Oh! You Pretty Things

from the LP Hunky Dory, RCA Records, 1971



One focus within the study of life-course sociology is a concept called “turning points”, those moments in time when the normal trajectory of our life is interrupted, subjectively or otherwise, in such a way that things are never quite the same again; arguably, this time period was exactly that for Bowie, the start of a transformation which would continue to evolve over time, but never again look backwards to the campy preciousness with which he started his career. This was the first album where all the players who were to become the Spiders from Mars has assembled, and although there were still traces of that eccentric fop of yore dashed across this LP, Bowie himself actually sounds more confidant than ever---both as a performer & as a writer. This particular song is a reflection of the times around him in 1971, “…what are we coming to, no room for me, no fun for you…all the nightmares came today, and it looks as though they're here to stay…”; after the death of the new left’s dream had fallen with such a thud, things looked worse than ever, and although glam rock was fueling the immediate needs of Britain’s youth, Bowie was looking way ahead here; the idea of aliens coming from above to colonize the earth wasn’t new, but ever the marketer to youthful rebellion, he created a future in which the kiddies would team with the aliens to create a new breed, “…look at your children, see their faces in golden rays, don't kid yourself they belong to you, they're the start of a coming race; the earth is a bitch, we've finished our news…” While plenty about Bowie’s likeness during this pre-Ziggy period was still somewhat effeminate, I disagree with reviewers’ assertions that this track is a celebration of homosexuality in plot---when he says “…you gotta make way for the Homo Superior…”, it’s actually a reference to Nietzche’s concept of the ‘Übermensch’, or superman; he specifically says, “Homo Sapiens have outgrown their use”, not “heterosexuals”. Without going into the boring depths here, I feel that Bowie was asserting the concept of “fluid sexuality” (or at least bisexuality) into Nietzsche’s paradigm, particularly when you consider his image transition from kitsch femininity to extraterrestrial androgeny; the choice of “pretty” has more to do with glam trends in the UK at that time, which were makeup & glitter, not necessarily homosexual in nature (ambiguous, sure), certainly not if you were a female fan of his. At any rate, this theory of a space-based route to salvation would directly inform Bowie’s next moves, namely acting as the origin of his Ziggy Stardust persona and subsequent conceptual trip. David Bowie has never been content to stick with one image for very long, and that turning wheel of front-stage identity began right here.