Lyrics to
All The Madmen

This version of All The Madmen was released by David Bowie in 1970.

Our Decade Lyrics David Bowie profile has all of the All The Madmen lyrics from 1970 and many more songs from the David Bowie discography that we have on file.

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Day after day
They send my friends away
To mansions cold and grey
To the far side of town
Where the thin men stalk the streets
While the sane stay underground

Day after day
They tell me I can go
They tell me I can blow
To the far side of town
Where it’s pointless to be high
‘Cause it’s such a long way down
So I tell them that
I can fly, I will scream, I will break my arm

I will do me harm
Here I stand, foot in hand, talking to my wall
I’m not quite right at all…am I?

Don’t set me free, I’m as heavy as can be
Just my librium and me
And my E.S.T. makes three

‘Cause I’d rather stay here
With all the madmen
Than perish with the sadmen roaming free

And I’d rather play here
With all the madmen
For I’m quite content they’re all as sane as me

(Where can the horizon lie
When a nation hides
Its organic minds in a cellar…dark and grim
They must be very dim)

Day after day
They take some brain away
Then turn my face around
To the far side of town
And tell me that it’s real
Then ask me how I feel

Here I stand, foot in hand, talking to my wall
I’m not quite right at all
Don’t set me free, I’m as helpless as can be
My libido’s split on me
Gimme some good ‘ole lobotomy

‘Cause I’d rather stay here
With all the madmen
Than perish with the sadmen
Roaming free And I’d rather play here
With all the madmen
For I’m quite content
They’re all as sane as me
Zane, Zane, Zane Ouvre le Chien

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David Bowie has released many songs over the years besides All The Madmen. David Bowie released songs from 1967 to 2003 spanning across albums like David Bowie, Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, Aladdin Sane, Pin Ups, Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Station To Station, Heroes, Low, Lodger, Scary Monsters, Hot Space, Let's Dance, Tonight, Never Let Me Down, Black Tie White Noise, Outside, Earthling, Hours..., Heathen, and Reality. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by David Bowie.

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About Lyrics and All The Madmen by David Bowie

The lyrics to All The Madmen are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by David Bowie in 1970. Elements of the lyrics to All The Madmen are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by David Bowie and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for All The Madmen back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to All The Madmen by David Bowie in a number of ways. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to All The Madmen" means the words set to the music of All The Madmen, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by David Bowie. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to All The Madmen and the lyrics to All The Madmen are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of David Bowie who came here looking just for the lyrics to All The Madmen, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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