December 14, 2016 - David Bowie - Station to Station (1976)

Station to Station is like the little engine that could. The first half of the song is the uphill climb and the second half is the thrilling downhill ride. It's David Bowie's longest studio recording.

It begins with the sound of a train powering up and heading out of the station. A whistle is heard at 1:06, and then the train slowly heads up the hill. The piano represents the piston rods cranking the wheels along. At 1:51 the little engine and it cars and crew are all working hard, willing the train along. Little puffs of steam float out of the chimney. The wheels screech against the tracks.

At 3:17, Bowie speaks up: The return of the Thin White Duke Throwing darts in lovers' eyes...not sure if this is helpful to the conductor, he probably just nods from the cab and says 'Yes, sir. I am too busy to listen to your story. Please return to your seat.' As Bowie walks down the aisles to his seat, he keeps up his monologue about the Thin White Duke, getting frowns and muffled guffaws from his fellow passengers.

Perhaps this chant of his has proven helpful, because at 5:14, the halfway point of the song, the train crests the hill and is poised for its downhill run. Bowie sings

Once there were mountains on mountains
And once there were sun birds to soar with
And once I could never be down

Yes, we are on a mountain, on our way down the other side of it. I hope the brakes work if we need them. Bowie's cheerful voice leads us on. He says Drink, drink, drain your glass, raise your glass high. Thanks, David, I believe I will. But then he says It's too late to be grateful. Oh well. He says it's not the side effects of the cocaine, but I have my doubts.

The music bounces the train back and forth, it's a rollicking wild party atmosphere as the little train cruises at warp speed down the hill. Roy Bittan adds to it with some piano glissandos. From 7:35-8:22, Earl Slick breaks out the guitar and cranks out a soaring solo of epic proportions. He hits the most divine harmonic at 8:12, a lightning bolt from heaven. We continue along, heading for our destination.