David Bowie Quotes
140 quotes
David Bowie
English musician and cultural icon known for reinvention
140 Quotes
Ashes to ashes, funk to funky, we know Major Tom’s a junkie
— Ashes to Ashes (song lyric)
Let all the children boogie
— Starman, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, 1972
I'm in awe of the universe, but I don't worship anything
— Interview Magazine, 1998
I'm not a rock star. I'm an artist. I've always been an artist
— Interview with Rolling Stone, 1976
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do
— Space Oddity (Song, 1969)
I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human
— Rolling Stone, 1976
Tomorrow, who calls for you? Tomorrow, who calls for you? The truth is -- sometimes I don't want to know
— Song: 'Bring Me the Disco King','Reality' (2003)
I'm an instant star. Just add water and stir
— Rolling Stone Interview, 1976
I found the secrets I found the gold
— Blackstar, 2016
The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it
— BBC Radio 1 Interview, 2002
I don't have a problem with aging; I just have a problem with looking in the mirror
— Interview with Q Magazine, 1997
Without music, I am just a product of a haphazard world, a random collection of chance and circumstance
— Moonage Daydream
I'm deranged, deranged down, down, down, so far gone, lost in time
— I'm Deranged (song)
You can neither win nor lose if you don't run the race
— Interview with Playboy Magazine (1976)
Push your boundaries, that's what they're there for
— Quoted in The Complete David Bowie by Nicholas Pegg
The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return
— Nature Boy (Song, performed on Moulin Rouge Soundtrack, 2001)
We can be heroes, forever and ever, what d’you say?
— Heroes (Song)
To me, what's the most attractive quality about rock and roll is its ability to be utterly transitory and to turn on a dime
— Interview with Rolling Stone (1992)
Oh no, love, you're not alone
— Rock 'n' Roll Suicide (Song)
We live for just these twenty years, do we have to die for the fifty more?
— Lady Stardust (1972)
I can't give everything away
— Song: I Can't Give Everything Away, from Blackstar (2016)
I wanted to prove the sustaining power of music. That it could breathe life into a dying body
— Q Magazine (1987)
The future belongs to those who can hear it coming
— Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps), 1980
There's a terror in knowing what the world is about
— Under Pressure (with Queen, 1981)
Put on your electric blue, in your dance shoes
— Song, Sound and Vision (from 'Low')
Ideas are like the pebbles that Michaelangelo found. He made a David, and I make what I make
— Interview with Rolling Stone (1999)
The Internet carries the flag of being subversive and possibly rebellious and chaotic, nihilistic
— 1999 BBC Newsnight Interview
I change all the time. I'm not sure this is even David Bowie, really
— BBC Radio 1 interview, 1979
I don't know where I'm going, but I know it won't be the same place I came from
— Interview, BBC, 2000
I'm just a rock 'n' roll suicide
— Rock 'n' Roll Suicide (The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, 1972)
I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring
— Madison Square Garden, 50th Birthday Concert, 1997
There's no hell, no hell, no hell on earth like a life without your love
— Word on a Wing (Song)
I’m always amazed that people take what I say seriously. I don’t even take what I am seriously
— Rolling Stone, 1976
I’m stepping through the door, and I’m floating in a most peculiar way
— Space Oddity (1969)
Let's dance, put on your red shoes and dance the blues
— Let's Dance, 1983
I re-invented my image so many times that I’m in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman
— VH1 Storytellers, 1999
I'm not a prophet or a stone age man, just a mortal with potential of a superman
— The Supermen, The Man Who Sold the World (1970)
I'm the great believer that if you want a life, you have to make it
— Interview, Q Magazine, 1993
We can beat them, just for one day
— Heroes (song)
Fame itself... doesn't really afford you anything more than a good seat in a restaurant
— Interview Magazine, 1993
I don't know where I'm going, but I know it won't be the same place I came from
— Interview, Musician Magazine 1997
I'm afraid of Americans, I'm afraid of the world
— I'm Afraid of Americans (Earthling, 1997)
Make the best of every moment. We're not evolving. We're not going anywhere
— Interview on the BBC's Parkinson (2002)
I don't think it’s terribly honest to say ‘I’m searching for myself’, because nobody likes what they find
— Interview in 'Cracked Actor' BBC Documentary, 1975
I'm always amazed at how much people are prepared to take me seriously
— Interview Magazine, 1972
The music itself is going to become like running water or electricity
— New York Times interview, 2002
We must never be afraid to be a sign
— Interview, NME, July 1987
I think taste is a very stultifying thing. It's something that gets you stuck in a rut of what you accept and what you're prepared to accept in terms of art
— Interview with Rolling Stone, 1997
Fame, what you like is in the limo. Fame, what you get is no tomorrow
— Fame (song, 1975)
There's a brand new dance, but I don't know its name
— Fashion (1980), Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) album
All art is unstable. Its meaning is not necessarily that implied by the author. There is no authoritative voice. There are only multiple readings
— Introduction to Outside album booklet, 1995
I always had a sense for outrage. The idea that you could disturb or alter the way people viewed reality was exciting to me
— Interview, The Face 1993
Art’s a lie, art’s a very useful lie
— The Times, 2002
I don't know where I'm going, but I promise it won't be ordinary
— Vogue, 2002
There's old wave, there's new wave, and there's David Bowie
— Promo Advertisement, RCA Records, 1970s
The truth is of course is that there is no journey. We are arriving and departing all at the same time
— Interview, Rolling Stone, 1997
They laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at them because they're all the same
— Attributed, various interviews (1970s)
Turn and run, nothing can stop them, around every river and canal — their power is growing
— Song: Warszawa, 1977
Ground control to Major Tom, commencing countdown, engines on
— Space Oddity (1969)
Don't let me hear you say life's taking you nowhere
— Golden Years, Station to Station album, 1976
Ain't there one damn song that can make me break down and cry?
— Song: Young Americans, 1975
The truth is of course that there is no journey. We are arriving and departing all at the same time
— Interview, Blender Magazine, 2002
I'm a collector. I always just seemed to collect personalities, ideas
— Rolling Stone, 1976
Time may change me, but I can't trace time
— Changes, 1971
Knowledge comes with death's release
— The Next Day (song)
The moment you know you know, you know
— Sound and Vision (Song)
I'm happy. Hope you're happy, too
— Song: Ashes to Ashes, 1980
I'm always amazed that people take what I say seriously. I don't even take what I am seriously
— Interview, Rolling Stone, 1974
I suppose for me as an artist it wasn't always just about expressing my work; I really wanted, more than anything else, to contribute in some way to the culture I was living in
— Speech at the Berklee College of Music, 1999
If you work with people who are better than you, you’ll always get better
— Rolling Stone Interview, 1996
It's odd but even when I was a kid, I would write about 'old and other times' as if I lived in them
— Interview Magazine, 1973
I don't know where I'm going, but I'll try not to bore myself along the way
— BBC Radio 1 Interview, 2002
It's always time to question what has become standard and established
— BBC Radio 1 Interview, 1996
If you're ever sad, just remember that the world is over 4 billion years old and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie
— Common attribution in fan circles/Social Media
I'm always amazed at how much people are prepared to take me seriously
— Interview, Melody Maker 1976
The truth is, there is no journey. We are arriving and departing all at the same time
— Rolling Stone Interview, 1993
I'm an instant star. Just add water and stir
— Interviewer with Cameron Crowe, Rolling Stone (1976)
I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring
— Madison Square Garden, 50th Birthday Concert, 1997
We can be heroes, just for one day
— Heroes (song, 1977)
I don't know where I'm going, but I know it won't be the same place I came from
— Esquire Interview, 2004
Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming
— Heathen (Album, 2002), Sunday (Song)
It's always time to question what has become standard and established
— NME Interview, 1977
I don’t know where I’m going but I sure know where I’ve been
— Interview with Melody Maker (1972)
Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming
— GQ Interview, 2002
I always had a sense for outrage, I think. Particularly when I was younger. The idea that you could disturb or alter the way people viewed reality was exciting to me
— BBC Documentary 'Cracked Actor' (1975)
There's a terror in every self-discovery
— Black Tie White Noise (album), 1993
You would think that a rock star being married to a supermodel would be one of the greatest things in the world. It is.
— Hello Magazine, 2000
There's old wave, there's new wave, and there's David Bowie
— Interview, 1977 (Quoted in Melody Maker)
Make the best of every moment. We're not evolving. We're not going anywhere
— Interview, The Face, 1980
I always had a sense that life is very, very fleeting
— BBC Radio 1 Interview, 2002
I don't know where I'm going, but I know it won't be the same place I came from
— Interview Magazine (1973)
I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human
— The Man Who Fell To Earth Press Tour, 1976
The stars are never far away
— Lady Grinning Soul (Aladdin Sane, 1973)
I can't give everything away
— I Can't Give Everything Away (2016), Blackstar album
If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area
— Interview, Performing Songwriter, 2003
Make the best of every moment. We're not evolving. We're not going anywhere
— NME Interview, 1973
The Internet is an alien life form
— BBC Newsnight interview with Jeremy Paxman, 1999
You can neither win nor lose if you don't run the race
— The Buddha of Suburbia (1993, Song Lyric)
I'm not a musician, I'm an artist who does music
— Interview Magazine, 1978
Hot tramp, I love you so
— Ziggy Stardust, 1972
I don't know where I'm going, but I know it won't be the same place I came from
— Melody Maker Interview, 1977
We're nothing, and nothing will help us
— Heroes (Song, 1977)
Knowledge comes with death's release
— 'The Next Day', Heat single, 2013
To me, what I do is for the ultimate outsider
— Rolling Stone, 1976
To me, what's the most attractive quality about rock and roll is its ability to be utterly transitory and to turn on a dime
— Rolling Stone Interview, 1976
I'm always amazed that people take what I say seriously. I don't even take what I am seriously
— Interview, Melody Maker, 1977
I watched the ripples change their size but never leave the stream of warm impermanence
— Changes (song)
If you're ever sad, just remember that the world is over 4 billion years old and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie
— Widely attributed (internet meme, posthumously popularized)
The truth is, of course, that there is no journey. We are arriving and departing all at the same time
— Interview with Livewire Magazine (2002)
I'm the face of the next day, I'm the face of the next day
— The Next Day (song)
Gimme your hands, 'cause you're wonderful
— Song: Heroes, 1977
Turn and face the strange, ch-ch-changes
— Changes (song, 1971)
Turn and face the strange
— Changes, Hunky Dory (1971)
All the nightmares came today, and it looks as though they're here to stay
— Oh! You Pretty Things (1971)
Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been
— Interview with Simon Reynolds, 'Uncut', 2002
Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been
— Interview Magazine, 1997
I'm always amazed that people take what I say seriously. I don't even take what I am seriously
— Interview with Melody Maker (1977)
To be insulted by these fascists, it's so degrading
— It’s No Game (Part 1), (Scary Monsters, 1980)
You ever get the feeling that you've been cheated?
— Ziggy Stardust Tour, 1973 (final show, Hammersmith Odeon)
The moment you know, you know you know
— Sound and Vision (1977)
You can neither win nor lose if you don't run the race
— Life on Mars? (Song)
I'm not a prophet or a stone age man, just a mortal with the potential of a superman
— Quicksand (song lyric)
If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area
— Interview Magazine, 1997
The music itself is going to become like running water or electricity
— Interview, New York Times, 2002
Music itself is like a language. I look at all my music as different dialects
— MTV Interview (1983)
We are the dead
— Song: We Are the Dead, from Diamond Dogs (1974)
I re-invented my image so many times that I’m in denial that I was originally an overweight Korean woman
— Interview Magazine, 1995
Talking about art is like dancing about architecture
— Interview with Alan Yentob, BBC, 1978
I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human
— Interview Magazine, 1998
There's a starman waiting in the sky, he'd like to come and meet us but he thinks he'd blow our minds
— Starman (song lyric)
Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming
— Heathen Tour Interview, 2002
I demand a better future
— Song, Better Future (from 'The Next Day')
I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring
— Madison Square Garden, 50th Birthday Concert, 1997
There's a starman waiting in the sky, he'd like to come and meet us but he thinks he'd blow our minds
— Starman, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)
The humanists are always going on about the infinite beauty of man. I'd rather talk about the infinite ugliness of man
— Interview with Cameron Crowe, Playboy Magazine, 1976
I don't know where I'm going from here but I know it won't be boring
— 1997 Madison Square Garden Concert
If you say run, I'll run with you; If you say hide, we'll hide
— Song: Let's Dance, 1983
Religion is for people who are afraid of going to hell. Spirituality is for those who have already been there
— Interview with Livewire Magazine, 1997
The world at large doesn't see us as we really are
— Quicksand, Hunky Dory (1971)
We are the dead
— Song, We Are the Dead (from 'Diamond Dogs')