Search: The Web or BeYoND-THe-iLLuSioN Only 
06/12/93
THE GUARDIAN

... this column answered a classified ad in Fortean Times. "David
Bowie - I have evidence proving that he's been influenced by aliens.
The UFO community doesn't want to know. The media may not want
to know, but sooner or later we will all know - like it or not. Send
SAE for information."

Now who could resist an invitation like that?
Back came the proof. First, there was a major misconception to
be cleared up: "The myth about David Bowie's Jean Genie is that it
is a song about Jean Genet, or it is a song about Iggy Pop, or
possibly partly about Genet and partly about Iggy." Not so! "What I
have found is that the song - more than anything else - describes
an alien being." Yes, it does. "It is not simply a song inspired by
the genie figure in the Aladdin myth (although Bowie had, in fact,
attended a pantomime version of Aladdin starring Cliff Richard on
March 1, 1967)."

The proof is in the lyrics. "All of the verses end with the
line, `Poor little greenie,' which seems to have been consciously
derived from the well-known alien description `Little Green Man' -
perhaps combined with the Chuck Berry song title Little Queenie."
The syntax gets a bit ropey here: "Re: the chorus `the Jean Genie
lives on his back, the Jean Genie loves chimney stacks,' there is
here a link with the Father Christmas legend, in which he is
supposed to come down the chimney with his gifts after travelling
through the skies (of course, aliens are also supposed to travel
the skies)." Pretty convincing, to be sure.

"The next line is: `And keeps all your dead hair for making up
underwear' - it has been reported by some people who've encountered
aliens that a sample of their hair - among other things - was taken
by the beings. It could be that some alien clothing resembles a
mesh of human hair - visually and/or texturally." Spooky!
A spoof perhaps? It's difficult to say without consulting the
"Recommended further reading . . . an article entitled A Brief
Account of the Nature of UFO Entities, by Gordon Creighton, printed
in Flying Saucer Review Vol. 29/1 (reprinted 33/3)."

But just one question: if David Bowie is in touch with higher
intelligences, why haven't they written him a decent song in 20
years?

Disclaimer: The file contained in the box above or displayed in a separate window from a link in the box above is NOT owned nor implied to be owned by BeYoND THe iLLuSioN. Most files at BeYoND THe iLLuSioN are originally from public Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) which were popular in the days before the Internet or from gopher, web, and FTP sites from the early days of the Internet which no longer exist today. Essentially, all files were acquired from the public domain in one for or another.

However, there have been occasions when copyright protected material has appeared on BeYoND THe iLLuSIoN without permission of the copyright holder. In these instances, we have and will continue to remove the copyright protected file as soon as it is brought to our attention. This can now be done using our Report Copyright Material form. Fill out the form, and the webmaster will be notified of the situation.

There are also times when files found on BeYoND THe iLLuSioN have a real home somewhere else on the Internet. In these instances, we will gladly replace the file with a link to its true home whenever it is brought to our attention. If you know of the true home of any of these files, you can use our Report Original URL form to bring it yo our attention.