Music in Our Schools Month: David Bowie (1947-2016) Tribute List

David Bowie died on January 10, 2016 from liver cancer at the age of 69. A rock star and cultural force in the 1970s and 80s, Bowie was known for his ability to completely change character from album to album, theatrics that sometimes overshadowed the high quality of his songwriting and musicianship. As these selections from the lyrics of his entire career show, Bowie could turn a phrase and evoke an image like no one else. Here are 15 vocabulary words from the lyrics of David Bowie.
15 words 1940 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. commence
    set in motion, cause to start
    Ground Control to Major Tom
    Commencing countdown,
    engines on
    Check ignition
    and may God's love be with you
    - Space Oddity
  2. horde
    a vast multitude
    See the mice in their million hordes
    From Ibeza to the Norfolk Broads
    Rule Britannia is out of bounds
    To my mother, my dog, and clown
    - Life on Mars?
  3. lacerate
    cut or tear irregularly
    All the knives seem to lacerate your brain
    I've had my share, I'll help you with the pain
    You're not alone
    - Rock 'N' Roll Suicide
  4. repercussion
    a remote or indirect consequence of some action
    He laughed at accidental sirens that broke the evening
    gloom
    The police had warned of repercussions
    - Panic in Detroit
  5. reminiscent
    serving to bring to mind
    Sweetly reminiscent, something mother used to bake
    - Diamond Dogs
  6. wrangle
    herd or round up
    It's safe in the city, to love in a doorway
    To wrangle some screens from the door
    And isn't it me, putting pain in a stranger?
    - Sweet Thing
  7. vagabond
    a wanderer with no established residence or means of support
    Scanning life through the picture
    window
    She finds the slinky vagabond
    - Young Americans
  8. evasive
    avoiding or escaping from difficulty or danger
    Have you sought fortune evasive and shy?
    Drink to the men who protect you and I
    - Station to Station
  9. dredge
    search the bottom of a body of water for something valuable
    Such is the stuff from
    where dreams are woven
    Bending sound
    Dredging the ocean lost in my circle
    Here am I
    Flashing no colour tall in this room
    overlooking the ocean
    - Station to Station
  10. yearning
    prolonged unfulfilled desire or need
    So deep in your room,
    You never leave your room
    Something deep inside of me
    Yearning deep inside of me
    Talking through the gloom
    - What in the World
  11. tremble
    move quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways
    Because my love for you
    Would break my heart in two
    If you should fall
    Into my arms
    And tremble like a flower
    - Let's Dance
  12. macabre
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
    Having devoured its prey it would drape the skeletons
    over its web
    In weeks creating a macabre
    Shrine of remains
    - Glass Spider
  13. cerulean
    bright blue in color, like a clear sky
    (Heart's filthy lesson)
    Oh Ramona, if there was only some kind of future [x2]
    And these cerulean skies
    Something in our skies
    Something in our blood
    Something in our skies
    - The Heart's Filthy Lesson
  14. radiant
    emanating or as if emanating light
    They burn you with their radiant smiles
    Trap you with their beautiful eyes
    - The Stars ( Are Out Tonight)
  15. asunder
    into parts or pieces
    Please don't tear this world asunder
    Please take back
    this fear we're under
    I demand a better future
    - A Better Future
Created on Mon Jan 11 07:12:40 EST 2016 (updated Mon Jan 11 08:36:02 EST 2016)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.