Perhaps one of the best album openers of all time, “Five Years” crescendos beautifully. A sparse fade in introduces a few verses set to piano, chronicling the panic that accompanies news of Earth’s imminent demise. Bowie crams in details, mostly focusing on the people. Then it soars and becomes a lo...
[Verse 1]
Pushing through the market square
So many mothers sighing (Sighing)
News had just come over
We had five years left to cry in (Cry in)
News guy wept and told us
Earth was really dying (Dying)
Cried so much his face was wet
Then I knew he was not lying (Lying)
I heard telephones, opera house, favourite melodies
I saw boys, toys, electric irons and TVs
My brain hurt like a warehouse, it had no room to spare
I had to cram so many things to store everything in there
And all the fat, skinny people
And all the tall, short people
And all the nobody people
And all the somebody people
I never thought I'd need so many people
[Verse 2]
A girl my age went off her head
Hit some tiny children
If the Black hadn't have pulled her off
I think she would have killed them
A soldier with a broken arm
Fixed his stare to the wheels of a Cadillac
A cop knelt and kissed the feet of a priest
And a queer threw up at the sight of that
I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlour
Drinking milkshakes cold and long
Smiling and waving and looking so fine
Don't think you knew you were in this song
And it was cold and it rained, so I felt like an actor
And I thought of Ma and I wanted to get back there
Your face, your race, the way that you talk
I kiss you, you're beautiful, I want you to walk
[Outro]
We've got five years, stuck on my eyes
Five years, what a surprise
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we've got
We've got five years, what a surprise
Five years, stuck on my eyes
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we've got
We've got five years, stuck on my eyes
Five years, what a surprise
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we've got
We've got five years, what a surprise
We've got five years, stuck on my eyes
We've got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that's all we've got
Five years
Five years
Five years
Five years
Five Years was written by David Bowie.
Five Years was produced by David Bowie & Ken Scott.
David Bowie released Five Years on Fri Jun 16 1972.
In an interview with William S. Burroughs in 1974, Bowie described the significance of the “five years” mentioned in the song in his Ziggy mythos:
The time is five years to go before the end of the earth. It has been announced that the world will end because of lack of natural resources. Ziggy is i...
Within the album’s narrative, this song is an exposition, talking about Earth’s current situation. Panic sets in as the end of the world is announced.
Live at the BBC Television Studios, 1972