Bowie, David

Bowie, David (1947-) Originally David Jones, apparently David Bowie changed his surname to not be confused with the popular Monkee of the time, Davey Jones.

Bowie is in a rare league of iconic rockers including the likes of Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Madonna and Elton John.

Like all innovators, his music is often exploratory, synthesizing existing styles into something entirely new.

Bowie the philosopher, if you like, explores in “Starman” (1972) the idea of extraterrestrial life:

There’s a starman waiting in the sky
He’d like to come and meet us
But he thinks he’d blow our minds
There’s a starman waiting in the sky
He’s told us not to blow it
Cause he knows it’s all worthwhile 

 And in “Loving the Alien” (1984):

Believing the strangest things
loving the alien

Meanwhile, Black Tie White Noise (1993) looks to the meeting of flesh and spirit:

Where the flesh meets
the spirit world
Where the traffic is thin…
You’ve been around
but you’ve changed me

In his heyday the press often depicted him as “going away” from this world into some kind of creative journey and then “returning” whenever he produced a hit single.

There might be some psychological truth to this, as we find in ”Little Wonder” (1997):

Enter Galactic, see me to be you
It’s all in the tablets, Sneezy Bhutan
Little wonder then, little wonder
You little wonder, little wonder you…
Sending me so far away,
so far away

Not entirely unlike the Hindu Shiva-Shakti dyad, Bowie plunged into cross-dressing well before this was considered chic in the music industry.

Connecting Bowie to religion and spirituality is far from spurious considering his interest in parapsychology, as found in “Sound and Vision” (1977):

Don’t you wonder sometimes
‘Bout sound and vision…
I will sit right down,
Waiting for the gift of sound and vision

Within Asian systems these abilities are known as siddhis, and in Catholic mysticism they’re called interior locutions, perceptions and private revelations.

Bowie himself, however, is often critical of organized religion, as expressed in this chant in The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), released several years before the Catholic sex-abuse lawsuits were exposed by the media:

Sex and the church
Sex and the church
Sex and the church
And the church
And the church

Some believe that Bowie might someday be regarded not just as a musician but as a visionary or futurist. Considering the current global water crisis the following scenario from “Looking for Water” (2003) doesn’t seem too far off:

Silver leaves are spinning round
Take my hand as we
go down and down
and down
Looking for water…

I’m looking for water
Looking for water
(Looking looking)
I’m looking for water
Looking for water…

The combination of musician and visionary is not unheard of. Both Pythagoras and the legendary Orpheus combined music, philosophy and spirituality.

While Pythagoras related musical harmony to cosmic order, Orpheus used his lyre to wrest his wife Eurydice from the underworld lord of death, Cerberus. But like Lot‘s wife, and against a dire warning not to look back during the escape, Orpheus foolishly cast a glance backward, losing Eurydice again.

This story speaks to the wisdom of accepting and trusting in the future, an idea summed up in Bowie’s tune, “Changes” (1971):

Turn and face the strange
ch ch changes…
time may change me
but I can’t trace time

Bowie has also ventured into acting and composing soundtracks for film and video games. For some time he had a lively and free internet forum called “Discourse” at davidbowie.com, which now charges membership fees.

Although criticized for being a skinflint when it comes to charity, Bowie replies

I can never make my mind up, I’m so f***ing flippy floppy. I can see both sides of everything and it’s really awful.  Source » “DAVID BOWIE – BOWIE’S CHARITY STRUGGLES” at contactmusic.com

Skinflint or not, for his considerable import as an artist he was awarded the 2008 Andromeda Award at earthpages.org.

Earthpages.org’s Very First 2008 Andromeda Award!

Image Source:

• Cropped from the original “David Bowie” by NYCArthur at http://www.flickr.com/photos/70945486@N00/252869934/, Creative Commons 2.0 license.

 » Nineteen Eighty-Four

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