David Bowie: Want to write a song?
Interviewer: Sure.
David Bowie: All right. We’ll call the song Audience and it’ll be about rock ‘n’ roll. All right? I’m gonna say, “Led Zeppelin is solid. They make you like a wall.” [writes it down] Quick. Give me the name of an artist, someone in rock.
Interviewer: How about Stevie Wonder?
David Bowie: Good. “Stevie Wonder is growing and you love him most of all.” [writes it down] He’s sort of the golden boy, everybody loves him. Who else? Name a good songwriter.
Interviewer: Joni Mitchell.
David Bowie: “Joni Mitchell has our hearts.” [writes it down] She does, doesn’t she? OK, let me get my guitar. ([looks at what he’s written and begins strumming and humming softly] All right, here we go. [sings] “Led Zeppelin is growing, erasing in our minds / They make us feel stony, they make us go blind / Hey, Stevie Wonder, there like a wall / So good to lean on, the hardest of all … Isn’t that a nice little tune?
Interviewer: Is that how you wrote Changes?
David Bowie: Naw, but that’s basically how I wrote most of the Diamond Dogs album.
Interviewer: What happened to Joni Mitchell?
David Bowie: She’s good enough, she doesn’t need me crooning about her. You see, of course, there are no rules to my writing.