Monday January 11, 2016
I woke to the news of the death of David Bowie. I was caught off-guard; I never knew he was ill.
But then David has always got me off-guard.
I was never a fan of David Bowie. He seemed too 'wild' for my liking. But growing up as a teenager in 1980's London, too many of my friends were totally and fanatically in love with him, and eventually I began to pay attention to his personality and his music.
David and his music transcended categories and defied stereotypes.
Everything about him was unique and fascinating, even down to the fact that his eyes were 2 different colors.
He was a man of contrasts, and I couldn’t reconcile how this apparently wild rocker person also wrote a song as deep and sensitive as "Let's Dance". I remember watching the video for "Let's Dance" as a 15 year old, with tears in my eyes, as the girl in the video "...put on her red shoes to dance away the blues...". I didn't expect that from David!
I was equally surprised at his 23 year apparently happy marriage to the Somalian supermodel Iman. To me, they were like chalk and cheese. I didn't get it, yet their union endured and was clearly a miracle in the showbiz world.
I didnt have much to do with David for a couple of decades. Then our paths crossed again a couple of years ago. By this time my son had become a teenager with a broad and eclectic taste in music (aka how is a black boy like you interested in THAT music?! 😜).
The song was called "Space Oddity". It's about an astronaut called Major Tom, floating through space. Major Tom was celebrated and a celebrity, but he loses his connection with Ground Control and slowly slips away into oblivion and certain death.
"Space Oddity" was apparently a symbolic autobiography, that he wrote in 1969. David was actually describing his own success, celebrity and downward spiral as a result of drugs.
The lyrics of "Space Oddity" are so poignant today:
"For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do
Though I'm fast one hundred thousand miles
I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much (she knows!)
Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?..."
You never ceased to catch me off-guard, David Bowie.
Your genius taught me that we should never judge a book by it's cover.
Rest in Peace.
From your biggest 'non'-fan.
