Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1976…
#3 – Station to Station – David Bowie
It turns out I’ve done deep dives on quite a few artists who released albums in 1976. And I’m going to cover most of those records in a single post in a week or so.
But one of those deep dive albums stood out enough to warrant placement in this top five, and that’s David Bowie’s Station to Station.
Bowie’s 10th album was recorded in a cocaine-fueled haze, during Los Angeles sessions that he would fail to remember except in snippets. It contains only six tracks, half of which were written in the studio on the spot.
Somehow, despite those bizarre circumstances, this is a tight and emotionally satisfying album. Combining elements of funk, R&B, and electronica, it’s musically adventurous and lyrically deep. The best known track is the hit ‘Golden Years,’ but every song is stellar.
Best of all is today’s SOTD, ‘Word on a Wing,’ an expression of what Bowie called his “spiritual despair” during those drug-fueled years. It’s an evocative beauty, the sort of song Bowie delivered many times in his extraordinary career.
In this age of grand delusion
You walked into my life out of my dreams
I don’t need another change
Still you forced a way into my scheme of things
You say we’re growing
Growing heart and soul
In this age of grand delusion
You walked into my life out of my dreams
Sweet name, you’re born once again for me
Sweet name, you’re born once again for me
Oh sweet name, I call you again
You’re born once again for me
Just because I believe don’t mean I don’t think as well
Don’t have to question everything in Heaven or Hell
[Chorus]
Lord, I kneel and offer you my word on a wing
And I’m trying hard to fit among your scheme of things
It’s safer than a strange land, but I still care for myself
And I don’t stand in my own light
Lord, Lord, my prayer flies like a word on a wing
My prayer flies like a word on a wing
Does my prayer fit in with your scheme of things?
[Verse 2]
In this age of grand delusion
You walked into my life out of my dreams
Sweet name, you’re born once again for me
Just as long as I can see
I’ll never stop this vision flowing
I look twice and you’re still glowing
Just as long as I can walk
I’ll walk beside you, I’m alive in you
Sweet name, you’re born once again for me
And I’m ready to shape the scheme of things
[Bridge]
Ooh, ready to shape the scheme of things
Ooh, ready to shape the scheme of things
Ooh, ready to shape the scheme of things
Ooh, ready to shape the scheme of things
Ooh…
[Chorus]
Lord, I kneel and offer you my word on a wing
And I’m trying hard to fit among your scheme of things
It’s safer than a strange land, but I still care for myself
And I don’t stand in my own light
Oh Lord, Lord, my prayer flies like a word on a wing
And I’m trying hard to fit among your scheme of things
But it’s safer than a strange land, but I still care for myself
And I don’t stand in my own light
Lord, Lord, my prayer flies like a word on a wing
My prayer flies like a word on a wing
Does my prayer fit in with your scheme of things?
Meet Me In Montauk 
Other than “Golden Years,” I’m not familiar with this album.
Great, great, great album. I’ve only grown to appreciate it more with time.
I marinated myself fully in David Bowie’s music from 1977-1981, listening to everything (studio + live) he had released up until that point. In college I got to be one of the leads in a revue of Bowie songs. After that I happily welcomed each new album until the Tin Machine project, which didn’t resonate for me. Station To Station is definitely one of my favorite Bowie albums. Thank you for writing about it. I will now go and re-listen to it.