then he talks about ripples changing size, this is a metaphore, the water being your life(which is the best metaphor for life, think of a river, it goes over sand, rocks, anything these can be scene as obsticles in your life but no matter how hard the obsticle you always make it to the end ,just like a river always makes it to the ocean (generally)anyways haha the ripples represent small changes in your life and as you get older the changes you make are bigger but further apart, like a ripple in water as it spreads from the source also become less visually noticable. this is when you get older, what you want to change in your life changes from when your a teen(wanting a family ex) but there is still is change ( this is something most adults dont realize because they think there past the trying to figure out who they are, but actually its just the responseability's they have now doesn't allow for the free thinking attitude they once had. also i believe this because warm impermanence is a budist idea of how human life embodies flux in the aging process, the cycle of birth and rebirth. could this possibly be like how who you were at 16 is different when your 25?

    "So the days float through my eyes
    But stil the days seem the same"

    you fell like the same person you were yesterday but compared to last year most likley not?


    And these children that you spit on
    As they try to change their worlds
    Are immune to your consultations
    They’re quite aware of what they’re going through

    self explanitary and also one of the best quotes ever!

    Where’s your shame
    You’ve left us up to our necks in it


    this one is alot harder and confuses me but hey ill take a swing at it, could it possibly be reffering to the way adults treat kids???

    Time may change me
    But you cant trace time

    as a person you change as time changes so you cant judge people who acting different from you when the things they have experience and had change their life you did not go through yourself, kinda like "what gives you the right to judge me, when you've never even scene my shoes" a metaphor of mine hope u like it, fyi i used shoes in the same way as when people say dont judge me tell you've walked in my shoes, just my quotes more implied for ppl you dont like ppl you see on the street and like wow wtf is with his hair. and for tracing time is wicked concept, this is implying tracing your generation things that happened peoples ideals, and judging the next generation by those sames standards and most ppl are guilty of this i mean, a kid with baggy pants idolizing drug dealers listening to songs about banging bit**s would seem kinda strange in the 60s!!! but there growing up with different things and cant hold them to the same expectations

    anyways and for the course



    when he says changes i think he just means a change happening and whatever follows after that is his third person view of changes

    thanks for reading by the way i know my grammer doesn't match up with my vocabulary

    Flag realistteenon November 24, 2009   Link
  • +1
    My Opinion:Like everyone here, I love this song because it resonates deep with my life.

    I just wanted to chime in on the strain/strange debate as I find both meanings sound true. Changes do appear strange and do induce strain.

    I think Bowie decided to conciously play on the unclarity. It's an elegant way to convey two meanings at the same time.
    Flag HandEyeon September 04, 2009   Link

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