Editing Diamond Dogs (section)

==Music and lyrics==
''Diamond Dogs'' was Bowie's last album in the glam rock genre.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=367–372}} Buckley writes: "In the sort of move which would come to define his career, Bowie jumped the glam-rock ship just in time, before it drifted into a blank parody of itself."{{sfn|Buckley|2005|p=189}} The album has often been regarded as an "English [[proto-punk]]" record, according to the cultural studies academic [[Jon Stratton]], who calls it "post-glam".{{sfn|Stratton|2008|p=207}} The pop culture scholar Shelton Waldrep describes it as "wonderfully dark proto-punk",<ref>{{cite book|last=Waldrep|first=Shelton|chapter=Introduction: The Pastiche of Gender|title=Future Nostalgia: Performing David Bowie|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury Publishing USA]]|year=2015|isbn=978-1-62356-993-8}}</ref> while the music journalist C. M. Crockford says it is "the goofy, abrasive place where punk and [[art rock|art-rock]] meet, dance a little, and depart".<ref name="punknews.org">{{cite web|last=Crockford|first=C. M.|url=https://www.punknews.org/review/13273/david-bowie-diamond-dogs|title=David Bowie – ''Diamond Dogs''|website=Punknews.org|date=12 January 2015|access-date=11 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228040059/https://www.punknews.org/review/13273/david-bowie-diamond-dogs|archive-date=28 February 2021}}</ref> In the opinion of ''[[The Guardian]]''{{'}}s [[Adam Sweeting]], while "the music still has one foot in the glam-rock camp", the album marks the point in Bowie's career where he "began exploring a kind of [[Weimar Republic|Weimar]] soul music with lavish theatrical packaging", featuring [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]-style ballads such as "Big Brother" and "Sweet Thing".<ref name="Sweeting">{{cite news|last=Sweeting|first=Adam|author-link=Adam Sweeting|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/jun/25/popandrock.shopping5|title=David Bowie, ''Diamond Dogs'' – 30th Anniversary Edition|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=24 June 2004|access-date=10 July 2020|archive-date=22 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622153245/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/jun/25/popandrock.shopping5|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Nicholas Pegg]] describes the album as having "manic alternations between power-charged [[garage rock]] and sophisticated, synthesiser-heavy apocalyptic ballads".{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=367–372}} The biographer [[Christopher Sandford (biographer)|Christopher Sandford]] writes that beyond the overall concept, many of the songs delve into [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]].{{sfn|Sandford|1997|p=124}} ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''{{'}}s Barry Walters wrote that although the album is still primarily glam rock, it also contains elements of "Blaxploitation funk and soul, rock opera, European art song, and Broadway."<ref name="Walters Pitchfork" />

===Side one===
{{quote box
| quote = They were all little [[John Lydon|Johnny Rottens]] and [[Sid Vicious]]es really. And, in my mind, there was no means of transport{{nbsp}}... So there were these gangs of squeaking, roller-skating, vicious hoods, with Bowie knives and furs on, and they were all skinny because they hadn't eaten enough, and they all had funny-coloured hair. In a way, it was a precursor to the punk {{no wrap|thing.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=74–75}}}}
| source = —David Bowie describing the Diamond Dogs
| width = 25%
| align = right
| style = padding:8px;
}}

The opening track, "Future Legend", is a spoken word track that depicts a post-apocalyptic urban landscape.{{sfn|Perone|2007|pp=41–46}} The writings of Burroughs, especially ''[[The Wild Boys (novel)|The Wild Boys]]'' (1971) inspire the visions of decay. The author [[Peter Doggett]] notes that unlike the opening of ''[[The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars|Ziggy Stardust]]'', which announces the world will end in [[Five Years (David Bowie song)|five years]], the apocalypse of "Future Legend" could happen at any time.{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 8}}{{sfn|Buckley|2005|pp=184–189}}{{sfn|Doggett|2012|pp=243–245}} Bowie begins the title track by announcing, "This ain't rock'n'roll – this is ''genocide''". The track introduces Bowie's newest persona, Halloween Jack, described as "a real cool cat" who "lives on top of Manhattan Chase" in the urban wasteland depicted in "Future Legend".{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=74–75}} He rules the "diamond dogs", who O'Leary describes as "packs of feral kids camped on high-rise roofs, tearing around on roller skates, terrorizing the corpse-strewn streets they live above".{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 8}} Although Jack is commonly identified as one of Bowie's "identities" like Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane, Doggett notes that Jack occupies "little more than a cameo role".{{sfn|Doggett|2012|pp=243–245}} The riff and saxophone are inspired by the Rolling Stones.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=74–75}} The biographer [[Marc Spitz]] notes that it is the same "jaded commentator's voice" Bowie had used on ''Aladdin Sane''.{{sfn|Spitz|2009|pp=231–232}}

Multiple biographers cite the suite of "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)" as the album's highlight.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=276–277}}{{sfn|Buckley|2005|pp=184–189}}{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 8}} Pegg describes Bowie's vocal performance, which he believes to be one of his finest,{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=276–277}} as a croon.{{sfn|Spitz|2009|pp=231–232}}{{sfn|Doggett|2012|pp=236–239}} "Sweet Thing" paints pictures of decay, with sex being a "drug-like commodity" while "Candidate" contains references to [[Charles Manson]] and [[Muhammad Ali]], with Bowie being "consumed by the fakery of his own stage creations".{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=485}} "Rebel Rebel", cited by Pegg as Bowie's most covered track, is based around a distinctive guitar riff reminiscent of the Rolling Stones and was his farewell to the glam rock era.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=221–223}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Thompson|first=Dave|author-link=Dave Thompson (author)|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/rebel-rebel-mt0054050633|title='Rebel Rebel' – David Bowie|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=15 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531183640/https://www.allmusic.com/song/rebel-rebel-mt0054050633|archive-date=31 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Pegg, Parker "added the three descending notes at the end of each loop of the riff".{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=221–223}} The song features a character who predates 1970s punk rock and gender-bending lyrics ("You got your mother in a whirl / She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl").{{sfn|Perone|2007|pp=41–46}}{{sfn|Buckley|2005|pp=184–189}} Some commentators praised the song itself but felt it did not contribute to the overall theme of the album.{{sfn|Perone|2007|pp=41–46}}<ref name="Erlewine AllMusic" /> Doggett, however, writes that the song acts as the "musical continuation" of the "Sweet Thing" suite.{{sfn|Doggett|2012|pp=236–239}}

===Side two===
Bowie and MacCormack co-wrote "Rock 'n' Roll with Me";{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 8}} it was Bowie's first co-writing credit on one of his own albums.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=228–229}} MacCormack said his contribution was minimal—he played the chord sequence on piano.{{sfn|Buckley|2005|pp=184–189}} A [[power ballad]],{{sfn|Perone|2007|pp=41–46}} the song explores the relationship between the audience and an actor. When asked whether fans considered him a leader, Bowie described "Rock 'n' Roll with Me" as his response, saying: "You're doing it to me, stop it!"{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 8}}{{sfn|Doggett|2012|pp=243–245}} Buckley writes the song foreshadowed the soul direction that Bowie would take on ''Young Americans''.{{sfn|Buckley|2005|pp=184–189}} The lyrics of "We Are the Dead" reflect the characters of ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', [[Winston Smith (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Winston]] and [[Julia (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Julia]]'s, love for each other. They establish a world fraught with danger that mirrors the rest of the album.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=303–304}} Buckley describes the lyrics as "gothic" and the music as "creepy".{{sfn|Buckley|2005|pp=184–189}} Although it quotes ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' directly, O'Leary and James Perone argue the song owes more to the writings of Burroughs.{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 8}}{{sfn|Perone|2007|pp=41–46}}

"1984" was the signature number for Bowie's planned adaptation of ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=198–199}} It has been interpreted as representing Winston Smith's imprisonment and interrogation by [[O'Brien (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|O'Brien]].{{sfn|Carr|Murray|1981|p=64}} The lyrics also bear some similarities to Bowie's earlier song "[[All the Madmen (song)|All the Madmen]]" (1970)—"They'll split your pretty cranium and fill it full of air."{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=198–199}} AllMusic's Donald A. Guarisco wrote: "Bowie's recording of "1984" fully realizes the song's cinematic potential with a dramatic arrangement that utilizes skittering strings and a throbbing [[Wah-wah pedal|wah-wah]] guitar line that effectively mirrors the song's clipped, militaristic rhythms."<ref name="Guarisco AllMusic" /> Originally recorded during the ''Aladdin Sane'' sessions,{{sfn|Cann|2010|p=283}} the rerecording's [[Wah-wah pedal|wah-wah]] guitar is reminiscent of [[Isaac Hayes]]'s "[[Theme from Shaft|Theme from ''Shaft'']]".{{sfn|Buckley|2005|pp=184–189}}{{sfn|Doggett|2012|p=230}} Guarisco and Pegg felt the song's [[funk]] and soul nature fully predicted the direction Bowie would take on ''Young Americans''.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=198–199}}<ref name="Guarisco AllMusic">{{cite web|last=Guarisco|first=David A.|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/1984-mt0054050636|title='1984' – David Bowie|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=15 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531183637/https://www.allmusic.com/song/1984-mt0054050636|archive-date=31 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to Pegg, the theme of "Big Brother" is "the dangerous charisma of absolute power and the facility with which societies succumb to totalitarianism's final solutions".{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=38–39}} It was a possible contender to close Bowie's adaptation of ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''.{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 8}} Featuring synthesisers and saxophones,{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=38–39}} the track builds to a climax that Buckley considers reminiscent of ''The Man Who Sold the World''.{{sfn|Buckley|2005|pp=184–189}} The track segues into "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family", a variation on "Two Minutes Hate" from ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''.{{sfn|Doggett|2012|p=241}}{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 8}} It is a chant in 5/4 and 6/4 time, with a distorted guitar loop. On the original LP, the word brother repeats in a "stuck-needle effect", similar to the ending of [[the Beatles]]' ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' (1967).{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=59–60}}