If
you haven’t heard, David Bowie passed away yesterday from liver cancer.
From The Hollywood Reporter obituary:
David Bowie, the genre-
and gender-bending British music icon whose persistent innovations and personal
reinventions transformed him into a larger-than-life rock star, died Sunday
after a battle with cancer, his rep confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. He was
69.
"David Bowie died
peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18-month battle
with cancer. While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect
the family’s privacy during their time of grief," read a statement posted
on the artist's official social media accounts.
The influential
singer-songwriter and producer excelled at glam rock, art rock, soul, hard
rock, dance pop, punk and electronica during his eclectic 40-plus-year career.
He just released his 25th album, Blackstar, Jan. 8, which was his birthday.
I’m
sure there are lots of obits around where you can get the totality of his
career. The BBC summarized his career
here.
Bowie was born David
Jones in January 1947 but reinvented himself as David Bowie, in 1966, in order
to avoid confusion with the Monkees' Davy Jones.
He went on to study
Buddhism and mime, and released his first album, the World of David Bowie, in
1967.
But it was the title
track of his second album, Space Oddity, which aroused more than passing
interest.
The atmospheric tale of
an abandoned astronaut, Major Tom, orbiting the Earth, Space Oddity became a
hit in 1969, the year of the first Moon landing.
Initially a hit
throughout Europe, it took four years to "break" the United States.
My
son Matthew loves “Space Oddity.” There’s
something simple and folkloric about it.
For me David Bowie’s music was either very good or very bad. He
experimented with music in a way that suggested to me he didn’t understand
music well or didn’t have what Hemingway called a “crap detector.” So when he
tried something new it either was brilliant or terrible. That’s probably not
true, but that’s my impression. I really thought his Let’s Dance album was very solid as an album. Not sure which of his
songs were my favorite, but songs like “Young American” just captured something
from the time and place, and of course my youth.
I’m
just going to post a few of my favorite Bowie songs. I just love that hip sax in “Young Americans”
and those wonderful lyrics.
“Rebel
Rebel,” might be his greatest song. That was punk rock before punk rock
existed.
Here’s
some of the lyrics:
You've got your mother in
a whirl
She's not sure if you're
a boy or a girl
Hey babe, your hair's
alright
Hey babe, let's go out
tonight
You like me, and I like
it all
We like dancing and we
look divine
You love bands when
they're playing hard
You want more and you
want it fast
They put you down, they
say I'm wrong
You tacky thing, you put
them on
Read more: David Bowie -
Rebel Rebel Lyrics | MetroLyrics
Finally
I always loved “Let’s Dance.” It was so
1980s.
And if you say run, I'll
run with you
And if you say hide,
we'll hide
Because my love for you
Would break my heart in
two
If you should fall
Into my arms
And tremble like a flower
Finally
I heard that his wife posted this on Twitter when he died: “The struggle is
real, but so is God.”
God
rest his soul. He was an entertainer in
the fullest sense.
Such a part of my growing up!
ReplyDeleteRIP
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
It's been sad reading all the obits and memorials. Thanks for commenting.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do like a couple of his songs, I wouldn't call myself a Bowie fan. I think he was a strange duck and that Lazarus video is grotesque. I will always love the Christmas video and song, though.
ReplyDelete