Retrospectively, "Changes" is described by numerous Bowie biographers as a manifesto of his entire career. Throughout the 1970s, Bowie changed his musical styles and appearances constantly; Doggett notes that each album he released between 1974 and 1977 could not have predicted the next, from "Diamond Dogs" (1974) to "Young Americans" (1975), "Young Americans" to "Station to Station" (1976), and "Station to Station" to "Low" (1977). Following his death in 2016, he has been dubbed the "chameleon of rock" by numerous publications and biographers due to his constant reinvention throughout his career, which matches the overall theme in "Changes". Buckley notes that 1971 was a pivotal year for Bowie; it was the year in which he became "something of a pop-art agent provocateur. In a time when rock musicians looked to traditions and established standards, Bowie looked to be radically different and challenge tradition, reinventing himself again and again, thereby creating new standards and conventions. Doggett also notes that "Changes" is a "statement of purpose": it was the first track on "Hunky Dory", the first time his audience had heard of him since "The Man Who Sold the World" (1970), and his previous hard rock and metallic sound was not present. The song was unlike "Space Oddity" and its 1969 parent album, but rather "pure, unashamedly melodic, gleefully commercial, gorgeously mellifluous pop."