Thanks, Robyn and Free. And Ninja, that's not me in my avatar, just in case you'd been wondering.
I doubt Bowie is anything more than a creative artist who takes in what he sees and spits it back out in song thats the beauty of the matrix. Or to put it another way being trapped in this system of things.
Jag, people of the 60's and 70's were already very concerned about the environment and the impact pollution was having on Earth's health. The song just reflected that sentiment. It talks of Earth dying. All these years later, people are still concerned, but now we have even more to worry with as far as environmental health.