Always Crashing in the Same Car

The song's lyrics express the frustration of making the same mistake over and over. The narrator of the song recounts driving at high speed in circles around a hotel garage, cautiously checking for danger, yet still inevitably crashing. The improbability that this accident could occur multiple times in one car and the implication of mystery in the name "Jasmine," a character in the song, suggest that the song itself might be a dream sequence. Such content may refer to Bowie's previous cocaine addiction amongst other things, as this song was recorded during Bowie's retreat from his life in the USA in order to clean himself up.

There are two verses to the piece, however, three were planned. In the studio, Bowie sang a third verse in a Bob Dylan style, however, given Bob Dylan's motorcycling accident several years earlier and the song's subject matter, the band considered such a move to be crass, and Bowie asked for Tony Visconti to delete the verse from the recording.

The song features the use of synthesizers and treatments to bring Bowie's for the most part calm vocals over the sound of the band. A long guitar solo completes the song.

[edit] Live versions

Bowie and Reeves Gabrels performed an all acoustic version of the song for the radio station WRXT on October 16, 1997.

A live version recorded at BBC Radio Theatre, London, June 27, 2000 was released on the bonus disc following the first releases of Bowie at the Beeb. This version contains an extended opening featuring acoustic guitar.

[edit] Cover versions

King Black Acid - Crash Course for the Ravers: A Tribute to the Songs of David Bowie (1996)
Silent Order - Goth Oddity: A Tribute to David Bowie (1999)
Ultramar - Web site release
Eleven Shadows - Goth Oddity 2000: A Tribute to David Bowie
Bluvertigo - Zero (1999)
Danny Michel - Loving the Alien: Danny Michel Sings the Songs of David Bowie (2004)