Always Crashing in the Same Car
Encyclopedia
"Always Crashing in the Same Car" is a song by David Bowie
for his album Low from 1977
.
The song's lyrics express the frustration of making the same mistake over and over. The narrator of the song recounts driving at high speed in circles around a hotel garage, cautiously checking for danger, yet still inevitably crashing, while a girl named Jasmine looks on. The imagery may reflect Bowie's previous cocaine addiction as this song was recorded during Bowie's retreat to Europe
from the USA in order to clean himself up.
There are two verses to the piece, however, three were planned. In the studio, Bowie sang a third verse in a Bob Dylan
style, however, given Bob Dylan's infamous motorcycling accident years earlier and the song's subject matter, the band considered such a move to be crass, and Bowie asked for Tony Visconti
to delete the verse from the recording.
The song features the use of synthesizers and treatments to bring Bowie's largely calm vocals over the sound of the band. A long guitar solo completes the song.
The song's title appears in the novel "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger as the subtitle of the chapter "Christmas Eve, One."
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
for his album Low from 1977
1977 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.-January–February:*January 1 – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy....
.
The song's lyrics express the frustration of making the same mistake over and over. The narrator of the song recounts driving at high speed in circles around a hotel garage, cautiously checking for danger, yet still inevitably crashing, while a girl named Jasmine looks on. The imagery may reflect Bowie's previous cocaine addiction as this song was recorded during Bowie's retreat to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
from the USA in order to clean himself up.
There are two verses to the piece, however, three were planned. In the studio, Bowie sang a third verse in a Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
style, however, given Bob Dylan's infamous motorcycling accident years earlier and the song's subject matter, the band considered such a move to be crass, and Bowie asked for Tony Visconti
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
to delete the verse from the recording.
The song features the use of synthesizers and treatments to bring Bowie's largely calm vocals over the sound of the band. A long guitar solo completes the song.
The song's title appears in the novel "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger as the subtitle of the chapter "Christmas Eve, One."
Other recorded versions
- Bowie and Reeves GabrelsReeves GabrelsReeves Gabrels is an American guitarist, known for virtuosity, versatility, and originality. His compositions and improvisations defy genre and "explore sonic extremes with a great, adaptive intuition for what each song needs most."...
performed an all-acoustic version of the song for the radio station WRXT on October 16, 1997. - A live version recorded at BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Radio Theatre, London, June 27, 2000 was released on the bonus disc following the first releases of Bowie at the BeebBowie at the BeebBowie at the Beeb is a compilation album by David Bowie, first released in 2000. Originally, it came in a three CD set, the third, bonus CD being a recording on at the Portland BBC Radio Theatre...
. This version contains an extended opening featuring acoustic guitar.
Other recorded versions
- UltramarUltramarUltramar is a Canadian oil refining and marketing company formerly known as Golden Eagle or Aigle d'or. Its head office is in Montreal...
- Web site release - BluvertigoBluvertigoBluvertigo is an Italian band formed in 1992. Their first name was "Golden Age" and former members are Morgan , Andy and Marco Pancaldi...
- Zero (1999) - Danny MichelDanny MichelDanny Michel is a singer-songwriter from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.- Biography :Danny Michel was born in 1970 next to the "Smiles n' Chuckles" chocolate factory in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada...
- Loving the Alien: Danny Michel Sings the Songs of David Bowie (2004) - Chairlift (band)Chairlift (band)Chairlift is an American electronic pop Duo.Based in Brooklyn, New York, Chairlift consists of members Caroline Polachek and Patrick Wimberly .-History:...
- We Were So Turned On: A Tribute to David Bowie (2010)
Trivia
The pub rock band Eddie and The Hot Rods, as a pun, titled a song of theirs "Always Crashing in the Same Bar."Sources
- Greatorex, Johnathan. "Just a Mortal With Potential." Teenage Wildlife. Nov. 1996. 06 Mar. 2006 <http://www.teenagewildlife.com/Interact/fc/misc/JG/index.html>.
- Griffin, R. "Low." Bowie Golden Years. Jan. 2005. 06 Mar. 2006 <http://www.bowiegoldenyears.com/low.html>.