I firmly believe that to know what this song means you must be familiar with the philosophy of "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" and Nietzsche's superman. The "homo superior" is a euphemism for this superman, the most conspicuous quality of whom, according to "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," was his contempt of the common man's morality. A superman is somebody who doesn't take in society's morals as his own, but rather somebody who creates his own morality through his own inner strength and clarity of vision. An example of this clarity of vision? In Zarathustra, the seer proclaims that, though he loves peace, he is happy when he sees war. Why? Because the idiots who fight are killing themselves, which will ideally eventually result in a purified world where those who are left are peaceful and lack the destructive urge to dominate their fellow man. Now, compare this attitude to the attitude of the anti-war masses during Vietnam. Their position that all war is inexcusable was and is dreadfully simple-minded and untenable.
Now, for Bowie this "advancement" to being supermen might just mean sexual liberation, since this was his coming out/flaming homosexual debut. Regardless, at least he knows his philosophy. Btw, the Nieitzschean imagery is ALL OVER this album, and this is why it's one of my all time favorites, even though his fervent homosexuality consistenly creeps me out.
I firmly believe that to know what this song means you must be familiar with the philosophy of "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" and Nietzsche's superman. The "homo superior" is a euphemism for this superman, the most conspicuous quality of whom, according to "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," was his contempt of the common man's morality. A superman is somebody who doesn't take in society's morals as his own, but rather somebody who creates his own morality through his own inner strength and clarity of vision. An example of this clarity of vision? In Zarathustra, the seer proclaims that, though he loves peace, he is happy when he sees war. Why? Because the idiots who fight are killing themselves, which will ideally eventually result in a purified world where those who are left are peaceful and lack the destructive urge to dominate their fellow man. Now, compare this attitude to the attitude of the anti-war masses during Vietnam. Their position that all war is inexcusable was and is dreadfully simple-minded and untenable.
Now, for Bowie this "advancement" to being supermen might just mean sexual liberation, since this was his coming out/flaming homosexual debut. Regardless, at least he knows his philosophy. Btw, the Nieitzschean imagery is ALL OVER this album, and this is why it's one of my all time favorites, even though his fervent homosexuality consistenly creeps me out.