Always Crashing in the Same Car | A song by David Bowie, 1977

David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth, 1976

Every chance,
every chance that I take
I take it on the road
Those kilometres and the red lights
I was always looking left and right

Oh, but I’m always crashing
in the same car

Jasmine, I saw you peeping
As I pushed my foot down to the floor
I was going round and round the hotel garage
Must have been touching close to 94

Oh, but I’m always crashing
in the same car

David Bowie – Always Crashing in the Same Car – 1977

The song refers to a real-life incident in Bowie’s life that occurred at the height of his cocaine addiction. Driving his Mercedes, Bowie had spotted a drug dealer on the streets who he believed had ripped him off. In retaliation, Bowie repeatedly rammed his own car into the dealer’s car, after which he returned to his hotel and ended up driving around in circles in the hotel’s underground garage.

David Bowie, Low, 1977 cover

A still of David Bowie from the film The Man Who Fell to Earth, 1976, directed by Nicolas Roeg. Based on Walter Tevis‘s 1963 novel of the same name, the film follows an extraterrestrial named Thomas Jerome Newton (David Bowie) who crash-lands on Earth seeking a way to ship water to his planet.

David Bowie was originally approached to provide the music, contractual wrangles during production caused him to withdraw from this aspect of the project.

Also
Frame inside | Tragedy / Pablo Picasso & David Bowie
Childhood | Tom Waits / Syd Barrett / David Bowie /
Serge Gainsbourg / Bob Dylan / Elvis / Jimi Hendrix / etc