RIP Bowie
David Bowie passed away from cancer two days after his 69th birthday and release of the album Blackstar. As I write this, I am still have a hole in my chest because our Starman has gone back to space. He was my favorite artist because he was a genius at creating versatile music and style for over 5 decades, and he was truly an amazing person for not only his creativity, but also for inspiring people to be themselves no matter how different they might be. I had to pause writing my review for the album because of the terribly shocking news, and I have some slightly different views and understandings of the album than before his passing.
The Review
Bowie opens up his seven track album with the long song "Blackstar" and immediately we begin to wonder what is a "Blackstar?" Never does he truly answer what a Blackstar is, he only repeatedly claims that he is a Blackstar and not titles such as a "white star" or a "porn star". The cultish song is very abstract and so is the rest of the album, and it's all dark from the lyrics to the noir music. He brings attention to depressing subjects such as loving a woman and experiencing the heartbreak of her death only to find out that she had cheated on him in "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)". Also he basically bashes the fame and glorious lifestyle he lives on "Dollar Days". Nothing sounds like a generic pop song that Bowie might write just to get sales like he has done with some, but the album is rather blended beautifully.
The public had no idea about David's battle with cancer and had no idea that this was going to be a goodbye album (he planned to make one more in a few months) which makes his final song "I Can't Give Everything Away" a beautiful epitaph. Compared to his mysterious songs like "Lazarus" and "Blackstar" (which also have complex music videos), it is a light song filled with hope for Bowie fans. The first two days it was released, it meant to me that despite his growing old and the hardships that come with fame, he was going to continue to make music because music is his life. Quite literally that is what happened, but the meaning that even though he was a dying man, he would continue to do what he loved was added and that is something to awe over.
It's a shame that we will never get to know more about the album from the Bowie himself, but hopefully producer Tony Visconti and others will do the album justice. "Blackstar" is a brilliant listen and another piece that David Bowie will be remembered by. RIP David.
The public had no idea about David's battle with cancer and had no idea that this was going to be a goodbye album (he planned to make one more in a few months) which makes his final song "I Can't Give Everything Away" a beautiful epitaph. Compared to his mysterious songs like "Lazarus" and "Blackstar" (which also have complex music videos), it is a light song filled with hope for Bowie fans. The first two days it was released, it meant to me that despite his growing old and the hardships that come with fame, he was going to continue to make music because music is his life. Quite literally that is what happened, but the meaning that even though he was a dying man, he would continue to do what he loved was added and that is something to awe over.
It's a shame that we will never get to know more about the album from the Bowie himself, but hopefully producer Tony Visconti and others will do the album justice. "Blackstar" is a brilliant listen and another piece that David Bowie will be remembered by. RIP David.