This essay explores David Bowie’s so-called “Berlin Triptych”: Low, “Heroes”, and Lodger. The essay takes issue with previous interpretations that have claimed that the albums do not form a “triptych” of any meaningful kind, and that this pretentious term was only applied ex post facto as a marketing strategy. At the heart of my argument is the concept and experience of migration. In the mid-1970s David Bowie was living in Los Angeles at a highpoint of fame and acclaim. His life, however, was also an increasingly hellish nightmare of delusion, paranoia, and cocaine psychosis. In order to save his music, and his life, the singer decamped to Europe. For the next several years he lived an itinerant life with Berlin at its centre. The experience of displacement, and a series of encounters that this displacement facilitated (with the European new wave and a longer tradition of avant-garde modernism), led to both a reshuffling of the self and a radical new sound. The “triptych” tells the story of this progression, both narratively and sonically.

中文翻译：

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“只要有我。只要有你”：大卫鲍伊柏林三联画中的创伤和迁徙

这篇文章探讨了大卫鲍伊所谓的“柏林三联画”：Low、“Heroes”和Lodger. 这篇文章对之前的解释提出了质疑，这些解释声称专辑不会形成任何有意义的“三联画”，而且这个自命不凡的术语只是事后作为营销策略应用的。我的论点的核心是移民的概念和经验。1970 年代中期，大卫·鲍伊 (David Bowie) 住在洛杉矶，声名鹊起。然而，他的生活也越来越像妄想、偏执和可卡因精神病的噩梦。为了挽救他的音乐和生命，这位歌手逃往欧洲。在接下来的几年里，他以柏林为中心过着流动的生活。位移的体验，以及这种位移促成的一系列相遇（随着欧洲新浪潮和更悠久的前卫现代主义传统），导致了自我的重新洗牌和全新的声音。“三联画”从叙事和声音两方面讲述了这一进程的故事。