 Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the album's lyrics as "fractured, paranoid" and "evocative of a decadent, decaying future".Bowie uses American slang and pronunciations throughout, such as "news guy", "cop" and "TV" (instead of "newsreader", "policeman" and "telly", respectively).The album opener, "Five Years", begins with a minimalist drum beat, described by author David Buckley as "heartbeat-like".