Look, I admit I'm not the biggest David Bowie fan out there. He has two albums I can listen to through-and-through without skipping any songs: Outside (1995) and Earthling (1997).
From his other songs, say if I go by the two-disc Best Of Bowie release from 2002, there are songs I like: Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold The World, Suffragette City, All The Young Dudes, Rebel Rebel, Young Americans, and Heroes.
As a teen, I also liked Changes, Ziggy Stardust, and Under Pressure, but they were overplayed (by others, but myself as well), so I tend to skip them nowadays.
But I could never listen to The Jean Genie, Fame, Let's Dance and Jump They Say. Not seriously, anyway. I did like his band Tin Machine, however.
Anyhow, all that's to say his passing didn't move me as much as pretty much all of my Facebook friends, though I recognize the man has a strong legacy, and was influential particularly among those who struggled with issues of self. And that's huge.
For me, however, the passing of Lemmy Kilmister of Hawkwind and Motörhead was a much bigger blow. Both died of cancer shortly after their birthdays, Lemmy four days after his 70th, Bowie two days after his 69th... if he died at all.
Sure, his Blackstar record came out on his birthday, and would have made a terrific parting gift; then again, a lead single and video called Lazarus leads a man to thoughts like "well, if Chuck D can doubt of Tupac Shakur's death after his first postmortem album was called Makaveli"...
Time will tell.
In the meantime, here's the video, directed by Johan Renck, who usually specializes in "pure pop" with a resume that reads collaborations with Madonna (Hung Up and Nothing Really Matters), Kylie Minogue (Love At First Sight), All Saints (Black Coffee), Robbie Williams (Tripping and Lady Madonna), Beyoncé (Me Myself and I) and Lana Del Rey (Blue Velvet), among others:
It's a bit dark, more in line with the director's work on TV series such as Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead...
No comments:
Post a Comment