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Draft of Edit to The Passenger (song)
Excerpt of existing article:

The lyrics, written by Iggy Pop allegedly aboard Berlin's S-Bahn, have been interpreted as embodying the nomadic spirit of the punk outcast. Guitarist Ricky Gardiner composed the music. While it possesses a distinctive riff, "The Passenger" is perhaps most recognizable by its chorus, on which David Bowie sings back-up. The song is loosely based on a poem by Jim Morrison.

Draft edit:

Lyrics
Pop describes The Doors as a "very key" influence on The Stooges. Fittingly, "The Passenger's" lyrics were inspired by a poem by Doors' lead vocalist Jim Morrison. Morrison’s poetry anthology, The Lords, and The New Creatures: Poems, was published in 1969, eight years before “The Passenger.” It includes an untitled poem, excerpted below, that is “The Passenger’s” precedent.

Pop’s lyrics borrow Morrison's motif of a passenger traveling in a car through an urban landscape, and directly lift his two emphasized phrases.
 * Modern life is a journey by car. The Passengers
 * change terribly in their reeking seats, or roam
 * from car to car, subject to unceasing transformation.
 * Inevitable progress is made toward the beginning
 * (there is no difference in terminals), as we
 * slice through cities, whose ripped backsides present
 * a moving picture of windows, signs, streets,
 * buildings [emphasis added].

Pop’s former girlfriend and band photographer Esther Friedman explains that the lyrics were also inspired by his daily trips on the Berlin S-Bahn, the light rail system in Berlin, Germany, where he lived while recording Lust for Life with Bowie. She calls "The Passenger" "a hymn to Berlin's S-Bahn." Referring to Pop by his given name, she adds, "Jim went on the S-Bahn almost every day. Those trips inspired him to write the song."

Music
The music was written by Ricky Gardiner, a session guitarist and founder of the Scottish progressive rock band Beggars Opera. In keeping with Pop’s spartan garage-rock style, Gardiner’s guitar riff is a circularly simple but catchy four-bar ostinato, in which the guitar is merely strummed through the chords Am F C G, alternated with Am F C E. Gardiner explains that his riff originated during a springtime walk with his guitar in a field near his home.


 * The apple trees were in bloom and I was doodling on the guitar as I gazed at the trees. I was not paying any attention to what I was playing. I was in a light dream enjoying the glorious spring morning. At a certain point my ear caught the chord sequence….It was the gift of a glorious spring morning under the apple blossom.

While it possesses Gardiner's distinctive riff, "The Passenger" is perhaps most recognizable by its "la la la la" chorus, on which Bowie sings back-up.