David Bowie released Hunky Dory in 1971. I’m not a massive David Bowie fan and frankly think a large majority of his songs are overrated. Rebel Rebel, Modern Love, Let’s Dance, and Heroes to name a few that don’t thrill me. When I move past those overplayed songs, I run into Hunky Dory which has taken over my listening time.

  1. Changes – The movie the Breakfast Club opens up with this quote, “These children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds, are immune to your consultations, they’re quite aware of what they’re going through.”  For a movie as iconic as the Breakfast Club, it should stand as a testament to the power of this song and Bowie. It’s a nice song that deals with one of the most common themes that everyone goes through, change. The chorus is also catchy. CH-CH-CH-CH-Changes!
  2. Oh! You Pretty Things – Let me thank South Bowl for introducing me to this song. The opening to this song is fantastic piano playing, lyric accompanying,  that builds into a crescendo of “Oh! You Pretty Things!” It’s not a great party song and has to do with aliens taking over. You gotta make way for the Homo Superior.
  3. Eight Line Poem – Oh! You Pretty Things leads right into this 2:55 snooze fest that leads right into the best song on the album.
  4. Life on Mars? – If you asked me what my favorite Bowie song was, I’d tend to answer with Life on Mars? I heard Chris Martin cover it and was blown away. I’m not comparing the two versions but the song is absolutely a top 100 of all time in my book. After some research, Bowie quotes about the girl in the first verse, “I think she finds herself disappointed with reality… that although she’s living in the doldrums of reality, she’s being told that there’s a far greater life somewhere, and she’s bitterly disappointed that she doesn’t have access to it.” This goes along with her watching TV and how it’s not what she expects. He may also be asking the question, is there Life on Mars? because he wants to leave Earth.
  5. Kooks – What has oddly become my favorite song to listen to on the album because I never listened to it before. I can’t find much info on it but it has this fun melody to it and being described as “a couple of kooks, hung up on romancing.”

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I would do the whole album but those 5 songs are the best and I don’t think too many people care much further. Give the album a listen to on Spotify and see if you agree with my sentiment that these songs rock. I’d also like to know if you enjoyed reading this post because I honestly enjoy listening to albums that are off the radar and hopefully bringing some new songs to people’s attention.