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David Bowie: A Tribute
10 years ago
I'm going to miss David Bowie: a kindred spirit, iconoclast and visionary.
When I first heard the news about his passing, I was listening to his latest album "Blackstar." I was listening to his song "Lazarus." As some of you know, Lazarus is short for Lazarus of Bethany, someone who Jesus miraculously brought back to life four days after he died. In Bowie's song, he sings the following lyrics that are ghoulishly prophetic: "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." This is actually Bowie predicting his death.
He figured that by the time his album was released, he would be dead ("Look up here, I'm in heaven"). For as public as his many personas were, he was a private man. He finally admits to the world something he's endured for the past 18 months -- but he didn't want to let his fans know that he was ill ("I've got scars that can't be seen"). He touched on the hardship he faced ("I've got drama, can't be stolen"). And after his death, he knew the world would mourn him ("Everybody knows me now").
In the second verse, he recounts the pain leading to his imminent demise ("Look up here, man, I’m in danger"), but he accepted his fate ("I’ve got nothing left to lose"). Bowie alludes to being on a morphine drip or painkillers ("I'm so high it makes my brain whirl"). And in heaven, or where ever he may be, he won't be reached ("Dropped my cell phone down below"). He knew his cancer was terminal.
In his single, "I Can't Give Everything Away," he alludes to his personal circumstances and basically explains why he did "Blackstar." In the first verse he sings, "I know something is very wrong / The post returns for prodigal songs / With blackout harks with flowered muse / With skull designs upon my shoes." Translation: You can read between the lines when he recorded songs with prodigal themes; songs reflecting on the wasteful extravagance of his youth. As his story comes to an end, he wears skull designs on his shoes: death.
"Blackstar" is a masterpiece. He lived his life as art, and he used his art to tell the story of his life -- for the past, present and future. He was fully aware of the limited time he had left, and he spent his final days composing his farewell. But what did he mean when he invoked the story of Lazarus? Well, Bowie recognized that he will be "resurrected" through his music.
So allow me to indulge in listening to his discography. I want to fall in love with him all over again.
LS
When I first heard the news about his passing, I was listening to his latest album "Blackstar." I was listening to his song "Lazarus." As some of you know, Lazarus is short for Lazarus of Bethany, someone who Jesus miraculously brought back to life four days after he died. In Bowie's song, he sings the following lyrics that are ghoulishly prophetic: "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." This is actually Bowie predicting his death.
He figured that by the time his album was released, he would be dead ("Look up here, I'm in heaven"). For as public as his many personas were, he was a private man. He finally admits to the world something he's endured for the past 18 months -- but he didn't want to let his fans know that he was ill ("I've got scars that can't be seen"). He touched on the hardship he faced ("I've got drama, can't be stolen"). And after his death, he knew the world would mourn him ("Everybody knows me now").
In the second verse, he recounts the pain leading to his imminent demise ("Look up here, man, I’m in danger"), but he accepted his fate ("I’ve got nothing left to lose"). Bowie alludes to being on a morphine drip or painkillers ("I'm so high it makes my brain whirl"). And in heaven, or where ever he may be, he won't be reached ("Dropped my cell phone down below"). He knew his cancer was terminal.
In his single, "I Can't Give Everything Away," he alludes to his personal circumstances and basically explains why he did "Blackstar." In the first verse he sings, "I know something is very wrong / The post returns for prodigal songs / With blackout harks with flowered muse / With skull designs upon my shoes." Translation: You can read between the lines when he recorded songs with prodigal themes; songs reflecting on the wasteful extravagance of his youth. As his story comes to an end, he wears skull designs on his shoes: death.
"Blackstar" is a masterpiece. He lived his life as art, and he used his art to tell the story of his life -- for the past, present and future. He was fully aware of the limited time he had left, and he spent his final days composing his farewell. But what did he mean when he invoked the story of Lazarus? Well, Bowie recognized that he will be "resurrected" through his music.
So allow me to indulge in listening to his discography. I want to fall in love with him all over again.
LS
ThreeEyedRanger
~threeeyedranger
Wow, I really do need to go back over the whole album again. Do you think there we as anything prophetic in The Next Day?
PuddlesTheCat
~puddlesthecat
Very well said.
