No past, no future
Diminishing present
Welcome to 2002
And it's all because...
Oh, yeah
Still don't know what I was waiting for
Time was running wild, a million dead-end streets, and
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
Then I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see this faker
I'm much too fast to take that test
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes, didn't want to have to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes, I just wanted to be a better man
Time may change me, I can't trace time
Ooh, yeah
Watch the ripples change their size
And never leave the stream of warm impermanence, and
So the days float through my eyes
Still the days seem the same, just the same, yeah
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
They're immune to your consultation
Quite aware of what they're going through
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strange)
Ooh, changes, don't tell them to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes, looks like you've left them up to our necks in it
Time may change me, I can't trace time
Strange fascination, fascinating me
Oh, changes are taking the pace I'm going through
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes, look out, all you rock 'n' rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes, pretty soon now, we're gonna get older
Time may change me, I can't trace time
Said that time may change me, I can't trace time
Ooh, my time, time
Time
Mike Garson, welcome to Montreux Jazz Festival, mate
Hey
About This Song
"Changes" is David Bowie's introspective anthem about personal transformation and the struggle to understand one's evolving identity, capturing the restless spirit of early 1970s youth culture. The song explores themes of self-examination and the difficulty of genuine self-knowledge, with Bowie singing about turning to "face the strange" while acknowledging he's "much too fast" to truly confront his own contradictions. Musically, it features a distinctive piano-driven melody with Bowie's theatrical vocal delivery, including the iconic stuttered "ch-ch-changes" hook that became one of his most recognizable phrases. The track's blend of folk-rock accessibility with avant-garde sensibilities exemplified Bowie's ability to make experimental ideas commercially appealing. "Changes" became a defining statement of Bowie's chameleonic artistic philosophy and remains a timeless meditation on the anxiety and excitement of personal reinvention.
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