Like most Indian boys with a rural upbringing, I was introduced to Western music only in my teens, and David Bowie, not until my early 20s. It was pretty "outdated" when everyone around me were interested in Rap and Pop and Kuthu songs. But due to my fetish for things of 1970s and 80s, Bowie's songs sounded very familiar to me. Soon the infection was all over my brain. Those were the days of dial-up Internet connections and YouTube videos won't load. So his avant-garde visuals should wait another 3 or 4 years since his music and lyrics did enough damage to my leisure hours!
The main reason for his songs to attract me was their lyrical themes apart from Bowie's experimental, colorful and sometimes toxic music and his psychedelic voice. But once you see him on stage or take a look at his music videos, you can understand that his creativity knows no limit in the visual side too. It will not be an overstatement if I say that almost all of the shock-rock, art-rock bands that came after Bowie drew at least 20% of their inspiration from him. This article won't be too organized or complete in any sense. I am just going to explain what "happened" to me due to Bowie, here and there.
When I first heard Starman, I cried. Tears ran down my face and thankfully I was alone and let it go. The touch of pop-rock of 70s with odd chord progressions in the begning, the outlandish lyrics about an Alien who is going to land soon, the octave leap in the start of the chorus and the bass/acoustic guitar combo, my nervous system were overloaded and almost got hanged!
It may be odd if I am not to talk about Space Oddity. The song has a cover version done in the space itself by ISS astronaut Chris Hadfield. The song released during the peak of space race may be all about space travel. But the lyrics suggest that it may be also about feeling not belonging to this world at all. Words "Planet earth is blue and there's nothing I can do" and "And I think my spaceship knows which way to go" may indicate the total lack of control we have on our lives.
The Man Who Sold The World, a song that always gives me jitters. Not because the electric guitar riff that rips the heart or the outro humming that pierce the soul. But the sub-vocal message the song delivers. Imagine a man visited by his much much younger, past self. The young persona finds the older one wasted, lost, without hope and even thinks that he might have died. Imagine the young boy you were. The hopes and dream, the optimism on life, the energy and fun. If that boy comes to meet you as an old friend, what will you be? A man who sold his own world!
Rock n Roll Suicide is rightly named as the song, like a knife, lacerates your brain. But it is your own choice to listen to it and hence the suicide. But don't worry. Bowie already had had his share and is going to help you with the pain. You are not alone, when you hear this song. Because it is wonderful, so you are! Just give him your hand like I did.
Soul Love talks about various sorts and aspects of love, a love of mother for her son, who is dead for his love of his nations/principles he wanted to uphold, the childish teen love, the damaging effects of love when it breaks, the divine love preached by religions and yet the emptiness and loniless of the human kind with all its progress in science and technology. Everything is captured in one song with an odd time signature and an echoic voice.
Modern Love from Let's Dance album is lot like Soul Love in theme but has a punkish polish over it. It starts with muted strumming of electric guitar and shifts to piano-guitar-bass combo accentuated with a drum-machine like percussion. It also has a good share of brass instruments. The lyrics is about the moral dilemma that was faced by the West back in late 1900s. With space travel and advancements in science, human kind is reduced to just another species on the face of earth, while our ego won't allows us to stop imaging ourselves as special creation of a God with whom we have personal relationship. The shift from organized religion to a much more personal spiritual experience is reflected in the word "God and man no confession, God and man no religion, God and man don't believe in modern love!"
The nights can't be so good as it can be with Miracle Goodnight. Reference to the morning star seems that the miracle about the Miracle Goodnight is, it is not night at all. All of us come across a time when the future comes knocking our door "full and empty". We may sometimes want to know why we are like this now by looking in to the past for answers. But we refrain from it when we start to realize that the answer may hurt us more. So we just hope that morning star will be on our side. The music video and sparkling guitar also deserve mention.
So far I have written about some of the songs that define David Bowie to me or that define me by David Bowie. Now, there is a movie that has been written and programmed in to the universe an waited for 13+ billion years for Bowie to be born so that he can act in it. "The Man Who Fell to Earth". It is a cult movie and it is a must watch for anyone who had just hear about David Bowie. For me a grey or green alien is so terrestrial and someone like Bowie is far more outlandish and cosmic!
David Bowie's stages had a special attraction. That was Gail Ann Dorsey, the bassist. Bowie first saw her on TV and marked her in his mind for a suitable project. 7 years later, she was given a six week contract (that lasted for a really long time!) to be Bowie's bassist for an upcoming tour. Her stage presence is in no way inferior to her bass. Without Bowie, I might have missed this gem of bassists.
Bowie's last days were so painful as he knew that he was terminally ill with cancer. But still he worked on his album and tried to look and act as normal as he can. This is not mentioned here to be a motivational bullshit. But to say how a man who loved music and lived music had died music. The theme of his last album is so dark and suggestive of the impending doom.
We all are "Stardust"! Yes, we all are made up of atoms that are product of neucleosynthesis that happened in millions of long dead stars. We have our rises and falls (asymmetrically more fall!). Out of millions of stars out there, only few go Supernovae. Likewise in humans, only few like Bowie go Supernovae blowing out (Ziggy) Stardust far out in the emptiness of the cosmic space and seed new beginnings even with their death. So Rest In Peace is not for Bowie. His journey has just reached a different dimension.
