Waamax

This one is one of my personal favorites. But the song meaning is once again, ambiguous and differs on the interpreter. We have various versions on the meaning of the same song.

Here it goes:

This is about a man who no longer recognizes himself and feels awful about it.

Some lyrical analysis: “We passed upon the stair” is a figurative representation of a crossroads in Bowie’s life, where Ziggy Stardust catches a glimpse of his former self, (being David Bowie) which he thought had died a long time ago. Then he (the old David Bowie) says: “Oh no, not me. I never lost control.” This indicates that Bowie never really lost sight of who he was, but he Sold The World (made them believe) that he had become Ziggy, and he thought it was funny (I laughed and shook his hand). He goes on to state, “For years and years I roamed,” which could refer to touring. “Gaze a gazely stare at all the millions here” are the fans at concerts.

i never lost control…and he was right , he control us until today, kurt cobain and his great cover of this great song , lyrics full of mesterious meaning but in the same it s about this man who is a special one , man with a special vision of this world , man who know the truth about it , it s why he sold it and he got away from it , to his own world , i really loved this song and i think that kurt is the bets one who sang this title with his feeling , and he did it , he sold our world in 1994 , and we miss him .

I see this song as the dialogue between the image we create in public and for which we believe is the true ourself (in the song denoted as He) and real, internal ourself created probably in our childhood (in song denoted as I) . That He, usually thinks is the same as I (that is why the lyrics “We never lost control,Youre face to face,With the man who sold the world” in the second verse).That is of course an illusion (that is why the internal, real us says “He said I was his friend, which came as a surprise”). Real us is of course looking for a form to show up in the public image throughout our lives(the whole third verse is just about that). And the difference between Bowie and Curt comes in the fourth verse. In Bowie version is after all We that never lost control (I assume he thinks that one can at least try to be as close to true ourself as one can be, shifting forms, but never being exactly that). On contrary Curt says it is an I that never lost the control, sounding like we can never be in our everyday lives what we really are (we forever betray our true nature). And for me, I am closer to Curts opinion. Sorry if I complicated things, but it is the way I feel this song, which is for me one of the best ever written in the popular music.

Actually I think the song is about religion and how it relates to independent thinking and how that is controlled by religion. In the first verse “the man” means any religious icon, whether it be Christ, Mohammed, Budda, etc ect… They are all men who “sold” the world on their ideas. Then at the last verse Bowie states that there are “millions” of religious icons, meaning everyone, but how we see someone as a religious icon all depends on control of that thought. This song is brilliant, and why this song is constantly attributed to Kurt Cobain is beyond me. Kurt Cobain never got even close to writing this good.

The Man who sold the world could actually be Judas Iscariot , Cane , the Devil or a wandering lost soul. We passed upon the stair, we spoke of was and when – Judas & Jesus meet sometime in the future and discussed about the past and what happened. (They were friends once. remember?) Although I wasn’t there, he said I was his friend – although Judas was not up there in heaven(upstairs) he was surprised that Jesus still considers him as His friend. Which came as some surprise I spoke into his eyes:”I thought you died alone, a long long time ago” – Judas thought Jesus died alone in the past. Oh no, not me I never lost control You’re face to face With the man who sold the world – not sure who spoke this. I laughed and shook his hand, and made my way back home – Judas goes back home to sheol/hell/limbo?. (not exactly sure why he laughed. maybe sarcastic or just let out a devilish laugh.) I searched for form and land, for years and years I roamed – Judas was probably cursed to wander aimlessly in another dimension or in limbo looking for form and land (similar to cane’s curse if u read the Bible). I gazed a gazely stare at all the millions here We must have died along, a long long time ago – Judas looks at millions of tormented souls in hell or limbo and told them they are already dead along with him ( they must have thought theyre alive all along ) Who knows? not me We never lost control You’re face to face With the man who sold the world – Judas talking to the multitude and admitted he’s the man who sold the world. Listen closely at bowie’s version at the end of the song theres a kind of eerie back vocals. spooky. but it rocks. you can download it using winmx. but its hard to find. goodluck.

I honestly think this song is about drugs, drugs abuse and what it does to your life. He walked along a stairs to meet up with his former self, although his former self is no longer around. And he’s surprised how much he liked his former self but he is gone (dead a long time ago) And no I didn’t lose control would be a kind of denial that they never did to much or wasn’t an addict etc. The second verse could be about all the fun druggie trips he took. He laughed at the idea of hallucinating seeing himself, then he gazed a gazely stair would be him being stone….. then realizing that his old self died a long time ago but his old self and currents self didn’t lose control they were only using recreationally or whatever you want to call it. And the man who sold the world could be code for drugs and the euphoric feels it gives you. Maybe I’m way off my rocker but that’s how I see it.

Interesting interpritations here. To me, the song is about a guy living the typical 9 to 5 life and meeting up with an old man/bum that hung around in the neighborhood and eventualy disapeared. He suddenly reappears and after exchanging sentiments he realised that the old man was content, while he was not. His “Searching” was for that same contentment. He then realizes that he was dead to the world becuase of his material pusuits. IE; Dying alone. The idea of “The Man who Sold the World” is one that gave up all things material and found bliss.

I believe this is about one person and appears to be about a suicide. One line reads, “Oh no, not me, I never lost control.” At the end, it reads, “Oh no, not me, WE never lost control. You’re face to face With the Man who Sold the World.” In other words, the man who sold the world is himself. I’ll guess that “we passed along the stair” is about the stairway to heaven or hell. This appears to be about a man remembering himself in the past (the man he passes is himself) and believing that he did not kill himself, was heading up to heaven. He is so convinced that he did not die from suicide, he splits himself into two people and is “surprised” that the man on the stair was his “friend.” However, he does know that the man on the stair, a man that he is surprised to find out was his friend, DIED a long, long time ago. How would he know that if he doesn’t know the man? In other words, “Hey, I thought you died but hey, I’m not you; I’m not that man.” He laughs at the phrase, “You’re face to face with the Man who sold the world,” and continues on to heaven. Notice how it reads, “I searched for form and land.” There is nothing around him except air and he’s walking in nothingness. Ultimately, after many years he finds all the people who have committed suicide (in hell, I guess) and realizes that there are millions who died alone, just like him. But even to the end, when he realizes that the man on the stair was himself, he tries to convince himself that WE never lost control, even though he gave up everything.

In my opinion, this song is about a man who doesn’t want to be famous or popular anymore and he’s sick and tired of the people who admire and adore him and he wants to go away and start a new life. So he runs away, and sets up a scene as though he committed suicide and years and years later…one of his best friends finds him and is completely surprised because his friend thougt that “he died a long long time ago”. And then he says, “Oh no, not me, I never lost control.” He sold the entire world to a complete lie…a setup of a suicide/murder. That’s why i think that it’s possible that kurt cobain is still alive hiding somewhere.

Well it’s upto you to agree on any of the versions. If you have your own, let’s hear it.

song facts from (songfacts)