RIP David Bowie
Most people seem to be reacting to the news of the death of David Bowie at 69 with shock.
I had the same feeling, too. I think it was because he had just put out a new album to great acclaim, and none of the many articles about it referenced the fact that he was ill. His cancer seems to have been a closely-guarded secret.
Bowie was one of the most unusual people in rock, a field populated by many unusual people trying to outdo each other in their unusualness (or at least it used to be; not so much of that now). But few could compete with Bowie, who had a uniquely cool sleek look that was compelling, and who wasn’t afraid of costumes and various personae. That he played an alien in the movie “The Man Who Fell To Earth” was no surprise; he was a natural for the role, as it were.
I have to confess that although I’m familiar with some of Bowie’s most well-known work, I really don’t know much about his music and I didn’t really follow it. But you didn’t have to be a fan to know about him. I saw “The Man Who Fell to Earth” and thought he did an excellent job, although the film was cut so much when it was shown in the theaters (certainly not his fault nor his doing) that I could hardly make sense of it.
In 1992 Bowie married the model Iman, which made them a couple for the ages—impossibly tall, slim, ectomorphic, and beautiful, like two people from a far-off future. Iman has said this about their romance, which began with Bowie falling for her at first sight and her taking longer to reciprocate, but ultimately doing so:
“As I always said: I fell in love with David Jones,” she said. “I did not fall in love with David Bowie. Bowie is just a persona. He’s a singer, an entertainer. David Jones is a man I met.”
RIP David Bowie and David Jones, and thanks for all the music.
The wife and I really like the movie Labyrinth where he played Jereth, the Goblin King. I guess we’re on a different cultural level than many here LOL!
Androgyny is an offense against nature. It is supportive of biological suicide. It is anti-life.
David Jones death is tragic, as is any cancerous death.
David Bowie’s career and the adulation he garnered is indicative of dysfunctional elements within Western civilization. “Pregnant women react more strongly to music”.
“Plants exposed to dissonant ‘music’ are sickly, stunted and exposed long enough, even die.”
Though I like many rock songs, I cannot pretend that factual observations are inconvenient truths best denied. There has been a steady devolution in all the arts of Western Civilization since the late 19th century.
For the most part, his music wasn’t to my taste but it was clearly good stuff, and there was no denying Mr. Jones was a totally original talent, very creative, and fearless about bucking trends.
His battling cancer in private over an extended period speaks to a quiet dignity and humility almost unheard of in show business.
He was also ahead of his time in the world of finance – in 1997, Bowie securitized a ten-year royalty stream on a large body of his work, receiving an up-front payment of $55mm in the first “celebrity bond” issue.
RIP Ziggy Stardust
For a chilling and absorbing moment, check out Bowie’s last video, “Lazurus” published on YOuTube only 3 days ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-JqH1M4Ya8
“Look up here, I’m in heaven
I’ve got scars that can’t be seen
I’ve got drama, can’t be stolen
Everybody knows me now”
Watching the icons of youth die out is like watching the sand in your own hourglass disappear down a small hole, till its your turn…
Not his most upbeat song but you can’t say he didn’t create from the stuff of his life right up until the last moment.
I liked his music in the 80’s but was never a superfan. It was great how he continued to grow musically and branch out into other media. Seems we always hear about the musicians who crash and burn, but rarely about the ones like Bowie/Jones (unless you intentionally follow their career).
Bowie’s son Duncan Jones is an artist, too, and directed two interesting movies, “Moon” & “Source Code.”
Never a Bowie fan but the songs Young American and Golden Years were great pop/rock on the car radio. RIP Mr. Jones.
I couldn’t force myself to look at him.
There was some hyper-kinetic parody movie (imitating the late 1050s?) on cable years ago wherein he, (I think it was) played an advertising exec or something who went around saying “Fantastic !” all the time.
All that I recall besides that, was that he looked kind of normal. That, and the woman in the tight cocktail dress who lay on her back and kicked her legs.
“(imitating the late 1050s?) ”
That would be the Nineteen Fifties, not the age of Harold Godwineson.
Huh … just checked and can’t find it. Must have imagined it. Who was that sexpot woman? I’ve seen her somewhere …
I was not the biggest Bowie fan, but I was certainly familiar with a lot of his music. He was a one-of-a-kind talent, and will be missed.
Probably my favorite music of his was his late-70s funky period: Golden Years
And here’s an early version of “Space Oddity” which offers a plausible explanation of why Major Tom cut off communications with Earth: Space Oddity
I wouldn’t blame the editor of the movie too much (I admit I haven’t seen it, though).
I read “The Man Who Fell to Earth” quite recently, and it is nearly unintelligible without quite a bit of reading between the lines.
So maybe the movie left all those line-betweens out.
AesopFan:
I don’t know about the book, but in the case of the movie you actually can blame the editor:
I saw it when it first came out in the theaters. It was very interesting, and Bowie was amazing, but the film was incoherent.
Folks were “shocked” that Bowie died? At age 69? They weren’t told he was ill? Of cancer (type remains unmentioned)? But he “battled” it. People are always “battling” cancer, but they are never said to “battle” any other ailment.
Has anyone ever said Cheney “battled” his heart disease? No. And the Left hoped he would die of it, sooner than later. But he endured.