Oh You Pretty Things!

Gosh, I just keep hearing different covers of this song and love love love them all. Honestly, listening to Bowie play his own songs is great, because he is an awesome performer, but it's hard to understand the extent of his songwriting skills without hearing some other artist play them. Seriously, these songs are adapted and morphed and seem to often sound as gorgeous (or a little less ^^*) than the originals. "Oh You Pretty Things!" is one of my favorite Bowie songs, and has the distinction of being covered by one of my favorite bands, Au Revoir Simone. Thus, I provide for you, below, the lyrics and some different performances, embedded.

Wake up you sleepy head
Put on some clothes, shake up your bed
Put another log on the fire for me
I've made some breakfast and coffee
I look out my window what do I see
A crack in the sky and a hand reaching down to me
All the nightmares came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay

What are we coming to
No room for me, no fun for you
I think about a world to come
Where the books were found by the Golden ones
Written in pain, written in awe
By a puzzled man who questioned
What we came here for
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay

Oh You Pretty Things (Oh You Pretty Things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Oh You Pretty Things (Oh You Pretty Things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Let me make it plain
You gotta make way for the Homo Superior

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
Homo Sapiens have outgrown their use
All the strangers came today
And it looks as though they're here to stay

Oh You Pretty Things (Oh You Pretty Things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Oh You Pretty Things (Oh You Pretty Things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and Papas insane
Let me make it plain
You gotta make way for the Homo Superior



The "live-ness" of the above performance might affect it's quality- I think that Bowie's live recordings ALWAYS sound better (which says a lot?). Look how young he is!



This recording of Au Revoir Simone is obviously caught by a fan in the audience. I hope that you can still hear the difference. They have some fun changes, I think. ^_^



This is just an album recording- no vid really. Seu Jorge does lovely renditions of Bowie but this one is especially gorgeous. He just has such a wonderful voice.



Unfortunately, I think that Harvey Danger somehow managed to murder this song O.o I'll listen to it again when I'm less tired, but ugh. Hrm. EDIT: Okay, re-listened to it and was obviously a bit harsh. While the verses are lifeless, I think the chorus is quite catchy. ^_^ Huzzah!