Savvying the Palaver: Nadsat and Polari

Two days before his death, David Bowie’s final album, Black Star, was released. It features a sparse, and to many listeners baffling, song entitled Girl Loves Me. Even fans who were used to Bowie’s allusive lyrics found Girl Loves Me difficult to comprehend. However, it was soon revealed that the unusual language of the song was derived in part from Nadsat, and from the gay community slang Polari.

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