THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

807-David Bowie-Drive-In Saturday.

1973-Number 3 single.

Best Bit-At 0.53. David Bowie wrote ‘Drive-In Saturday,’ with the intention of offering it to Mott The Hoople, (see also best songs 661 and 334) for the follow up to ‘All the Young Dudes,’ however they rejected it. Bowie was surprised at this rebuff, so drunkenly shaved his eyebrows in protest. Bowie said,’That taught them a lesson.’

‘Drive-In Saturday’ which was written by David Bowie, (see also best songs 440-334-302-209-186-118-47-31 and 5) (see also his production work 701-131 and 58) and produced by Bowie, and Ken Scott, (see also best songs 440-186 and 31) was the second of four singles released from Bowie’s sixth studio Album ‘Aladdin Sane,’ from April 1973. Bowie wrote ‘Drive-In Saturday’ while on tour in America, while travelling between venues by train. He was on a journey between Seattle, Washington, and Phoenix, Arizona, at night, and the strange lights amidst the barren landscape got his imagination working overtime.

David Bowie first introduced ‘Drive-In Saturday’ in 1972, at a concert in Cleveland, Ohio, explaining to the audience what it is about. ‘It’s about a future where people have forgotten how to make love, so they go back onto video-films that they have kept from this century. This is after a catastrophe of some kind, and some people are living on the streets, and some people are living in domes, and they borrow from one another, and try to learn how to pick up the pieces.’ The story line to ‘Drive-In Saturday’ has been described as an example of Bowie’s ‘futuristic nostalgia,’ where the story is told from the perspective of an inhabitant of the future looking back in time. David Bowie has said that ‘Drive-In Saturday’ is set in the year 2033.

There are three famous people name checked in ‘Drive-In Saturday,’ including Mick Jagger, (see also best songs 933-662-452-160 and 77) (‘When people stared in Jagger’s eyes and scored’) and the English model ‘Twiggy,’ (‘She’d sigh like Twig the wonder kid.’) In 1973 Twiggy would feature on the front cover of David Bowie’s ‘Pin Ups’ Album. Also mentioned is the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Carl Gustav Jung, (1875-1961) (‘Jung the foreman prayed at work.’) It has been suggested by the Australian artist ‘Tanja Stark,’ that the lyrics ‘Crashing out with Sylvian,’ is a cryptic reference to the ‘Sylvian Fissure’ in the brain, associated with visionary and hallucinatory experiences. David Batt, who was the co-founder of the ‘New Wave’ band ‘Japan’ in 1974, took his stage name ‘David Sylvian’ from these lyrics.

The musicians who played on ‘Drive-In Saturday’ were David Bowie, (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, tenor saxophone, and synthesizer,) along with his backing band of, Mick Ronson, (1946-1993) (guitar) (see also best songs 661-405 and 58) Trevor Bolder, (1950-2013) (bass) and Mick Woodmansey, (drums) who were known as the ‘Spiders from Mars,’ and played with Bowie on two other of his studio Albums,’Hunky Dory, (1971) and ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, (1972) they also played on the two live Albums,’Live Santa Monica ’72, (recorded 1972, released 2008) and ‘Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture (recorded 1973, released 1983.)

The other musician who played on ‘Drive-In Saturday,’ and it’s parent Album ‘Aladdin Sane,’ was Mike Garson, who played the piano parts. Mike Garson was born on July 29th, 1945, in New York City, New York, United States. Garson was David Bowie’s longest serving, and most frequently appearing band member. They performed together for both Bowie’s first, and last concerts in the United States, as well as around 1000 other concerts around the world in between. In total Garson worked on 12 of David Bowie’s studio Albums between 1973-2004, as well as a further 17 other live, and compilation releases between 1974-2021, Mike Garson has also released 17 solo Albums between 1979-2020, and has worked with many musicians of differing genres, including, the ‘Smashing Pumkins,’ ‘Nine Inch Nails,’ and ‘Stan Getz.’

‘His name was always buddy, and he’d shrug and ask to stay. She’d sigh like twig the wonder kid, and turn her face away. She’s uncertain if she likes him, but she knows she really loves him, it’s a crash course for the ravers, it’s a drive-in Saturday.’