David Bowie, "Stay"

January 8 is the birthday of both David Bowie and Elvis Presley. (And Robbie Krieger of the Doors, who, as my friend Mark pointed out today, always gets lost in the shuffle.) The KFOG radio station used to do a contest every year on this day, in which listeners would call in and sing either a Bowie song in the style of Elvis or an Elvis song in the style of Bowie. The results could be anywhere from cringeworthy to mad genius. Alas, the contest has gone silent these past couple of years.

Now, I'm not a big Elvis fan; I have no need for "Hound Dog" in my life, though I love some of his later material ("Suspicious Minds" and "Kentucky Rain," especially, the latter overdue for an entry on this blog). But I'm always happy to offer a slice of Bowie tribute.

His Station to Station album is one of my deserted-island discs: only six songs, but each of them masterly conceptualized and performed. "Golden Years," the hit, wonderful as it is, is actually my least favorite of the lot; I'd much rather hear his pained anguish on "Word on a Wing" or "Wild Is the Wind." (Who says coke kills emotion?) But best of the bunch is "Stay," a plea to another to be reconsidered - as well as a plea to the self to have the courage to say something, to do something, to not let this person slip through overly cautious fingers. The album version features some absolutely incendiary guitar work from Earl Slick that elevates the song's emotional hit to crisis level; this live clip, with Adrian Belew taking Slick's role, doesn't have quite so much magic but it still gets the message across. "Stay ... I really meant it so badly this time / 'Cause you can never really tell / When somebody wants something you want, too."