David Bowie - Changes - Lyrics Meaning

Though it never made it to the Top 40, ``Changes'' became one of David Bowie's most enduring hits. ÿThe track was released on Hunky Dory, Bowie's fourth album, in December of 1971 and became a single in January of the following year. In many ways, the lyrics of ``Changes'' reflect elements of Bowie's personal life. He was famous for constantly reinventing himself by continuously altering his personality, his physical appearance, and the style of his music. ``Changes'' is a celebration of this perpetual evolution. The song's narrator, presumably speaking for Bowie himself, looks back on a life of dissolution and wild ways and attempts to comprehend why he made the choices he did. He is ultimately unable to understand, however, as many adults find it difficult to understand the decisions of younger generations. ``Changes,'' an anthem that extols the virtue of accepting that change is an inevitable part of life, has also been interpreted as labeling the modern youth as a new race that is frequently the target of the scorn of older generations. Rolling Stone once explained that the song could be "construed as a young man's attempt to reckon how he'll react when it's his time to be on the maligned side of the generation schism."