David Bowie and A Clockwork Orange: Two Sides of the Same Golly

In this chapter I explore the significance of A Clockwork Orange to David Bowie’s oeuvre. I analyse the ways that both the novel and the film found their way into his live performances, music videos, album covers, and various star personae, including Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, and Halloween Jack. I also explore song lyrics that either directly reference the novel and film, or allude to their urban imagery and violent encounters. The article draws upon media interviews, commentaries, and on the performances, songs and music videos where A Clockwork Orange is quoted or referenced. I argue that Bowie’s fascination with the novel and the film speak to his sense of being an alien outsider, to his fearful attraction to violence, and to the dystopian visions that haunt a great deal of his music. I also suggest that A Clockwork Orange provides Bowie with the fashion and behaviour codes to be a rebel poseur, resistant to heteronormativity. A Clockwork Orange gifts David Bowie with a ‘fiction’ that simultaneously terrifies and attracts.