Monday 11 January 2016

"His song went on forever..."

"News guy wept and told us..." I still can't get my head round the fact that Bowie is gone. And not just gone to another planet / dimension / Berlin... but really gone.
I bought ( what has turned out to be ) his last album on Saturday and haven't played it yet. It's still in its plastic wrapper, also now wrapped in more meaning than it would have had before today. It's going to be hard now to open it and play it. But I will.
But first... The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars... played fucking loud.

RIP Thin White Duke...

9 comments:

Richard said...

For the past few days I'd been binge-listening to Bowie albums, spurred on by his birthday and the attendant fuss and the release of Blackstar and the opening of his Man Who Fell To Earth-derived play Lazarus and the music videos related to those projects. Waking up to this news is beyond surreal.

Capes on Film said...

Nice Simon. Bowie's influence on not just music - but pop culture in general - is really staggering to think about.

Unknown said...

I planned to pick up "Blackstar" on Friday but had a really bad cold so put it off until Monday ( taking some of my leave entitlement off my work to get it) and instead was awoken to the sad news. I just sat in the house watching BBC, Sky, CNN etc news articles / stories until it sank in, "Ziggy" was indeed no longer with us. What I did learn abut the man form all the articles and comments ( from fans and peers like) was just what a nice guy he was, seems he really was like the guy he appeared to be "off screen" a kind English gent full of silliness.

I had listened and watched the "Blackstar" DVDs / videos on YouTube a few weeks ago and in hindsight it was obvious Bowie was seriously not a well man (so very thin and a strange colour) Im just amazed that it looks like he wrote is own obituary for us typical of the man. It's challenging stuff but it is exceptionally good (and not just because he has died it received high praise on its release). Im off to town buy the CD today and as I type "The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" is playing loud in the background - its going to be a less interesting world without David Bowie in it.

John Pitt said...

The past couple of days have been practically none-stop Bowie for us. I was at the till in a shop when I heard the news ( "today, oh boy!" ) on the shop's stereo and I wandered back to listen, foregoing my turn.
McScotty is right, he WAS a bloody nice bloke, no matter what they threw at him!
I believe he once declined a knighthood. Respect for that!
I found the video for Lazarus very hard to watch.
I sometimes feel like there's going to be no-one left........
:-(

Simon B said...

Thanks for the thoughtful comments, guys.

@Richard
Good to hear from you, man. It's been a while! Shame it's such a sad time. It's hard to believe how busy Bowie had been while obviously knowing his days were numbered. Tony Visconti said ( and I'm paraphrasing ) that Bowie had made his death as much an art statement as his life. An artist to the end!

@Matthew
Very true. His influence can't be overstated. I doubt if any one performer could ever have the same impact again. Not even Justin Bieber ;-)

@Paul
Nice to see you here! I've "seen" you over at "Crivens!" plenty of times... but I don't think you've commented here before? I still haven't played Blackstar yet - I've got to psyche myself up to it. I know it will make me feel sad all over again, but I know it will be worth it. ( BTW is it "Paul" or "McScotty"??? )

@John
I've had Ziggy on repeat in the car for the last couple of days ( I can belt out the songs and, if I shed the odd tear, nobody much will see it. )I've now moved on to Station To Station, another favourite. As to your last comment - of course, eventually, there won't be anyone left but let's just hope the Grim Reaper takes a few days off now. Unfortunately, the sad death of Alan Rickman today shows what a vain hope that is :-(

Unknown said...

"Blackstar" really is an exceptional piece of work, but your right it is (very) sad at times - Bowie sounds like he did around the time of "Heroes" on the CD at some points with a very strong voice etc. I find it amazing he passed away just after he completed his last piece of work (although story is he did 5 tracks for another CD) I ve heard of things like that before and personally experiences it once when my wee mum (missed more and more every day) passed away with that damn disease 1 hour after her birthday (she always wanted to reach that one) - the human "spirit" is strong and strange.
-
It's actually Paul "McScotty" was my nickname given to me by work colleagues when I lived in London a few years ago so I use "McScotty" for my blogs.

Simon B said...

You're right, Paul - the human spirit is indeed strong and strange. And sometimes it's all we've got! I do find it amazing that people can find such strength at such trying times. I lost my Mum to cancer too, five years ago. She never complained about her lot and always stayed positive up until the end, always thinking of others first.

John Pitt said...

You can add me to the list of people who lost their mums to the big C. Actually, Paul and I lost ours around the same time.
Not only did it take my mother, but my Dad too and both of their partners ( they were divorced ).
Probably every family is affected by this awful disease?

Simon B said...

It certainly feels that way, John :-(

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