The Secret Life of Arabia

March 15, 2012March 15, 2012 ~ odd man out

From the great album Heroes (1987).

‘Five Years’

January 12, 2012January 13, 2012 ~ odd man out ~ 2 Comments

This I’m posting in connection with the scary news from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. The nuclear weapons situation last year looked so grim that scientists reset the Doomsday Clock a minute closer to midnight. We’re within minutes of Armageddon, which might work out to five years in Bowie-time.

Which is good in a way. I’ve got a lot of writing to do and deadlines help me get down to business, and the fact that there won’t be any readers left is beside the point.

Then again, Bowie wrote the song around 1972, when he was doing his Ziggy Stardust thing. He turned 65 this week, so it’s safe to not take the song literally. But keep your eye on that Doomsday Clock.

Music to haunt you on Halloween

October 31, 2011October 31, 2011 ~ odd man out

There are at least three varieties of scary songs — novelty numbers, done for laughs; songs that have dark lyrics but aren’t all that scary; and songs (“compositions” is a better word) that actually sound scary and give you the creeps. More here.