Time, he's waiting in the wings
He speaks of senseless things
His script is you and me, boy

Time, he flexes like a whore
Falls wanking to the floor
His trick is you and me, boy

Time, in quaaludes and red wine
Demanding Billy Dolls
And other friends of mine
Take your time

The sniper in the brain, regurgitating drain
Incestuous and vain
And many other last names
Oh, well, I look at my watch, it says nine twenty-five
And I think "Oh God, I'm still alive"

We should be on by now
We should be on by now
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

You are not a victim
You just scream with boredom
You are not evicting time

Chimes, goddamn, you're looking old
You'll freeze and catch a cold
'Cause you've left your coat behind
Take your time

Breaking up is hard, but keeping dark is hateful
I had so many dreams
I had so many breakthroughs
But you, my love, were kind, but love has left you dreamless
The door to dreams was closed
Your park was real dreamless
Perhaps you're smiling now
Smiling through this darkness
But all I had to give was guilt for dreaming

We should be on by now
We should be on by now
We should be on by now
We should be on by now
We should be on by now
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, yeah, time!


Lyrics submitted by niip

Time Lyrics as written by David Bowie

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Time song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment

    9 = Numerologically, "bowie" adds up to this number. The number 9 is generally considered an indicator of the arts. 25 = "kick it in the head when he was 25, don't want to be alive when your 25"... 25, a quarter of a century old..."we should be on by now" should have made something of one's self by this age.

    The last major phrase is about depression and how you can't get mentally "turned on" (also applicable: "should be on by now"). Meditation-wise, this sense of getting the mind turned on in a certain manner...he's desperate for it to come for time is wasting him away. All the other stuff is pretty straight forward about the nature of time and death. Oh, the phrase starting with "the sniper in the brain"...that relates to the nature of the mind worked towards and how it can just gorge itself on itself (regurgitate in vain) when so short-focused....need that turn on to go further than that which is in the mind already("dreams" in the last phrase which is alcutally a conversation with self, from several perspectives of how to view the value of "dreams" and the extent to which they are helpful or hindering).

    The comment above: "gay song!" .... The closest I could come to considering this a "gay song" is that it could easily appear in the musical Cabaret when it came out a number of years ago fronted by that actor that plays the emperor in "Titus" ;the foppy Scot with the greasy long bangs.

    liplexon September 29, 2006   Link

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