NILANKUR DUTTA
Of course, this is all because the thing I never imagined could happen, has happened: David Bowie exits stage-left, with a liver full of cancer. Yes, all humans are given a limited leash on life, but if there’ s one person you could imagine living forever, the one person who deserved immortality so he could wallop Death right in the face with Mark Ronson’ s guitar, was Ziggy. And now he is gone, and we are left with a more prosaic world, where the Martian spiders do not visit any longer.
The news of his death comes amidst generally a bad year for rock and roll: Glenn Frey, founder of the Eagles also passed away, as did Dale Griffin, English drummer for Mott the Hoople. Not that any of them had an influence as profound and monumental as David Bowie. There is very little left to say about Bowie that has not been said expertly in the thousands of obituaries and honors that poured in after the event. Both the words misfit, and extraordinarily charismatic invariably show up. He was both, bridging the gaps between reality and theater. At once, Bowie, The Duke, Ziggy Stardust. Even his death was an act of misdirection and magic, preceded by‘ Blackstar,’ which has now shot to number 1. The Belgians have even declared a constellation in his honour( who knew that the Belgians were in charge of the stars), seven stars shaped like the lightning bolt.
But we are in 2016, and honestly, David Bowie has released exactly one really good album in the entire time that I have been alive. His days of rock and roll wizardry are a good forty years away. In popular culture, David Bowie, at least until he died, was as relevant as twerking.
But there is something to it. Something that compelled me to throw out my draft of“ 10 Weirdest Gastrointestinal Tract Disorders While Onstage at a Concert”, and write this instead. Maybe it was the fact that I obsessively listened to“ The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust” over 10 million times between the ages of 16 and 16 + 8 months. Or because Bowie shows up in my life in the most unexpected places: in a movie I love( The Prestige), the soundtrack of my first real relationship( Rebel Rebel). He has spawned entire genres of music I love: glam rock, and bands that I am guaranteed to dig just by the virtue of his friendship to their members: Marc Bolan and Lou Reed.
He was also in Zoolander.
Despite his much flaunted homo / bi / pan-sexuality, my favorite obituary of David Jones, was offered by his friend, producer Robert Fox, who remembered him at 23: quiet, shy, well-read and curious about everything. And despite all of the things that happened over the next half-decade, every time you listen to Bowie, whether it is brilliant or awful, you can make out the quality of earnestness: like he is trying to reach out to you. And that is why you will forgive“ Dancing in the Street” every single time.
And by all accounts, he died quiet and unassuming, his 18-monthbattle with cancer secret from the world, just a pffft and he is gone.“ Rock n Roll” suicide, from early on his career, is almost prophetic:
“ You ' re too old to lose it, too young to choose it And the clocks waits so patiently on your song You walk past a cafe but you don ' t eat when you ' ve lived too long Oh, no, no, no, you ' re a rock ' n ' roll suicide”
But here’ s something which I think has never been said in the thousands of memorial posts: if you’ re a millennial and you’ ve never heard of David Bowie, and now that he is dead, you think it’ s too late to be a fan. It’ s not. Everybody gets one life, and creatively speaking Bowie had a long one. Check out“ Rise and Fall..”,” Aladdin Sane”,“ Space Oddity.” If you’ re into a more pop-sound: there’ s the sterling“ Scary Monsters” from the 80’ s. Listen to“ Heroes”, listen to the original“ Man Who Sold the World”,( there’ s a reason why Kurt Cobain covered it). Go ahead, pirate the albums, he doesn’ t care anymore. As It turns out, the music was really rather good.
And that is as good as note as any to say goodbye to the man who fell to earth: thank you, it was all really rather good.
" Such a creative genius, his music has inspired many. The world has lost a musician from the golden era of rock n roll "- Jonathan Reuben( Clowns With A Frown)
“ I am not a prophet or a stoneaged man just a mortal with potential of a superman I am living on- These lyrics from his tune quicksand best describes him. He was and always will be a true Rock & Roller”- Sunny D ' souza( Bhargava’ s Musik)
“ He was inspiring millions around him even the day before he died. such was his legacy. A great inspiration for millions around the world. A big loss to what ' s left of the goodness in the dying music industry.”- Srikrishna Natesan( Blind Image)
The Score Magazine www. thescoremagazine. com
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