Days

As with Sunday’s selection, today’s is a song I only first heard in the last year and, likewise, on Apple Music’s personalized picks.

“Days” comes from Reality (2003), the 24th studio album by English singer-songwriter and actor David Bowie (1947-2016). Though I’ve considered myself a fan since first hearing his music in the early 1970s when one of my brothers brought it home and the records became a staple in our household, I don’t know the album. I still listen to many of Bowie’s works, though the last full album I bought was Black Tie White Noise (1993).

In Reality’s “Days,” Bowie sings a melodic and poignant piece anchored on a softer acoustic guitar while he tells of regretful self-awareness, having not given much of himself in his relationships and now thinking of “all the days I owe you” as he pleads for a companion in his dark moment.

“Hold me tight
Keep me cool
Going mad
Don’t know what to do
Do I need a friend?
Well, I need one now

All the days of my life
All the days of my life
All the days I owe you

All I’ve done
I’ve done for me
All you gave
You gave for free
I gave nothing in return
And there’s little left of me

All the days of my life
All the days of my life
All the days I owe you

In red-eyed pain I’m knocking on your door again
My crazy brain in tangles
Pleading for your gentle voice
Those storms keep pounding through my head and heart
I pray you’ll soothe my sorry soul

All the days of my life
(All the days of my life)
All the days of my life
(All the days of my life)
All the days I owe you
All the days of my life
(All the days of my life)
All the days of my life
(All the days of my life)
All the days I owe you

All the days of my life
(All the days of my life)
All the days of my life
(All the days of my life)
All the days I owe you”

“Days,” by David Bowie.
Lyrics retrieved from AZLyrics.com.

Bowie and his longtime collaborator, American singer, musician and recorder producer Tony Visconti (b. 1944), co-produced the Reality album, creating demos for the songs before bringing the band (primarily Bowie’s touring band of the time) in for recording sessions. Visconti’s demo bass playing ended up in some of the final mixes of the songs, including “Days.” Of the song, Bowie said at a live performance in Australia, “I sometimes feel I wrote this song for so many people.”

It might be a function of age and maturity, where many people look back on their lives and second-guess their choices or how they showed up (or didn’t) in their lives. I sometimes think back to how I was compelled by the apparent (or perceived) urgency of my work in government. As important as much of it was, it too often came at the expense of personal and family time, as was the case for many of my colleagues; a fact lost on the masses that love to decry and heap disdain on the nameless, faceless folk in public service.

Retirement is an opportunity to reclaim and make amends for some of that lost time. I am grateful for paying back some of those days and my sweety and I spending memory-making ones, like today, caring for our one-year-old grandson (which I have been doing for a full day every week since autumn), or having our kids, partners, and grandkids over to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions together.

Now you know a little about why this is my Song of the Day for Today. Thanks for joining me here. Please enjoy.

Here’s the audio for “Days” from the official David Bowie Youtube channel:

With my best wishes,

Steve