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The original column was published on December 29th, 2018 and can be found below.

In the event

that this fantastic voyage

Should turn to erosion 

and we never get old

Remember it's true, dignity is valuable

But our lives are valuable too

Here we go! We're at the end of Bowie's Berlin trilogy. We started with Low, continued with "Heroes," and now we're finishing up with Lodger. I'll be back to monthly after this, so I'm excited to see where I end up in January.

Full disclosure, right up front. I don't have nearly as much of an attachment to Lodger as I do Low and "Heroes." Don't get me wrong, it's a good album. For sure. It just doesn't have as grandiose of a thesis as the last two. It kind of wanders and is a bit all over the place. But that's why it works for me. When you're going through a transitional period, you can't always end up in a clear, concise, and obvious place of growth. You usually just end up "here." And you usually can't tell where here is until you're already... somewhere else. But it's important to remember how you got "here." Even when that trip was a rough one, it's still, as Bowie calls it, a "Fantastic Voyage."

But any sudden movement I've got to write it down

They wipe out an entire race and I've got to write it down

But I'm still getting educated but I've got to write it down

And it won't be forgotten

'Cause I'll never say anything nice again, how can I?

We're learning to live with somebody's depression

And I don't want to live with somebody's depression

We'll get by, I suppose

There's a lot of interesting directions Bowie and Eno choose to take on their final (for now) collaboration. Songs like "African Night Flight" and "Yassassin" pick up where the final song on "Heroes," "The Secret Life Of Arabia" left off, with Bowie and Eno experimenting with world music. These serve as the most diverse songs on the record, which doesn't feature any of the ambitious atmospheric instrumental pieces the last two albums featured. I don't have a whole lot to say about them, but these serve to define the eclectic and meandering style of the record. Coupled with the German influenced "Red Sails," this record really feels like Bowie wandering around the world trying to find the next musical outlet to call "here." In case the diverse styles aren't enough to convince us of this, here's Bowie on "Move On."

Sometimes I feel the need to move on

So I pack a bag and move on

Well I might take a train or sail at dawn

Might take a girl when I move on

Somewhere, someone's calling me

And when the chips are down

I stumble like a blind man

Can't forget you

The second side of the album is more focused and thematically driven. After establishing that Bowie can do whatever he wants on Side A, Side B is all about expectations and what those restrictions can do to people. Now that Bowie has broken out of the standards he's set on his own records, it's time to explore just what that kind of pressure can do when you *can't* break free of it, in four different acts.

First, in "Look Back In Anger," we see the set up. No matter where the pressure is coming from, we can so often only get mad and just wait for it to reach a tipping point.

Then "Boys Keep Swinging." What about privilege? Can these societal pressures benefit some of us? Is it fair? What's the downside to that?

Heaven loves ya, The clouds part for ya, Nothing stands in your way

When you're a boy

Clothes always fit ya, Life is a pop of the cherry

When you're a boy

Uncage the colors, Unfurl the flag