FAREWELL TO THE STARMAN
by Hazed
I was very upset by the news on Monday of David Bowie’s death. I’ve been a fan since my early teens. While my schoolmates were sighing over heart-throbs Donny Osmond and David Cassidy, I was discovering that lyrics didn’t have to be about “I love you” or “My baby left me” thanks to Bowie’s songs. He wrote about space, about psychology, about all kinds of strange stuff. He also showed, by his music and his style, that it was OK to be different, not to conform. His amazing performance of Starman on the BBC’s music show Top of the Pops blew my naïve teenage mind.
His Aladdin Sane album was the first LP I bought, swiftly followed by his entire back catalogue (as fast as my pocket money allowed). I continued listening to his songs and I still have 16 of his albums on my iPhone (I just checked) and they frequently enliven my commute to work.
What makes Bowie’s death particularly upsetting is that unlike many other rock stars of his generation, he was still releasing new music. His newest album Blackstar was released just a few days before he died.
The UK album chart this weekend currently shows Bowie occupying 19 places in the top 100, with Blackstar at number 1.
Major Tom has taken his last spacewalk, Ziggy has returned to space, and the man who fell to Earth has left us. RIP David Bowie.
