Thats a tough one Matt.. I'm a huge Bowie fan but long ago pretty much gave up on trying to work out the meanings of his songs.. I guess a lot of them are open to many interpretations..
Quoting Bowie himself when asked..
"That song for me always exemplified kind of how you feel when you're young, when you know that there's a
piece of yourtself that you havn't really put together yet. You have this great searching, this great need to
find out who you really are"
Bowie's songs often returned to these themes.. Fractured personalities and alienation... People on the outside, lost.. looking for something..
But as you say.. (and particuarly with his songs ) its up to the listener to interpret the songs and take from them what they can...