Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

David Bowie – RIP

January 12, 2016

When I woke up yesterday the news hit me like a ton of bricks – David Bowie dead at 69. OMG! It’s like I’ve lost a good friend. Even though I never knew him, I knew his music and that’s a little bit like knowing the person isn’t it? So, I wanted to take a little time to talk about his music and what it meant to me.

The first song I ever heard was “Space Oddity”. That was 1973, although the song first came out in 1969 coinciding with the landing on the moon. The music was mesmerizing to me at the time – I was all of 10 – and the lyrics even more so because space flight was the thing back then. Watching Bowie on Top of the Pops along with others like Marc Bolan, Sweet, and Slade is just a defining moment in my life. It’s where my love of music really got its start so the fact that he is now gone makes it feel that some part of me is gone too.

Fame was another of my favorites – especially the part where the word Fame is taken from super high pitched to very low tones. I thought it was kind of funny at the time (I was young remember). I still like that part, but I also understand the meaning behind the song so it’s even better now. Golden Years was another song of his that I liked and, HA, now I’m in my golden years. Wah, wah, wahhhh.

I didn’t hear much from Bowie again (although I do remember Young Americans) until 1980 with Ashes to Ashes. We (my friends and I) didn’t get this one at the time and consequently didn’t like it much. The video was weird, but our favorite part was the steamroller behind the troupe and the women seemingly touching the ground as if to bless it. In reality, they were picking up the hems of their gowns so they wouldn’t trip and fall and be squitched by said steamroller. Oh wow! A year ago I looked up the video, the lyrics, and the history surrounding it. Bowie said it was like a goodbye to the 70’s and burying the past with it. Yes, I see that now.

A few years later it was “Modern Love”, “Let’s Dance”, and “China Girl”. At the time I thought, OMG he’s back! And in a big way too. He seemed to always reinvent himself over the years – his music changed and grew as he got older and I think that’s just the way it should be. We are humans after all and we do evolve even through our own lifetimes. I loved the videos for all three of these songs and thought how marvelous that he was back again. Then, it seems that was it. Probably because I got married and was in the kid bubble as I’ve mentioned before. He was still making music, but I wasn’t attuned to it.

I was watching a biography on Freddie Mercury once and they showed a concert clip of Queen’s after Freddie had died. David Bowie was there (probably to perform Under Pressure) and he got down on one knee and led the thousands there in saying the Our Father for Freddie. To say that I was touched would be an understatement.

And now, he’s gone, only days after releasing his last album which apparently was how he wanted it. It’s a gift and a goodbye from him to us and he leaves an incredible legacy to musicians who are up and coming, those who have been influenced by him and to those of us who simply enjoyed his music.

Rest in peace David Bowie and may perpetual light shine upon you. Thank you for sharing your genius with us – your star will always shine bright in our hearts.

2 comments
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On January 12, 2016 at 4:29 PM, dxprog said:

The only Bowie song I really know is "Ziggy Stardust", though I know Space Oddity through the video made by Chris Hadfield in the ISS a couple years back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo

On January 13, 2016 at 12:24 PM, java_queen said:

Oh yeah - I remember about that in the ISS! That was huge news at the time.

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» David Bowie – RIP » Oh Crap! – Musings of an Unperfect Mommy

David Bowie – RIP

January 12, 2016

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On January 12, 2016 at 4:29 PM, dxprog said:

On January 13, 2016 at 12:24 PM, java_queen said:

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