God (U.K. 12" B-Side) vs. Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed

Song:  God (U.K. 12" B-Side)
Album:  Purple Rain
Year:  1984

I couldn't find a video for the exact version of this song, which is important because this particular version is, in my mind, the superior version.  It appeared originally as the B-Side to the U.K. Import 12" single of Purple Rain, and again as an inclusion on the Deluxe version of the Purple Rain album.  It's just offbeat enough and different enough from the shorter vocal version to stoke interest.  A solo guitar carries what would be the vocal while drums, bass, synth strings and piano provide a background that is never static and flirts with Prince's interest in jazz.  It's a fine number made somewhat finer by the fact that it has been (and still is, to some extent) somewhat difficult to find.

Verdict:  4.5/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  I'm starting to wonder why I include this question, especially for instrumentals.

Song:  Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed
Album:  Space Oddity
Year:  1969

This just happens to be one of my favorite Bowie songs.  I discovered it during a phase in college when I was diving deep into his first few albums and became increasingly enamored with every track on this album.  It immediately follows what is perhaps his signature song (Space Oddity) by echoing (slightly) the escalating guitar riffs of that song to lead into what quickly becomes a rollicking jam with a Bo-Diddly beat.  But don't listen to me . . . you can read a far superior explanation here (or below):

The song is a slow reduction, moving from complexity and nuance down to hard basics, and seems, symbolically if not intentionally, to be Bowie throwing over folk music for hard rock. It opens with 12-string acoustic, alternating between Asus2 and D9 chords; Bowie’s dreamy vocal and the occasional sweep of electric guitar suggests it will be another delicate rambling folk song in the vein of “Letter to Hermione.” Then a 20-bar verse destabilizes the song until at last Bowie hits ground with a Bo Diddley beat and riffing guitars and harmonica.

It's a song that makes me want to roll down the windows and crank the stereo to 11.  Apologies to any fellow drivers that may have inadvertently been exposed to my bellowing.

Verdict:  5/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  Absolutely!  Immediately!  Repeatedly!

Winner:  Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed

Running Score:  Bowie 15, Prince 8

Saviour vs. Under Pressure

Song:  Saviour
Album:  Emancipation
Year:  1996

A pretty straight-forward mid-tempo love song punctuated by standard Prince screams and guitar solos.  Not a bad track but nothing all that memorable about it either.

Verdict:  3/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  It would take years of vocal training, and possibly a time machine

Song:  Under Pressure
Album:  Hot Space (by Queen)
Year:  1982

What could I possibly say about this song that hasn't been said before?  According to Wikipedia Queen played this one at every live performance from 1981 through the end of their touring career in 1986.  The distinct vocal styles of Freddy Mercury and David Bowie both contrast and blend well to form a song that simmers at first, erupts and then draws back in on itself.  A masterpiece!

A few other samplings of this song include the Rah Mix:

An appearance in Happy Feet 2:

And this douchebag . . .

Verdict:  5/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  I have, multiple times, but only the Bowie part

Winner:  Under Pressure

Running Score:  Bowie 14, Prince 8

Xenophobia - Live vs. Karma Man

Song:  Xenophobia - Live
Album:  One Nite Alone . . . Live!
Year:  2002

From a live set in Portland, Prince immediately instructs the audience to not expect Purple Rain; that this is going to be something different.  And this track is different.  It takes a saxophone riff from Maceo Parker, repeated throughout the entire track, and layers onto it snippets of Prince addressing the crowd, a short synth solo, a long(ish) drum solo, a slow piano solo, some conversation with the crowd (including snubbing on fan because she answered that it's better to be a leader than a follower), a guitar solo and finally back to the Maceo riff with full band.

This track grew on me.  I was a bit bored with the sax riff but did enjoy this as a jazz number of moderate skill.  I listen to a lot of jazz and while I feel Prince and company are competent, they are in no way masters of the genre.  Maceo is a definitely a legend, having played with James Brown as well as Parlaiment/Funkadelic, but the riff here is simple and you might not even know if it was him if not for Prince announcing him.  I definitely would not turn to this track or any of Prince's jazz offerings if that were the genre I was craving.  I can imagine the crowd enjoying it while also just wanting it to finish so that he could get on to some of his more pop, funk and soul oriented material.

Verdict:  2.5/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  It's not that type of song, though I wish I had the stage patter that Prince possesses.

Song:  Karma Man
Album:  David Bowie
Year:  1967

From the Deluxe edition of Bowie's often overlooked first album.  This is not the Bowie you imagine Bowie to be.  This is a Bowie who writes odd ditties about odd topics - a gravedigger, a gnome and a mommie's boy all get their due on this album.  Karma Man seems to be about a human oddity secured behind the tent curtains of a traveling circus.  This is a man who's seen war and has been profoundly affected both physically and emotionally.  It shows in his eyes and in the pinkness of his (presumably chemically burned) skin.  For all that the tune is surprisingly jaunty, which doesn't surprise me given the mind from whence it sprang.  Still, it's not all that catchy a tune in that the lyrics are both difficult to parse and difficult to remember.  It is, however, a nice glimpse into the creative mind that will blossom over the next 50 years.

Fingertips sun at sideshow stalls, they throw the balls
At coconut furs that hide behind coloured shades that blind your eyes
Every child's mother holds an ice cream cone, they circle round
Perceived unknown by an eye that peers from a hole in a tent where no one goes
A figure sitting cross-legged on the floor
He's cloaked and clothed in saffran robes, his beads are all he owns

Slow down, slow down
Someone must have said let's slow him down
Slow down, slow down
It's pictured on the arms of the karma man

Fairy tale skin depicting scenes from human zoos
Impermanent toys like peace and war, a gentle face you've seen before
Karma man tattooed on your side, the wheel of life
I see my times and who I've been, I only live now and I don't know why
I struggle hard to take these pictures in, but
All my friends can see is just the pinkness of his skin

Slow down, slow down
Someone must have said let's slow him down
Slow down, slow down
It's pictured on the arms of the karma man

Verdict:  2/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  No.

Winner:  Xenophobia - Live, by a hair

Running Score:  Bowie 13, Prince 8

Sweet Baby vs. Nite Flights - Moodswings Back to Basics Remix

Song:  Sweet Baby
Album:  The Love Symbol Album
Year:  1992

While I'm familiar with The Love Symbol Album, I am surprised to find that I have only a passing memory of this particular song.  Perhaps I just wasn't into the slow jam Prince back in the early 90s (a time when I was more into goth, industrial and almost anything put out by the Wax Trax label.  Twenty-seven years later I am able to appreciate this lush, beautiful track for what it is . . . the perfect Prince slow jam.  That's not to diminish the artistry and impact of International Lover or Do Me Baby at all; those are also perfect Prince slow jams.  But Sweet Baby shows a somewhat more mature Prince embracing the Debussy's recognition that "music is the space between the notes".  With this track every note counts, but the constraint in NOT including a wicked guitar solo, vocal gymnastics or a spoken word segment counts just as much.  The vocals and music are absolutely perfect and create an absolute gem of a song.

Verdict:  5/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  If only I have the skill!

Song:  Nite Flights - Moodswings Back to Basics Remix
Album:  Black Tie White Noise
Year:  1993

In contrast to The Love Symbol Album, I am not at all familiar with Black Tie White Noise, though I do clearly recall picking it up in a Chicago CD store at one time and considering the purchase.  I probably bought a Ministry CD  instead.  Upon first listening to this track I thought to myself "Wow!  Bowie is really embracing a retro 90s sound."  The buffoonery of that initial thought was my very next thought.  Of  course it sounds like a 90s album.  It IS a 90s album!  And if this track is any representation, it's a decent representation.  Not to mention that it's a remix . . . a very effective and very 90s method of re-selling individual tracks to us club kids.  The track is fine.  It's done well and I could see myself zoning out to it on a late night dancefloor (90s) or while dozing on the couch at 10pm (now).

Verdict:  3.5/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  If for some reason I was asked to do so, sure

Winner:  Sweet Baby

Running Score:  Bowie 13, Prince 7

The Sensual Everafter vs. Warszawa - Live

Song:  The Sensual Everafter
Album:  The Rainbow Children
Year:  2001

I was prepared to hate this.  A track from Prince's most absurd concept album chronicling his brainwashing into an oppressive cult.  I will say it again . . . the musicianship is perfect.  However, the composition is all over the place, combining Joe Satriani-style lead guitar with electronic bass guitar licks with breathy mini-choruses with tiny bells with the dumbest low-pitched intro voice Prince could possibly muster.  It's a wreck that works marginally.  Reviews from the internet indicate that this is one of the better tracks on the album, so . . .

Verdict:  1.5/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  n/a

Song:  Warszawa - Live
Album:  Stage
Year:  1978

What a coincidence that both of today's  songs are primarily instrumentals, both with very minimal vocals.  In sharp contrast to the absurd mess by Prince, Bowie opens this live performance with the brooding lament that is Warszawa (from his 1977 album Low).  It's an effective way to open a concert.  A minimalist composition by Brian Eno to both hush the crowd and to station them on the precipice of the impressive live show to follow.  Bowies vocals, inspired by a Balkan boy's choir, are superb and, in this context, serve as a teaser to the show to follow - a show that will transport his fans through Bowie's Berlin era, the Ziggy Stardust years, the Thin White Duke and even a sampling of Blue-Eyed Soul.  It's a piece I never fully appreciated until this project.

Verdict:  3/5 stars

Would  I sing it at karaoke?  Only if  I could segue into Heroes next, as he does on the album.

Winner:  Warszawa - Live

Running Score:  Bowie 13, Prince 6

Young and Beautiful vs. Ziggy Stardust - Live in Santa Monica '72

Song:  Young and Beautiful
Album:  One Nite Alone . . . Solo piano and voice by Prince
Year:  2002

They only want ur virginity
Keep ur clothes on and ur chastity
Until u find the one that's worth it baby

This is dad Prince at his finest.  Though things quickly take a turn with the second verse:

U're so fine my heart's just pounding
If I had the chance 2 lay u down,
I'd probably take a rain check 'til next summer
Cuz I don't wanna b like all ur other lovers

Yuck.  Just . . . yuck.

Verdict:  1/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  Never.

Song:  Ziggy Stardust - Live
Album:  Live in Santa Monica '72
Year:  2008

A competent live version though it doesn't expand on the original studio version in any way.  This can be a good thing . . .  all live shows need a few numbers that don't try to dash your expectations.  Within the context of the album the track works well to do just that.

Verdict:  4/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  I already have!

Winner:  Ziggy Stardust - Live

Running Score:  Bowie 12, Prince 6

Dolphin vs. Buddha of Suburbia

Song:  Dolphin
Album:  The Gold Experience
Year:  1995

If I came back as a dolphin
Would you listen to me then?
Would you let me be your friend?
Would you let me in?
You can cut off all my fins
But to your ways I will not bend
I'll die before I let you tell me how to swim
And I'll come back again as a dolphin

The dolphin is a symbol of salvation.  The lyrics to this song use this symbol as a parable, invoking the resurrection to explain to us all what we should already know.  As always, the musicianship is superb if (again, as always) somewhat overproduced.  The lyrics are simple and I suppose some might find them deep and beautiful.  For me, this is Prince at his blandest.  Nothing interesting, shocking, groundbreaking or subversive.

Similarly simple is Billy Bragg's song Dolphins.  The message is similar and the lyrics even more minimal than the Prince track.  However, Billy Bragg manages to convey the lyrics not only through the words, but through the raw and somewhat jarring guitar work.  It's a great example of matching words to music, something Prince does well occasionally (the entire Purple Rain album for example) but seems to have lost track of in his later career.

Verdict:  2/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  No way.

Song:  Buddha of Suburbia
Album:  The Buddha of Suburbia
Year:  1995

The title track from the soundtrack to a 1993 British TV show, this one grew on me through repeated listenings.  As the name of the track implies, this is a montage of suburban snapshots conveying the ennui and angst of suburban living.  It's a somewhat boring song . . . but Bowie does something interesting near the end.  He throws in the first part of the guitar bridge from Space Oddity and then adds a phrase from All The Madman.  Why?  Well, first off they work.  The guitar lick provides a nice jolt back to the past and any Bowie fan will automatically think "ouvre le chien" when they hear the lyrics "day after day".  This is a nice treat to diehard fans.  But I think it's also a mechanism for the song's narrator to harken back to a time that was perhaps more exciting and fresh as these songs are from Bowie's first two studio albums (Space Oddity and The Man Who Sold the World).  It puts the song in a whole new light for me and makes me want more.

Verdict:  3.5/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  No, but now I want to sing All The Madmen.

Winner:  Buddha of Suburbia

Running Score:  Bowie 11, Prince 6

She Spoke 2 Me vs. The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell - Stigmata Film Only Version

Song:  She Spoke 2 Me
Album:  The Vault . . . Old Friends 4 Sale
Year:  1999

When Prince told us back in 1982 that he was going to party like it was 1999, he was being far funkier then his actual partying IN 1999.  This track, composed as part of the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Girl 6, is Prince in full-on smooth jazz persona.  Having now dipped my toes into Prince's jazz forays I am going to boldly pronounce that this is an area he needn't have explored.  It's not that he does it poorly; it's technically fine and not unpleasant to listen to.  He does tend to rely on the very treble-heavy horn section, minimal lower end tenor sax blurts and somewhat repetitive solos.  The playing is tight, competent though a bit over-produced.  I'd be interested to see Prince jam along with some true jazz musicians just to see what he could do.  I'm fairly sure he's done this . . . I just never had the opportunity to witness it.  I'd bet it was better than this.

Verdict:  2/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  My smooth jazz stylings start and end with Smooth Operator

Song:  The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell - Stigmata Film Only Version
Album:  Hours
Year:  1999

If Prince was smooth-jazzing in 1999, Bowie was going a much more aggressive route with this entry in his Trent Reznor inspired pseudo-industrial phase.  This is a song that demands to be played loud.  Screaching guitar and driving drums propel the music above Bowie's less-than-menacing vocals.  The track was written for the 1999 film Stigmata and, per Wikipedia, inspired by The Stooge's "Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell" from their Raw Power album (produced by, surprise surprise, David Bowie).  If you want something loud and raw, go to the Stooge's track.  If you want an artist experimenting with a heavier sound, then this will do.  An enjoyable track, but doesn't really pack the punch of the heavy hitters that inspired it.

Verdict:  3/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  If I were to go industrial I'd have to select Stigmata by Ministry.

Winner:  The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell - Stigmata Film Only Version

Running Score:  Bowie 10, Prince 6

Pearls B4 the Swine vs. Beauty and the Beast

Song:  Pearls B4 the Swine
Album:  One Nite Alone . . . Solo piano and voice by Prince
Year:  2002

First off, this track obviously contains percussion and guitar, so it's presence on an album purporting to be solo piano and voice is puzzling.  Secondly, it's forgettable.  Princevault indicates that it was released in "a special show posted in response" to the 9/11/01 US terror attacks.  OK, I can read some relevance into the lyrics if I try hard enough.  Still, it's obtuse, boring and unnecessary.

Verdict:  1/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  No.

Song:  Beauty and the Beast
Album:  Heroes
Year:  1977

I will admit that the lyrics to this one are equally vague, though I suppose you could read into them something about the dualistic nature of a person.  Whatever . . . it's a strong opening track to Heroes with some excellent Robert Fripp guitar work, a driving beat and an extended remix that I could imagine being played in some elite warehouse Manhattan disco circa 1978.  I don't believe this track has been included on any of Bowie's greatest hit compilations (and I really don't feel like checking), but it should be.

Verdict:  4/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!

Winner:  Beauty and the Beast

Running Score:  Bowie 9, Prince 6

The Arms of Orion vs. Hallo Spaceboy (12" Remix)

Song:  The Arms of Orion
Album:  Batman
Year:  1989

All Music calls this song "embarrassingly enjoyable sappy mainstream balladry" and that's exactly what it is.  Written by Sheena Easton, it's her thoughts of two lovers looking up at the same constellation and dreaming of being together.  Easton duets with Prince on this one and their voices blend beautifully.  I don't recall this song from the movie and don't believe I've ever listened to it beyond my first exposure to the album 30 years ago - Batman is just not the album people have in mind when they think of Prince.  I was prepared to hate this song when it popped up for this project.  Instead, I have the feeling it's going to become a guilty pleasure that I'll throw into random playlists just for fun.

Verdict:  3/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  Yes, but it would have to be a bar full of Prince fans familiar with his deep cuts.

Song:  Hallo Spaceboy - 12" Remix
Album:  1. Outside
Year:  1995

A dance remix of the album cut featuring the Pet Shop Boys on additional vocals and, according to Neil Tennant, an unofficial third chapter to the Major Tom saga.  (Well, fourth chapter if you consider Peter Schilling's Major Tom (Coming Home)).  I'm a casual fan of the Pet Shop Boys and like what they've done here, from the dance mix to their additional vocals, it's a nice vibe and I could see myself grooving to it back at The Shelter or Industry in mid-90s Chicago.  In fact I may have done just that . . . who knows . . . it was the 90s and it's all a bit blurry.

Verdict:  4/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  Sure, but like Arms of Orion it'd have to be a Bowie crowd in the mood to dance.

Verdict:  Hallo Spaceboy - 12" Remix

Running Score:  Bowie 8, Prince 6

Nothing Compares 2 U vs. A Better Future (Air Remix)

Song:  Nothing Compares 2 U
Album:  The Hits / The B Sides
Year:  1993

Ah, the tortured history of Nothing Compares 2 U.  Initially included on The Family's sole, self-titled 1985 album, it went on to become a huge breakthrough hit for Sinead O'Connor in 1990.  Both versions had been unavailable on Spotify for some time; Sinead's has now been restored while The Family's version, though available for a short period, seems to be missing once again.

It was never a secret that this was a Prince composition, but that's what it should have remained . . . a Prince composition . . . not a Prince recording.  Prince does everything he can here to rob this tune of it's power by making it not only a duet with Rosie Gaines, but allowing it to be a duet where Rosie shows off her vocal talents which, though considerable, just don't convey the pathos this song warrants.  Whereas Sinead's vocals were alternately quiet, loud, somber and angry, Rosie retains her gospel stylings throughout.  And why a duet?  If both singers are this sad about their breakup then why did they break up in the first place?  And don't even get me started on the instrumentation and recording quality - both are substandard.  One listen to this version and you are going to jump straight back to Sinead's recording, guaranteed.

Verdict:  2/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  Not this version.

Song:  A Better Future (Air Remix)
Album:  Heathen
Year:  2002

This minimalist electro track demands solutions to the ills of our world.  Or perhaps it's just a snapshot of a dystopian future.  Whatever the case it's bleak, stark, noisy and uncomfortable with the screeching instrumentals and occasional robotic voices.  It's not a track that I'd put on intentionally; it's more suited to a background mix on a rainy afternoon.

Verdict:  2/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  Nah . . . too boring vocally

Winner:  A Better Future (Air Remix)

Running score:  Bowie 7, Prince 6

Baltimore vs. Always Crashing in the Same Car

Song:  Baltimore
Album:  HITnRUN: Phase Two
Year:  2015

This song was recorded roughly 2 weeks after the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of the Baltimore police.  (You can find a more thorough description of the incident at The Atlantic).  As a song that uses the topic of institutionalized police brutality of black men as it's source material (including the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri), Baltimore uses remarkably upbeat instrumentation as it's foundation.  The lyrics are essentially variations on the platitudes commonly echoed in songs of this nature.  ("If there ain't no justice, then there ain't no peace" and "peace is more than the absence of war.").  It's a very produced, clean and crisp sound, though just a tad too heavy on the Prince-style horns for my taste.  The guitar riff and mini-solo halfway through are both catchy and the strings section immediately following works well too.  Altogether a pleasant song conveying a message of hope, though this is ultimately dashed by the closing "news interruption."  I'd like to think that music like this can effect change; on it's own I fear it will not, but if it sparks stronger activism and inspires individuals to vote then I'm all for it.

Verdict:  3/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  If I'm protesting I'm going to go more for the jugular, so probably not.

Song:  Always Crashing in the Same Car
Album:  Low
Year:  1977

This is one of those songs that becomes better the more you know about it.  The lyrics can be taken both literally and as a metaphor for making the same mistakes over and over again.  Per Wikipedia, the literal interpretation stems from Bowie's repeated ramming of a drug dealer's car during the height of his (Bowie's) cocaine addiction.  Wikipedia goes on to state that a third verse, sung in the style of Bob Dylan, was scrapped due to the band's belief that it may be misinterpreted as a reference to Dylan's motorcycle crash several years earlier.

I have never been crazy about this song.  It doesn't stand out for me on the album and has always been one that just sort of passes by without my notice.  Listening more intently and digging deeper into the lyrics and meaning, I have a new appreciation for it.  It still won't be my go-to Bowie, but I won't skip over it either.

Verdict:  3/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  Nah . . . too short.

Winner:  Baltimore, if only because it seems more focused on positive change

Running Score:  Bowie 6, Prince 6

Valentina vs. Life on Mars? (Live Nassau Coliseum '76)

Song:  Valentina
Album:  MPLSound
Year:  2009

Dedicated to Selma Hayek's younger daughter, this is a fun tune with killer synth stabs and drum work reminiscent of Little Red Corvette.  Everything sounds good here, from the vocals, to the instrumental work to the guitar solo and beyond.  The more I play this track the more I like it.  I'm tempted to ramble on and make shit up since there is scant information available but I will spare you the time reading such nonsense in hopes you'll click on the video above and listen for yourself.

Verdict:  5/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  Heck yeah!

Song:  Life on Mars? (Live Nassau Coliseum '76)
Album:  Live Nassau Coliseum '76
Year:  1976, clearly, but the album release date was 2010

This track isn't so much a song as a tease - just one verse and one chorus of the studio version with nothing much changed beyond the vocal performance.  It sounds OK and is great for singing along in the car, though too short.  There are better live performances out there, making this one unnecessary.

Verdict:  2/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  I've sung this one before . . . I'd need to work on it a bit before attempting a second time.

Winner:  Valentina

Running Score:  Bowie 6, Prince 5

Why the Butterflies vs. Teenage Wildlilfe

Song:  Why the Butterflies
Album:  Piano & A Microphone 1983
Year:  2018

From the first posthumous album release, this entire album is an intimate glimpse into the working mind of a musical genius.  The album title says it all . . . this is just Prince at the piano singing into a microphone.  The recording is unpolished but not all that bad and the microphone allows for some vocal dynamics which, now that I think of it, may have some applied production to them.  This track is a meditation on a relatively simple chord progression with occasional vocals.  It feels like the creative mind at work; Prince seems to be trying out some ideas which, while not really coming together into a complete song are pleasant enough to explore along with him.

Verdict:  3/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  What an absurd thought.

Song:  Teenage Wildlife
Album:  Scary Monsters
Year:  1980

AllMusic suggests this track as a perfect one for the closing credits of a teen film, citing that the song is a celebration of adolescence.  It's difficult to verify without printed lyrics because Bowie's vocal intonations make the words difficult to understand.  Having read through the lyrics I still don't really grasp the whole thing.  Here's what songfacts.com has to say on it:

David Bowie (from the Mail on Sunday June 29, 2008): "So it's late morning and I'm thinking: 'New song and a fresh approach. I know, I'm going to do a Ronnie Spector. Oh yes I am. Ersatz, just for one day.' And I did and here it is. Bless. I'm still enamored of this song and would give you two 'Modern Loves' for it any time. It's also one that I find fulfilling to sing onstage. It has some nice interesting sections to it that can trip you up, always a good kind of obstacle to contend with live. Ironically, the lyric is something about taking a short view of life, not looking too far ahead and not predicting the oncoming hard knocks. The lyric might have been a note to a younger brother or my own adolescent self."

I'm actually not buying this . . . I think someone over at the website got mixed up and applied a quote about the song "Heroes" to "Teenage Wildlife."  But this is a moot point.  The song itself is perhaps too artsy for my tastes.  I can't sink my teeth into anything either musically or vocally, making this one extremely difficult for me to get into.

Verdict:  2/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  It really is quite a difficult song vocally, so no.

Winner:  Why the Butterflies

Running Score:  Bowie 6, Prince 4

South vs. Queen Bitch

Song:  South
Album:  N.E.W.S
Year:  2003

AllMusic says it best:  "The listener, who will have to be a particularly rabid aficionado of all things Prince to be interested, must throw out all expectations and simply revel in the joy of hearing the musician and his cohorts experiment with relaxed musical textures for 56 minutes. Of course, no one else needs to bother."

I listened to this one on my drive home from work last night.  It's not horrible, it's just that there's nothing there to sink your teeth into.  It's a funk/jazz fusion instrumental which, if you lean in that direction, is probably not a very good representation of the genre.  I say probably because this is not my forte at all.  I've listened to some Weather Report and that seems to be the closest association I can make.  I'm not sure what occasion would warrant putting this on even as background music; every time I think of something (office, dinner party, indoor bocce tournament) I always think of something that would be better.  As AllMusic indicated, I was interested but now I'm done.  You probably don't need to bother.  Take a listen to the Isley Brothers funky mandate to Fight the Power instead.

Verdict:  1/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  Silly of you to ask!

Song:  Queen Bitch
Album:  Hunky Dory
Year:  1971

As I've indicated previously, Hunky Dory spent some time in heavy rotation on my turntable back in college.  I know this song quite well . . . to the point where I almost expect it to show up on greatest hits compilations.  I can't give a better explanation than the one I found on songmeanings so here it is (please note that this was written in 2008; some of our language has evolved since then):

A cruiser is British slang for a homosexual. To "pull" means you're meeting somebody to have sex with them. Sister Flo is a transvestite prostitute. Bowie's on the eleventh floor of his apartment building watching the cruiser try to pull Sister Flo. Sister Flo looks swishy in her frock coat and hat. Bowie's upset with what he sees, his weekend's at an all time low. Why didn't he say to Sister Flo "I could do better than that!" (be a better transvestite). This song was centered around transvestites and homosexuality, as most of his late 60's-early 70's stuff was, such as Rebel Rebel and Suffragette City. 

It's a snappy rocker whose meaning only presents itself with repeated listens.  What's not to like?

The first video above is a live recording featuring Lou Reed.  The second video is a fine cover by Lena Hall.

Verdict:  4/5 stars

Would I sing it at karaoke?  Yes.  And I bet one person in the bar would dig it while everyone else would say they've never heard it before.

Winner:  Queen Bitch.  (A song would have to be pretty sassy to beat something called Queen Bitch)

Running Score:  Bowie 6, Prince 3