Sons of the Silent Age

"Sons of the Silent Age" is a song written by David Bowie in 1977 for the album "Heroes". According to Brian Eno, it was the only song on the album composed prior to the recording sessions, all others being improvised in the Hansa by the Wall studio. Bowie himself indicated that Sons of the Silent Age could at one stage have been the title for album, rather than "Heroes".^[1]

Biographer David Buckley remarked on the song's "doomy sax-driven verses set incongruously aside cheesy choruses".^[2] The lyrics have been interpreted as a third-person revisitation of the themes of psychotic withdrawal explored on Bowie’s previous album Low ("Pacing their rooms just like a cell’s dimensions"), as well as referencing the characters from his 1970 song "The Supermen" ("They never die they just go to sleep one day")^[3] on the album The Man Who Sold the World. Author Nicholas Pegg speculated that the line "platforms, blank looks, no books" alluded to the Nazi regime.^[4]

Other releases

Bowie performed this song live during his 1987 Glass Spider Tour and it appears as a live track on the Glass Spider live album and video. On this version of the song, the chorus is sung by the band's lead guitarist Peter Frampton
It appeared in the Sound + Vision box set (1989)

Cover versions

Philip Glass – "Heroes" Symphony (1996)
Danny Michel – Loving the Alien: Danny Michel Sings the Songs of David Bowie (2004)

Notes

↑ NME interviews (1977) cited at Bowie: Golden Years. Retrieved 20 May 2007.
↑ David Buckley (1999). Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story: p.321
↑ Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record: p.92
↑ Nicholas Pegg (2000). The Complete David Bowie: p.195

External links

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

David Bowie singles

1960s

1964	"Liza Jane"

1965	"I Pity the Fool" "You've Got a Habit of Leaving"

1966	"Can't Help Thinking About Me" "Do Anything You Say" "I Dig Everything" "Rubber Band"

1967	"The Laughing Gnome" "Love You till Tuesday"

1969	"Space Oddity" "Ragazzo solo, ragazza sola"

1970s

1970	"The Prettiest Star" "Memory of a Free Festival"

1971	"Holy Holy" "Moonage Daydream" "Hang On to Yourself"

1972	"Changes" "Starman" "John, I'm Only Dancing" "The Jean Genie"

1973	"Drive-In Saturday" "Time" "Life on Mars" "Let's Spend the Night Together" "Sorrow"

1974	"Rebel Rebel" "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" "Diamond Dogs" "Knock on Wood" "Rock 'n' Roll with Me"

1975	"Young Americans" "Fame" "Golden Years"

1976	"TVC 15" "Suffragette City" "Stay"

1977	"Sound and Vision" "Be My Wife" "'Heroes'"

1978	"Beauty and the Beast" "Breaking Glass"

1979	"Boys Keep Swinging" "DJ" "Yassassin" "Look Back in Anger" "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)"

1980s

1980	"Alabama Song" "Crystal Japan" "Ashes to Ashes" "Fashion"

1981	"Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" "Up the Hill Backwards" "Under Pressure" "Wild Is the Wind" "The Drowned Girl"

1982	"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy"

1983	"Let's Dance" "China Girl" "Modern Love" "Without You" "White Light/White Heat"

1984	"Blue Jean" "Tonight"

1985	"This Is Not America" "Loving the Alien" "Dancing in the Street"

1986	"Absolute Beginners" "Underground" "As the World Falls Down" "Magic Dance" "When the Wind Blows"

1987	"Day-In Day-Out" "Time Will Crawl" "Never Let Me Down"

1989	"Under the God" "Heaven's in Here" "Tin Machine" / "Maggie's Farm (live)" "Prisoner of Love"

1990s

1990	"Fame '90"

1991	"You Belong in Rock n' Roll" "Baby Universal" "One Shot"

1992	"Real Cool World"

1993	"Jump They Say" "Black Tie White Noise" "Miracle Goodnight" "The Buddha of Suburbia"

1994	"Ziggy Stardust"

1995	"The Hearts Filthy Lesson" "Strangers When We Meet" / "The Man Who Sold the World (live)"

1996	"Hallo Spaceboy" "Telling Lies"

1997	"Little Wonder" "Dead Man Walking" "Seven Years in Tibet" "Pallas Athena" "I'm Afraid of Americans" "I Can't Read"

1999	"Without You I'm Nothing" "Thursday's Child" "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell"

2000s

2000	"Survive" "Seven"

2002	"Slow Burn" "Everyone Says 'Hi'" "I've Been Waiting for You"

2003	"New Killer Star" "Just for One Day (Heroes)"

2004	"Never Get Old" "Rebel Never Gets Old"

2006	"Arnold Layne" (David Gilmour version)

2010s

2011	"Golden Years - David Bowie vs KCRW"

2013	"Where Are We Now?" "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" "The Next Day" "Valentine's Day" "Love Is Lost"

2014	"'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore" "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)"

2015	"Blackstar" "Lazarus"

2016	"I Can't Give Everything Away"

Discography
Book:David Bowie Book:Bowie singles and songs
Category:David Bowie

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