"Station to Station" is a song written by David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

 in 1975 and released in 1976. It is the title track and opener for the album of the same name

Station to Station

Station to Station is the tenth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1976. Commonly regarded as one of his most significant works, Station to Station is also notable as the vehicle for Bowie's last great 'character', The Thin White Duke...

. The song is Bowie's longest studio recording, clocking in just above 10 minutes. Structurally, the song builds from a droning, guitar-driven introductory portion that mimics a train building up speed, to an uptempo section punctuated by the refrain "It's too late."

The lyrics contain various references to Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...

, Hermetic Qabalah

Hermetic Qabalah

Hermetic Qabalah is a Western esoteric and mystical tradition...

 and gnosticism

Gnosticism

Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...

. Bowie stated that "The "Station to Station" track itself is very much concerned with the stations of the cross." It is on this track that Bowie introduces himself as "The Thin White Duke

The Thin White Duke

The Thin White Duke was David Bowie's 1976 persona and character, primarily identified with his album Station to Station and mentioned by name in the title track, although the 'Duke' persona had been adopted during the Young Americans tour and promotion...

". It also contains the oft-quoted lyric, "It's not the side-effects of the cocaine/I'm thinking that it must be love."

The song was not released as a single.

Live versions

• A live version recorded on tour at the Philadelphia Spectrum, April 28–29, 1978, was released on Stage. This version was also featured in the Christiane F. movie, where Bowie made an appearance as himself performing the song at a concert. An edit of this version was released on the soundtrack
  Christiane F. (album)
  Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo is a soundtrack album by David Bowie, released on LP in 1981 by RCA Victor , for the movie about Christiane F...
  
   of the movie
• A live version recorded on the 1983 tour was released on Serious Moonlight
  Serious Moonlight (1983 film)
  Serious Moonlight is the title of a David Bowie concert video; originally filmed on the singer's 1983 "Serious Moonlight Tour" in Vancouver , it was released on video in 1984 and on DVD in 2006...
  
  VHS and DVD

Other releases

• A remaster of the live version from Stage also appears in the Sound and Vision box set

Cover versions

• The song was covered by The Merry Thoughts on the album A Tribute to David Bowie: The Dark Side of David Bowie (1997)