An album that belongs in the pantheon of great rock albums, David Bowie’s pop opus “Hunky Dory” is packed with brilliant examples of songwriting. Somewhat more introspective than the more famous (and later) rock opera “Ziggy Stardust,” “Hunky Dory” features the folk/pop atmosphere of Bowie’s early work. Following the harder-edged album “The Man Who Sold the World,” “Hunky Dory” scored a couple of time-tested hits in “Changes” and “Oh! You Pretty Things.” However, it’s the less ubiquitous tracks that truly make this album classic – such songs “Quicksand,” “Andy Warhol,” “Life on Mars?” and “Queen Bitch” (the latter two familiar to younger indie audiences through their inclusion in Wes Anderson’s “The Life Aquatic”). Bowie also adds British-pop, nearly showtune, flourishes in songs like “Kooks” and “Fill Your Heart.” Keen to the avant garde as well, as his career has demonstrated, Bowie adds a couple of subtle unconventional elements to the folky-pop songs. The ambient, spoken-word intro to “Andy Warhol” foreshadows Bowie’s later challenging work with Brian Eno. “Eight Line Poem” sounds like Lou Reed balladeering enough to also show that Bowie, despite being an enormous talent, was also influenced by the brilliant musicians he knew.
What stands out most when approaching “Hunky Dory” in a critical manner is the smart and literate qualities of Bowie’s lyrics. Intelligent lyrics are a very difficult task, demonstrated by the enormous amount of crap that singers sing. Bowie manages to combine words in a manner that is complex, interesting but never verbose (note how his phrasing is never strained to accommodate excess wordage). There is the clever shift in “Oh! You Pretty Things” which turns the song from a domestic ballad to something more mysterious. Even individual lines like “Like to take a cement fix / Be a standing cinema” from “Andy Warhol” or “She’s so swishy in her satin and tat / In her frock coat and bipperty-bopperty hat” from “Queen Bitch” demonstrate Bowie’s ample poetics. However, one only needs to quote lines like “Oh, we were Gone / Hanging out with your Dwarf Man” from “The Bewlay Brothers” to show that Bowie was even at this stage a bit eccentric.
Bowie didn’t do it himself, however. Mick Ronson makes his presence felt throughout “Hunky Dory.” In addition to arranging nearly half of the albums eleven songs, Ronson again proves the perfect guitarist for this album, whether it’s his melodic strumming on “Quicksand,” snappy riffing on “Andy Warhol,” or nearly “Freebird” guitar leads on “Song for Bob Dylan.” Ronson never takes the spotlight unnecessarily, with no real solos, yet he always does something appropriate with the songs.
If you are not familiar with Bowie, “Hunky Dory” is a good place to start. Accessible yet smart and catchy as hell, “Hunky Dory” is a timeless gem. |