Starting Point

David Bowie Starting Point Lyrics
1.The Laughing Gnome

Lyrics:David Bowie
Music:David Bowie

I was walking down the High Street
When I heard footsteps behind me
And there was a little old man (Hello)
In scarlet and grey, shuffling away (laughter)
Well he trotted back to my house
And he sat beside the telly (Oaah..)
With his tiny hands on his tummy
Chuckling away, laughing all day (laughter)

Oh, I ought to report you to the Gnome office
(Gnome Office)
Yes
(Hahahahaha)

CHORUS
Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
'I'm a laughing Gnome and you can't catch me'
Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
'I'm a laughing Gnome and you can't catch me'
Said the laughing Gnome

Well I gave him roasted toadstools and a glass of dandelion wine
(Burp, pardon)
Then I put him on a train to Eastbourne
Carried his bag and gave him a fag
(Haven't you got a light boy?)
'Here, where do you come from?'
(Gnome-man's land, hahihihi)
'Oh, really?'

In the morning when I woke up
He was sitting on the edge of my bed
With his brother whose name was Fred
He'd bought him along to sing me a song

Right, let's hear it
Here, what's that clicking noise?
(That's Fred, he's a 'metrognome', haha)

Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
'I'm a laughing Gnome and you don't catch me'
Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
'I'm a laughing Gnome and you can't catch me'

(Own up, I'm a gnome, ain't I right, haha)
'Haven't you got an 'ome to go to?'
(No, we're gnomads)
'Didn't they teach you to get your hair cut at school?
you look like a rolling gnome.'
(No, not at the London School of Ecognomics)

Now they're staying up the chimney
And we're living on caviar and honey (hooray!)
Cause they're earning me lots of money
Writing comedy prose for radio shows
It's the-er (what?)
It's the Gnome service of course

Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
'I'm a laughing Gnome and you don't catch me'
Ha ha ha, oh, dear me

(Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
'I'm a laughing Gnome and you can't catch me'
Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
'I'm a laughing Gnome and you can't catch me')

(One more time, yeah)


2.Love You Till Tuesday

Lyrics:David Bowie
Music:David Bowie

Just look through your window, look who sits outside
Little me is waiting, standing through the night
When you walk out through your door I'll wave my flag and shout

Ohh, beautiful baby
My burning desire started on Sunday
Give me your heart and I'll love you till Tuesday

Da da da dum (x4)

Who's that hiding in the apple tree, clinging to a branch
Don't be afraid it's only me, hoping for a little romance
If you lie beneath my shade, I'll keep you nice and cool

Ohh, beautiful baby
I was very lonely till I met you on Sunday
My passion's never-ending and I'll love you till Tuesday

Da da da dum (x7)

Let the wind blow through your hair, be nice to the big blue sea
Don't be afraid of the man in the moon, because it's only me
I shall always watch you until my love runs dry

Ohh, beautiful baby
My heart's aflame, I'll love you till Tuesday
My head's in a whirl and I'll love you till Tuesday
Love, love, love, love you till Tuesday
Love, love, love, love you till Tuesday

Da da da dum (x11)

Well, I might stretch it till Wednesday


3.Please Mr. Gravedigger

Lyrics:David Bowie
Music:David Bowie

There's a little churchyard just along the way
It used to be Lambeth's finest array
Of tombstones, epitaphs, wreaths, flowers all that jazz
Til the war came along and someone dropped a bomb on the lot

And in this little yard, there's a little old man
With a little shovel in his little bitty hand
He seems to spend all his days puffing fags and digging graves
He hates the reverend vicar and he lives all alone in his home

'Ah-choo, excuse me'

Please Mr. Gravedigger, don't feel ashamed
As you dig little holes for the dead and the maimed
Please Mr. Gravedigger, I couldn't care
If you found a golden locket full of some girl's hair
And you put it in your pocket

'God, it's pouring down'

Her mother doesn't know about your sentimental joy
She thinks it's down below with the rest of her toys
And Ma wouldn't understand, so I won't tell
So keep your golden locket all safely hid away in your pocket

Yes, Mr. GD, you see me every day
Standing in the same spot by a certain grave
Mary-Ann was only 10, full of life and oh so gay
And I was the wicked man who took her life away
Very selfish, Oh God

No, Mr. GD, you won't tell
And just to make sure that you keep it to yourself
I've started digging holes myself
And this one here's for you

'Lifted our girl, she apparently doesn't know of it
Hello misses, thought she'd be a little girl
Bloody obscene, catch pneumonia or something in this rain'


4.We Are Hungry Men

Lyrics:David Bowie
Music:David Bowie

(spoken)
Here is the news
According to the latest world population survey
The figures have reached danger point, my god
London 15 million 75 thousand
New York 80 million
Paris 15 million and 30
China 1000 million
Billington-Spa: lots

My studies included suffragy
I formed my own society
to study the power of fecundity
The world will overpopulate
Unless you claim infertility
So who will buy a drink for me, your messiah

We are not your friends
We don't give a damn for what you're saying
We're here to live our lives

I propose to give the pill
Free of charge to those that feel
That they are not infertible
The crops of few, the cattle gun
There's only one way to linger on
So who will buy a drink for me, your messiah

We are not your friends
We don't give a damn for what you're saying
We're here to live our lives

(spoken)
Achtung, achtung, these are your orders
Anyone found guilty of consuming more than their allotted amount
of air
Will be slaughtered and cremated
Only one cubic foot of air is...

I have prepared a document, legalising mass abortion
We will turn a blind eye to infanticide

We are not your friends
We don't give a damn for what you're saying
We're here to live our lives

You don't seem to hear me clear
Do I talk above your sphere?
Let me explain my project dear
Show you how I'll save the world
Or let it die within the year
Why do you look that way at me, your messiah

We are not your friends
We don't give a damn for what you're saying
We're here to live our lives

We are hungry men
We don't give a damn for what you're saying
We're here to eat you


5.The London Boys

Lyrics:David Bowie
Music:David Bowie

Cow bell strikes another night
Your eyes are heavy and your limbs all ache
You've bought some coffee, butter and bread
You can't make a thing cause the meter's dead
You moved away
Hold your folks you're gonna stay away

Bright lights, Soho, Wardour street
You hope you make friends with the guys that you meet
Somebody shows you round
Now you've met the London boys
Things seem good again, someone cares about you

Oh, the first time that you tried a pill
You feel a little queasy, decidedly ill
You're gonna be sick, but you mustn't lose faith
To let yourself down would be a big disgrace
With the London boys, with the London boys

You're only seventeen, but you think you've grown
In the month you've been away from your parents' home
You take the pills too much
You don't give a damn about that jobs you've got
So long as you're with the London boys

A London boy, oh a London boy
Your flashy clothes are your pride and joy
A London boy, a London boy
You're crying out loud that you're a London boy
You think you've had a lot of fun
But you ain't got nothing, you're on the run
It's too late now, cause you're out there boy
You've got it made with the rest of the toys
Now you wish you'd never left your home
You've got what you wanted but you're on your own
With the London boys
Now you've met the London boys (3 times)


6.Come And Buy My Toys

Lyrics:David Bowie
Music:David Bowie

Smiling girls and rosy boys
Come and buy my little toys
Monkeys made of gingerbread
And sugar horses painted red

Rich men's children running past
Their fathers dressed in hose
Golden hair and mud of many acres on their shoes
Gazing eyes and running wild
Past the stocks and over stiles
Kiss the window merry child
But come and buy my toys

You've watched your father plough the fields with a ram's horn
Sowed it wide with peppercorn and furrowed with a bramble thorn
Reaped it with a sharpened scyth, threashed it with a quill
The miller told your father that he'd work it with the greatest
will
Now your watching's over you must play with girls and boys
Leave the parsley on the stalls
Come and buy my toys

You shall own a cambric shirt
You shall work your father's land
But now you shall play in the market square
Till you'll be a man

Smiling girls and rosy boys
Come and buy my little toys
Monkeys made of gingerbread
And sugar horses painted red


7.Karma Man

Lyrics:David Bowie
Music:David Bowie

Fingertip sun at sideshow stalls, they throw the balls
At coconut fur that hides behind
Coloured shades that blind your eyes
Every child's mother holds an ice-cream cone, they circle round
Perceived unknown by an eye that peers from a hole in the tent
where no one goes
A figure sitting cross-legged on the floor
He's clogged and clothed in saffron robes
His beads are all he owns

Slow down, slow down
Someone must have said that slowed him down
Slow down, slow down
It's pictured on the arms of the Karma Man

Fairy tale skin, depicting scenes from human zoos
Impermanent toys like peace and war
A gentle face you've seen before
Karma Man tattooed on your side, the wheel of life
I see my times and who I've been
I only live now and I don't know why
I struggle hard to take these pictures in, but
All my friends can see is just the pinkness of his skin

Slow down, slow down
Someone must have said that slowed him down
Slow down, slow down
It's pictured on the arms of the Karma Man

Slow down, slow down
Someone must have said that slowed him down
Slow down, slow down
It's pictured on the arms of the Karma Man


8.When I Live My Dream

Lyrics:David Bowie
Music:David Bowie

When I live my dream, I'll take you with me
Riding on a golden horse
We'll live within my castle, with people there to serve you
Happy at the sound of your voice

Baby, I'll slay a dragon for you
Or banish wicked giants from the land
But you will find, that nothing in my dream can hurt you
We will only love each other as forever
When I live my dream

When I live my dream, I'll forgive the things you've told me
And the empty man you left behind
It's a broken heart that dreams, it's a broken heart you left me
Only love can live in my dream

I'll wish, and the thunder clouds will vanish
Wish, and the storm will fade away
Wish again, and you will stand before me while the sky will
paint an overture
And trees will play the rhythm of my dream

When I live my dream, please be there to meet me
Let me be the one to understand
When I live my dream, I'll forget the hurt you gave me
Then we can live in our new land

Till the day my dream cascades around me
I'm content to let you pass me by
Till that day, you'll run to many other men
But let them know it's just for now
Tell them that I've got a dream
And tell them you're the starring role
Tell them I'm a dreaming kind of guy
And I'm going to make my dream
Tell them I will live my dream
Tell them they can laugh at me
But don't forget your date with me
When I live my dream


9.Join The Gang

Lyrics:David Bowie
Music:David Bowie

Let me introduce you to the gang
Johnny plays the sitar, he's an existentialist
Once he had a name, now he plays our game
You won't feel so good now that you've joined the gang

Molly is the model in the ads
Crazy clothes and acid full of soul and crazy hip
Someone switched her on, then her beam went wrong
Cause she can't switch off now that she's joined the gang

Arthur is a singer with a band
Arthur drinks two bottles just before he goes on stage
Look at Arthur rave, all the kids are paid
They want to see the croaking man who joined the gang

You won't be alone, we've all got beery grins
It's a big illusion but at least you're in
At least you're in

This club's called The Webb, it's this month's pick
Next month we shall find a place where prices aren't so stiff
15 bob a coke, 'fraid that's past a joke
This is how to spend now that you've joined the gang

This is what to do now that you're here
Sit round doing nothing all together very fast
Psychedelic stars, throwing down cigars
They're picking up the joints now that they've joined the gang


10.Silly Boy Blue

Lyrics:David Bowie
Music:David Bowie

Mountains of Lhasa are feeling the rain
People are walking the Botella lanes
Preacher takes the school
One boy breaks a rule
Silly Boy Blue, silly Boy Blue

Yak butter statues that melt in the sun
Cannot dissolve all the work you've not done
A chela likes to feel
That his overself pays the bill
Silly Boy Blue, silly Boy Blue

You wish and wish, and wish again
You've tried so hard to fly
You'll never leave your body now
You've got to wait to die

La la la la la la la la la la (x2)
La la la la la (x2)
Silly Boy Blue, silly Boy Blue

Child of Tibet, you're a gift from the sun
Reincarnation of one better man
The homeward road is long
You've left your prayers and song
Silly Boy Blue, silly Boy Blue
Silly Boy Blue, silly Boy Blue.