Originally published at: "All the Young Dudes" turns 50 | Boing Boing
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And some of us younger old people discovered it here:
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This was really the first “anthem song” that I remembered as a pretty young kid. It had power, even if I couldn’t understand half the lyrics. But I understood getting criticized by old people for being who you were. It had power.
Funny that Ian Hunter sings it on Howard Stern as (my italics):
Now Lucy looks sweet 'cause she dresses like a queen
But she can kick like a mule, it’s a real mean team
Where Bowie sings it as:
Now Lucy/Lizzy/Jenny (in different versions) looks sweet 'cause he dresses like a queen
But he can kick like a mule, it’s a real mean team
The “he” fits into the context of Bowie and his music. I don’t know why Hunter would have changed it.
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Hunter was uncomfortable with the song? I figure that also accounts for his odd ramble at the end, “Hey you there, with the glasses…”
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Well, Billy rapped all night about his suicide
How he’d kick it in the head when he was twenty-five
Speed jive, don’t want to stay alive
When you’re twenty-five
And Wendy’s stealing clothes from Marks and Sparks
And Freddy’s got spots from ripping off the stars
From his face
Funky little boat race
Television man is crazy
Saying we’re juvenile deliquent wrecks
Oh, man, I need TV when I got T-Rex
Oh, brother, you’ve guessed, I’m a dude, dad
All the young dudes (Hey, dudes!)
Carry the news (Where are you?)
Boogaloo dudes (Stand up, come on!)
Carry the news
All the young dudes (I want to hear you!)
Carry the news (I want to see you!)
Boogaloo dudes (And I want to talk to you! All of you!)
Carry the news
Now Lucy looks sweet 'cause he dresses like a queen
But he can kick like a mule, it’s a real mean team
But we can love
Oh yes, we can love
And my brother’s back at home with his Beatles and his Stones
We never got it off on that revolution stuff
What a drag
Too many snags
Now I’ve drunk a lot of wine and I’m feeling fine
Got to race some cat to bed
Oh, is there concrete all around or is it in my head?
Yeah, I’m a dude, dad
All the young dudes (Hey, dudes!)
Carry the news (Where are you?)
Boogaloo dudes (Stand up!)
Carry the news
All the young dudes (I want to hear you!)
Carry the news (I want to see you!)
Boogaloo dudes (And I want to relate to you!)
Carry the news
All the young dudes (What dudes?)
Carry the news (Let’s hear the news, come on!)
Boogaloo dudes (I want to kick you!)
Carry the news
All the young dudes (Hey, you there, with the glasses!)
Carry the news (I want you!)
Boogaloo dudes (I want you at the front!)
Carry the news (Now you, all his friends!)
All the young dudes (Now you bring him down, 'cause I want him!)
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes (I want him right here, bring him, come on!)
Carry the news (Bring him, ha ha, here you go!)
All the young dudes (I’ve wanted to do this for years, ha ha ha!)
Carry the news (There you go!)
Boogaloo dudes (How do you feel?)
Carry the news
Transistor radios back then…
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Another non-original Mott song. I specifically remember Hunter saying he couldn’t really relate to the lyrics, but I think it’s great anyway.
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For at least one show (2004 Isle of Wight) Bowie sung this as:
“And Wendy’s stealing clothes from unlocked cars.”
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Howard Stern has the absolute best studio for musicians to visit, they spared no expense at SiriusXM.
This version is from a couple years ago at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction thingy for Def Leopard.
Anytime I can see old rockers on the stage together is a great day.
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Sounds like this was originally a BBC mandated change. (No product placements or endorsements.)
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In need of a dialogue pass.
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The band sounds so much like Bowie that I was pretty old before I learned that it was Mott the Hoople and not Bowie himself.
That said, the Columbia ad is probably one of the few I’ve seen that markets something as “classic” when hardly anybody has experienced it and accurately-ish predicted the future (it’s a good song and a well known one, but I’m not quite sure I would call it classic).
“Boat race” in this context is Cockney rhyming slang for “face.”
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I’ve wanted to do this for years…
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my 15yr old daughter sings it 50 yrs later so, yeah, that’s a classic
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