Ricochet

Track 51 on Sound + Vision [2003 Version]

Producers

Apr. 14, 19831 viewer7.9K views

Ricochet Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Like weeds on a rockface waiting for the scythe
Ricochet - ricochet
The world is on a corner waiting for jobs
Ricochet - ricochet
Turn the holy pictures so they face the wall
"And who can bear to be forgotten"
"And who can bear to be forgotten"

[Chorus]
March of flowers, march of dimes
These are the prisons, these are the crimes
"Men wait for news while thousands are still asleep
Dreaming of tramlines, factories, pieces of machinery
Mine shafts things like that."
March of flowers, march of dimes
These are the prisons, these are the crimes
Sound of thunder, sound of gold
Sound of the devil breaking parole
Ricochet - it's not the end of the world

[Verse 2]
Sound of thunder, sound of gold
Sound of the devil breaking parole
Ricochet - ricochet
These are the prisons these are the crimes
Teaching life in a violent new way
Ricochet - ricochet
Turn the holy pictures so they face the wall
"And who can bear to be forgotten"
"And who can bear to be forgotten"

[Chorus]
March of flowers, march of dimes
These are the prisons, these are the crimes
"Early, before the sun
They struggle off to the gates
In their secret fearful places they see their lives
Unraveling before them"
March of flowers - march of dimes
These are the prisons, these are the crimes
Sound of thunder, sound of gold
Sound of the devil breaking parole
Ricochet - it's not the end of the world

[Verse 3]
"That's when they get home, damp eyed and weary
They smile and crush their children to their heaving chests
Making unfulfillable promises
For who can bear to be forgotten"

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Genius Annotation

The closest Let’s Dance gets to Bowie’s former style of art-rock, this track can be read as a dystopian take on the collateral damage of late-stage capitalism. Workers are jobless and down-trodden and religion is failing.

Initially one of Bowie’s favorite tracks on Let’s Dance for its relatively ambitious lyricism, he later regretted Nile Rodgers' production on the album, saying, “The beat wasn’t quite right. It didn’t roll the way it should have, the syncopation was wrong. It had an ungainly gait; it should have flowed.”