Bowie apenas lera Nova Express. Burroughs apenas conhecia dois temas de Bowie ('Five Years' e 'Starman'), mas conhecia as letras.
Mas avanço já para a conversa (as partes melhores… a coisa é grande):
Burroughs: They try to categorize you. They want to see their picture of you and if they don't see their picture of you they're very upset. Writing is seeing how close you can come to make it happen, that's the object of all art. What else do they think man really wants, a whiskey priest on a mission he doesn't believe in? I think the most important thing in the world is that the artists should take over this planet because they're the only ones who can make anything happen. Why should we let these fucking newspaper politicians take over from us?
Bowie: I change my mind a lot. I usually don't agree with what I say very much. I'm an awful liar.
Burroughs: I am too.
Bowie: Nova Express really reminded me of Ziggy Stardust, which I am going to be putting into a theatrical performance. Forty scenes are in it and it would be nice if the characters and actors learned the scenes and we all shuffled them around in a hat the afternoon of the performance and just performed it as the scenes come out. I got this all from you Bill... so it would change every night.
Burroughs: That's a very good idea, visual cut-up in a different sequence.
Jornalista: What about love?
Burroughs: Ugh.
Bowie: I'm not at ease with the word 'love'.
Burroughs: What is your inspiration for writing, is it literary?
Bowie: I don't think so.
Burroughs: Well, I read this 'Eight line poem' of yours and it is very reminiscent of T.S.Eliot.
Bowie: Never read him.
Burroughs: (Laughs) It is very reminiscent of 'The Waste Land'. Do you get any of your ideas from dreams?
Bowie: Frequently.
Burroughs: I get seventy per cent of mine from dreams.
Bowie: There's a thing that, just as you go to sleep, if you keep your elbows elevated you will never go below the dream stage. And I've used that quite a lot and it keeps me dreaming much longer than if I just relaxed.
Burroughs: I dream a great deal, and then because I am a light sleeper, I will wake up and jot down just a few words and they will always bring the whole idea back to me.Bowie: I keep a tape recorder by the bed and then if anything comes I just say it into the tape recorder. As for my inspiration, I haven't changed my views much since I was about 12 really, I've just got a 12-year-old mentality. When I was in school I had a brother who was into Kerouac and he gave me On The Road to read when I was 12 years old. That's still a big influence.
... sempre sonhos e imagens mentais!