≈≈ The Man Who Sold The World ≈≈ Bowie [Nirvana]

">Maybe full screen

Bowie Key:
Riff....
A . . . Dm . . . F . . . Dm---
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .F
We passed upon the stair, we spoke in was and when, Although I wasn't there, he said he was my friend
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . Dm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C
Which came as a surprise, I spoke right to his eyes . . I thought you died alone, a long long time ago..

. . . . .C . . . . F . . . . . Db . . . . . . . . F . . . . . . . . . .C . . . . . F . . . . . . . . . . . . Db . . . . . . . . . . . A . . . Dm . . A . . Dm
Oh no, not me We never lost control . . You're face to face . . With the Man Who Sold The World

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .F
I laughed & shook his hand, made my way back home, I searched a foreign land, for years and years I roamed
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . Dm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C
I gazed a gazeless stare, we walked a million hills . . I must have died alone, a long long time ago

. . . . .C . . . . F . . . . . Db . . . . . . . . F . . . . . . . . . .C . . . . . F . . . . . . . . . . . . Db . . . . . . . . . . . A . . . Dm . . A . . Dm
Who knows? Not me I never lost control . . You're face . . to face . . With the Man who Sold the World
INSTRUMENTAL: A . . . Dm . . . A . . . Dm . . .F . . . A . . . Dm . . .

. . . . .C . . . . F . . . . . Db . . . . . . . . F . . . . . . . . . .C . . . . . F . . . . . . . . . . . . Db . . . . . . . . . . . A . . . Dm . . A . . Dm
Oh no, not me We never lost control . . You're face to face . . With the Man Who Sold The World

Tempo 120 • • • Cool Beat [15]
lyrics:

We passed upon the stair, we spoke in was and when, Although I wasn't there, he said I was his friend
Which came as a surprise, I spoke into his eyes . . I thought you died alone, a long long time ago..

Oh no, not me We never lost control . . You're face to face . . With the Man Who Sold The World

I laughed & shook his hand, made my way back home, I searched a foreign land, for years and years I roamed
I gazed a gazeless stare, we walked a million hills . . I must have died alone, a long long time ago

Who knows? Not me I never lost control You're face to face With the Man who Sold the World
INSTRUMENTAL: G# C#m E C#m

Eric Cubed

       On Yotube wrote:

       [his only comments anywhere!]
       

There is an opium induced Poe quality to this Bowie song that bends and transcends time and place, 
employs multidimensional realms, and showcases Bowie's fascination with the themes in is life at that time: 
super-races, immortality, identity, star-men and meaning.  

There is more than sufficient evidence the song was inspired, if not almost directly copied in parts, 
to at least 3 different poets/writers, all of whom directly or indirectly shared these themes, 
and yet the song is still subjectively introspective, rather than extrapolative, 
as Bowie himself said: "there was a part of myself that I was looking for," 
due to an uncomfortableness and inauthenticity for whom he took himself to be at that time. 

 From this perspective, the song appears to be about a conversation with present, 
 past and future Bowie doppelgangers.  Let's look more closely:
"We passed upon the stair (aspects of old and new selves, "meeting on the stair," 
symbolizing that if life lessons are properly employed, the result is higher spiritual 
and emotional potential, contrasted with the same lessons forgotten or disavowed, 
resulting in the despair of stultification). 
We spoke of was and when (the doppelgangers discussing the past and present).
"Although I wasn't there" (there is no tangible, physical sense of "there-ness" in ephemeral 
conversations with parts of self).
"He said I was his friend" (the past self is a friend…though we believe this aspect of self to be an enemy). 
Which came as some surprise (enlightening to realize this)
"I spoke into his eyes" (non-verbal recognition)
"I thought you died alone" (believing past self was laid to rest)
"A long long time ago" (endless reincarnated lives before)
"Oh no, not me" (anxiety about personal responsibility)
"I never lost control" (cannot accept past self is current self)
"You're face to face with the man who sold the world" (past self that betrayed true self 
is the same at looking at current self in the mirror). 
"I laughed and shook his hand" (really, all this analysis is kind of funny)
"And made my way back home" (as Rogers wrote, "the same old fears," meaning, 
for the last time I must begin again).
"I searched for form and land, for years and years I roamed" 
(the stormy search for the self is ever impermanent, ever evolving and never concrete, 
as much as we long for it to be). 
"I gazed a gazley stare at all the millions here, we must have died alone, a long long time ago" 
(realizes the search for a concrete self is ultimately doomed to failure, 
as self is a mental construct and therefore constantly changing). 

What hits the universal chord for many of us is the feel of the song, 
despite the obscure and perhaps unintentional lyrics, the longing for 
integration of self—an endeavor that is ultimately doomed to failure, 
owing to the impermanence of self, and that "selling this world," that is, 
giving up immortal self-illusion, is the ultimate test of authenticity,
 which is inevitably marred by an impossible part of the human condition: 
 to be something in the face of nothing.
 
Why did Cobain choose to cover this song among all others, among all Bowie others?  
It is because he could deeply relate to the overall feel of it, the endless journey 
to find a solid sense of self that is ultimately doomed to failure and yet obsessively 
pursued for the sake of a false sense of peace, security and happiness.