What did David Bowie mean when he said, “I’m not a prophet or a stone age man”?
David Bowie probably, quite secretly, enjoyed the sometimes misconstrued concept that he was an enigma. In a musical sense, his sound and lyrics absolutely could be elusive, but in real life, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone more searingly honest than him.
But when you think about it, it was likely this juxtaposition that went a long way in making him an icon, because it played into a trope of mystery and intrigue that was offset by the realities of his true character, which was blazing and upfront, and really quite funny.
Yet, when considering Bowie the artist rather than the person, his lyrics were often as perplexing and beguiling as you might feel, particularly at the height of his most prolific period. Take Hunky Dory from 1971, the album that, for many fans, represents the pinnacle of the singer’s illustrious back catalogue.
In the context of the time it was rooted in, the record was also Bowie at perhaps his most emotionally complex. His fame was rapidly growing, and his perception of his identity and morality was hugely skewed, to say the least. This came to a head on the song ‘Quicksand’, which presented some of the most complicated questions and concepts that he ever pondered across his career.
Within this one line, he embodies this juxtaposing conundrum, as he laments, “I’m not a prophet or a stone age man”. But technically, what does this truly mean? It certainly highlights the dichotomy between the lowest and highest echelons of society, but what resemblance did this exactly bear on the artist himself, and the state of Bowie’s own psyche?
What themes did he convey with these lines?
You can say that fame had proved to be a potent elixir, as reflected in much of the Starman’s work of the period. He became infatuated with the idea of the supernatural, the spiritual, and the occult as a whole, and that goes some way in addressing part of the confusing comparisons. But, digging deeper, there is a lot to be said for his feeling and yearning to be a normal man.
The reality is that he didn’t feel ‘normal’, and his draw to supernatural spirits could be attributed to this fact. Yet putting this in the context of the lyrics, it’s Bowie essentially saying that he does not feel like a god, nor like someone who has aged out of the picture a long time ago, and, as such, he is simply floating in a liminal space between the two.
That’s the ultimate genius of Bowie. You may not understand his lyrics in a literary sense, nor relate to his condition, but the process of unfurling these puzzles is just as enthralling as the genesis of the music itself. But in its own way, his sentiments are still relatable—none of us are prophets or stone age men, and we’re all just trying to muddle through. There are many things other than fame which can make you feel like that. It just meant that despite his otherworldly ways, Bowie was the ultimate purveyor of truth, after all.
