The song is structurally similar to "'Heroes'" but does not feature a refrain; its verses only end with the title being sung over Robert Fripp's guitar breaks.
One interpretation is they are an attack on "Bowie imitators" who emerged in the late 1970s, such as Gary Numan, who personally believed himself a target.
[4] Bowie himself wrote in 2008 that the lyrics are about "taking a short view of life, not looking too far ahead and not predicting the oncoming hard knocks".
[2] "Ironically, the lyric is something about taking a short view of life, not looking too far ahead and not predicting the oncoming hard knocks"The song's original title was "It Happens Everyday".
'"[8] Against a musical backdrop that owed much to his classic song "Heroes", including textural guitar work from both Robert Fripp and Chuck Hammer, and adds wandering phrases following his lyrical paragraphs, Bowie appeared to take aim squarely at his post-punk artistic godchildren, particularly Gary Numan:[9] A broken-nosed mogul are you One of the new wave boys Same old thing in brand new drag Comes sweeping into view As ugly as a teenage millionaire