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Often used as a closing song for the Ziggy and Aladdin Sane tours, Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide is not only the thematic death of Ziggy Stardust on the album, but the real life end to the character as portrayed by Bowie.
Before playing the song at The Hammersmith Odeon in London (The last date of the tour), Bowie announced…
“Of all of the shows on this tour, this particular show will remain with us the longest because not only is it–not only is it the last show of the tour, but it’s the last show that we’ll ever do. Thank you.”
With this, the Ziggy Stardust era had ended. The only member of the band to know David was going to do this was Mick Ronson.
In the context of the album, the song depicts the final fall of Ziggy Stardust – the washed up superstar as the crushing weight of stardom and the rock ‘n roll lifestyle (highlighted in Suffragette City the preceding song) takes its toll.
However, the song on its own tells another story. Away from the extremely loose narrative of the rock opera it is an incredibly powerful song, about watching someone close to you as they struggle with their problems and deal with depression. The crescendo throughout the song (starting with a simple acoustic chord and building to a quasi orchestral climax) is symbolic of the growing problems in the person, starting off as a mild cynicism or depression before spiraling down into the depths of helplessness. This is exacerbated by Bowie’s increasingly desperate lyrics and attempts to reach out and connect with this unknown person.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide has a grand sense of staged drama previously unheard of in rock & roll.
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