David Bowie – Hallo Spaceboy (Outside, 1995)

My other favorite track from Bowie’s ‘Outside’ album, ‘Hallo Spaceboy’ starts out heavy and barely lets up – the crunchy synth line at the beginning keep things on-track while various ambient vocal samples swirl around (similar to the intro to The Heart’s Filthy Lesson), until the percussion hits hard at :25. This relentless pounding lets up just as it edges on annoying, making room for the vocals:

Spaceboy, you’re sleepy now,
Your silhouette is so stationary
You’re released but your custody calls
And I want to be free
Don’t you want to be free?
Do you like girls or boys?
It’s confusing these days
But Moondust will cover you, cover you
This chaos is killing me

At the mention of the murderous chaos, the percussion slams back into the track, along with some more guitar and subtle synths in the background, spreading out into a sort of industrial soundscape, which boils around for a bit until a short break at 2:20. The berse repeats, but this time along with the pounding percussion, which intensifies as the lyrics wrap up, ending in another short break at 3:02 (filled by mutterings about moon dust), immediately stepping back up into the familiar pounding rhythm and guitar exploration. This time things break off at 3:34, as brass stings and spiraling electric piano spread out for a bit, before collapsing back to the default lineup. At this point, the song has given all it has to offer – it continues to rage for another minute or so, ultimately fading out.

The repeated return to the slamming ‘kick and snare on every beat’ pattern doesn’t ever really get annoying, since it’s broken often enough to give the listener time to rest, and the lyrics are obscure enough to catch your attention – is this song about drugs? about sex? about rock’n'roll? Anyway, played through headphones at full volume, it’s inescapably catchy.