When I Met You

(David Bowie)



You knew just everything
But nothing at all
Now the luminous dark
Feels like pain again

You could feel my breath
You opened my eyes
For I could not see
When I met you
When I met you

     Your feelings again
I could not speak
     You're drowning in pain
You opened my mouth
     You're walking in mist
You opened my heart
     You're living again
My spirit rose
     She tore you down
The marks and stains
     It was all the same
Could not exist
     You were afraid
When I met you

Now it's all the same
It's all the same
The sun is gone
It's all the same
But when I met you
When I met you
When I met you
When I met you

When I met you
You were afraid
When I met you
     She stole your heart
When I met you
     You don't understand
When I met you
     You should be ashamed
When I met you
     You should have known
I was the walking dead
     She torn you down
I was kicked in the head
     She torn you down
The edge has become
The centre of my world
The seams of my life
The streams of debris

Neither wounds of a friend
Nor the kiss of a foe
The peck of a blackened eye
An eye for the crowd

When I met you
I could not speak
When I met you
Then I met you
My spirits rose
     Your feelings again
My kind of truth
     You're drowning in pain
Could not exist
     You're walking in mist
When I met you
     You're living again
Now it's all the same
     She torn you down
It's all the same
     It was all the same
The sun has gone
     You were afraid
It's all the same
But when I met you
The dream of time
     When I met you
When I met you
When I met you

When I met you
     Your feelings again
When I met you
     You're drowning in pain
I was the walking dead
     You're walking in mist
I was kicked in the head
     You're living again
It was such a crime
     She torn you down
It was such a time
     When I - when I
I was crushed inside
     When I - when I
I was torn inside
     When I

When I met you
When I met you
I was too insane
Could not trust a thing
I was off my head
I was filled with truth
It was not God's truth
Before I met you



(Appeared in the Lazarus theatre production at The New York Theatre Workshop, directed by Ivo van Hove, written by David Bowie and Enda Walsh).
(The Bowie studio version from the Blackstar recordings was premiered on BBC Radio 6 Music on 18th October 2016. Released on Lazarus Original Cast Recording on 21st October 2016. Released as part of the 'No Plan' EP on CD (24th February 2017), 12" black vinyl [21st April 2017], white vinyl [26th May 2017] and clear blue vinyl [22nd April 2017]).