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crholmstrom

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steffialicia
With all due respect, can someone please explain the symbolism in the video Blackstar to me?

What do you want it to mean? Great art is always in the eye of the beholder.

It was vaguely disturbing. Off the top of my head, I would say death and "rebirth" but most of it gave me the feeling of wtf? I wasn't a huge fan although I did like many of his more commercial work and I am sorry for his family, friends and fans on his passing.

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crholmstrom

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steffialicia
With all due respect, can someone please explain the symbolism in the video Blackstar to me?

What do you want it to mean? Great art is always in the eye of the beholder.

Yeah, it is a strange question. By definition, such things cannot be explained to anyone. You watch it you listen and it speaks to you or not, it is not about somebody else explaining what it "means" to them.

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Rokyfan

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crholmstrom

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steffialicia
With all due respect, can someone please explain the symbolism in the video Blackstar to me?

What do you want it to mean? Great art is always in the eye of the beholder.

Yeah, it is a strange question. By definition, such things cannot be explained to anyone. You watch it you listen and it speaks to you or not, it is not about somebody else explaining what it "means" to them.

A few 'answers' here…

http://www.theguardian.com/music

David Bowie's son thanks fans for support following his father's death

Duncan Jones takes to social media to confirm 'everything is good'

David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones, has thanked fans for their support following his father's death earlier this month.

Jones, who directed the films Moon and Source Code, took to Twitter to post a drawing with three sets of hands giving a huge thumbs up, scribed with the words "everything is good" next to them. "Hi all. Just wanted to thank you for the incredibly kind words & thoughts. I'll be easing my way back into Twitter," he added.

His latest message comes after he recently shared a letter to his father written by a palliative care specialist.

[www.nme.com]

Gail Ann Dorsey remembers David Bowie :

What was Bowie like back then? How did he compare to the image you had of him in your head?

I guess he was more normal. Obviously his image is that he would be a freaky guy that dressed funny. We'd all seen the characters he portrayed over the years. But I think what was interesting was that he was a real gentleman. Nothing about him was flashy or ostentatious or over the top. He was very normal. It was just that everything around him was huge, but he was actually just a really gracious, gracious man.

He was also very, very smart. I assumed he might be, but he was way smarter than I ever imagined. Very intellectual and a voracious reader, always reading. He retained information so well. I don't know how he could remember all those things, especially after years of drinking and drugs and things he used to do. He did say to me at one point that he was glad I didn't know him in those days. He might have been very different in those days. I don't know what he was doing back then, but in the time that I knew him, he was very sober and very focused. He was also very funny. He had an incredible sense of humor, very witty and quick. He could have been a comedian.

Complete interview at : David Bowie Bassist Gail Ann Dorsey: 'He Altered the Course of My Life'

Ranking of all of Bowie's studio albums (including Blackstar) from worst to best. Some interesting reading for Bowie fans.

[consequenceofsound.net]

Interesting interview with Claudia Lennear, who had a brief relationship with Bowie in the early 70s and was the inspiration for his song "Lady Grinning Soul." Claudia was a singer who worked with Ike & Tina Turner, Leon Russell, Joe Cocker and others. She was also featured in the documentary "20 Feet From Stardom" (along with Lisa Fischer).

[www.dailymail.co.uk]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-01-26 20:54 by TornAndFried.

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alieb
Mick's tribute to Bowie

Nice article...........

Funny Quote:

He'd always look at my clothes labels. When he would see me, he'd give me a hug, and I could feel him going up behind the collar of my shirt to see what I was wearing.

A few weeks ago on my work one of my female colleague: Nice sweater your wear....and before I noticed she looked at my clothe label behind the collar

__________________________

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alieb
Mick's tribute to Bowie

Very nice words from Mick. Thanks for the link.

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kowalski

Complete interview at : [url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/david-bowie-bassist-gail-ann-dorsey-he-altered-the-course-of-my-life-20160125
David Bowie Bassist Gail Ann Dorsey: 'He Altered the Course of My Life'[/url]

Very insightful interview with Gail Ann Dorsey-watching him pouring it out during "Heroes" in the Hamburg clip, while suffering in pain, shows he was indeed quite the trouper.

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Chris Fountain
This is by far his greatest work... I'm sure it's already posted.


[www.youtube.com]

I would not go quite that far Chris, but not far off the mark. When this came out I was thoroughly captivated with it. I do think it is one of his most underrated songs and is up there in the same echelon as Heroes.

Cheers,
SonicD

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thomashanck
hi,

i listen to bowie since i saw the musikladen-show in 1978,
with my favorite version of "Heroes"...
[www.youtube.com]


sad day

This is such a beautiful rendition. Never see it before. YT is just magical sometimes.

Cheers,
SonicD

From Rolling Stone
[www.rollingstone.com]

Mick Jagger reflects on his 40-plus year friendship with the singer



I can't remember how I met David — which is weird — but we used to hang out in London a lot in the early days of the Seventies; we were at a lot of parties together. He would come around my house and play me all his music — I remember him playing me different mixes of "Jean Genie," which was really kind of Stones-y, in a way. That's what I enjoyed: watching him develop as an artist.

There was always an exchange of information within our friendship. And I suppose there was always an element of competition between us, but it never felt overwhelming. When he'd come over, we'd talk about our work — a new guitarist, a new way of writing, style and photographers. We had a lot in common in wanting to do big things onstage — using interesting designs, narratives, personalities.

He'd always look at my clothes labels. When he would see me, he'd give me a hug, and I could feel him going up behind the collar of my shirt to see what I was wearing. He used to copy me sometimes, but he'd be very honest about it. If he took one of your moves, he'd say, "That's one of yours — I just tried it." I didn't mind sharing things with him, because he would share so much with me — it was a two-way street.

We were very close in the Eighties in New York. We'd hang out a lot and go out to dance clubs. We were very influenced by the New York downtown scene back then. That's why "Let's Dance" is my favorite song of his — it reminds me of those times, and it has such a great groove. He had a chameleon-like ability to take on any genre, always with a unique take, musically and lyrically.

Watch our tribute to Bowie's fashion transformations below:



My favorite memory was the time we did "Dancing in the Street" together. We had to record the song and film the video all in one day. We walked straight from the studio onto the set of the video. At the end of the day, we were saying, "See, it can be done! Why are spending years in the studio?" We enjoyed camping it up. The video is hilarious to watch. It was the only time we really collaborated on anything, which is really stupid when you think about it.

Later on, he bought a house in Mustique, where I have a place, and we used to hang out in the West Indies. David was so relaxed there, and so kind to everyone. He did a lot of work making health care better for local people; I was doing school charity work, and he would come with me there and do story time with the local kids. It was really sweet.

I know David stopped touring around 2004 after having some health problems. After that, he kind of vanished, both from my life and the stage, so to speak, until he came back with an album that was a very interesting piece. It's really sad when somebody leaves and you haven't spoken to them for a long while. You wish you'd done this; you wish you'd done that. But that's what happens. Strange things happen in life.

As told to Patrick Doyle

Nice essay by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.

[www.rollingstone.com]

[www.rollingstone.com]

Just found this piece about David as told by Mick. Good read.

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StonedAsia
[www.rollingstone.com]

Just found this piece about David as told by Mick. Good read.

That's interesting.

My guess, from the last songs/videos and from David's withdrawal from society/friends,etc in his latter days/years, is that he was battling the mental illness issues that plagued his family. That's just my guess. He had a good wife, tho, and I'm sure she protected him. She made a comment somewhere that she fell in love with the real him and not his music persona. He looked like he was in the best place of his life in the 90's when he married Iman. He seemed paranoid and fearful of death in his last days. That's my take on it.

It was fun looking through all his old interviews thru the years and hearing his heart. He was inspired by songs that had odd notes in them and went places you wouldn't expect the song to go. And, that explains why his songs sound that way! He mentioned his family's problems with "emotional and spiritual" issues, and he brings that up in a few interviews. He credited someone he collaborated with as a "spiritual diamond" on the Arsenio Hall show, so this seemed to be a driving issue all of his life, I believe. The more gifted one is, the stronger the spiritual battle, I believe, to use it in the negative direction. He seemed to recognize the difference and question himself in the end.

Watch out for the National Enquirer article, I guess that is sordid tabloid gossip.

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Straycat13

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StonedAsia
[www.rollingstone.com]

Just found this piece about David as told by Mick. Good read.

That's interesting.

My guess, from the last songs/videos and from David's withdrawal from society/friends,etc in his latter days/years, is that he was battling the mental illness issues that plagued his family. That's just my guess. He had a good wife, tho, and I'm sure she protected him. She made a comment somewhere that she fell in love with the real him and not his music persona. He looked like he was in the best place of his life in the 90's when he married Iman. He seemed paranoid and fearful of death in his last days. That's my take on it.

It was fun looking through all his old interviews thru the years and hearing his heart. He was inspired by songs that had odd notes in them and went places you wouldn't expect the song to go. And, that explains why his songs sound that way! He mentioned his family's problems with "emotional and spiritual" issues, and he brings that up in a few interviews. He credited someone he collaborated with as a "spiritual diamond" on the Arsenio Hall show, so this seemed to be a driving issue all of his life, I believe. The more gifted one is, the stronger the spiritual battle, I believe, to use it in the negative direction. He seemed to recognize the difference and question himself in the end.

certainly hope that wasn't the case but it does seem that the greater the genius, the more the mental fragility...

Oftentimes, yes. He battled addictions and the family gene pool.

I totally disagree he was battling mental illness! There is simply no proof at all that was the case. In fact it sounds like he was happy and retreated to being with family. David's addictions with cocaine were well known and during his Station to Station period he was dealing with some mental issues, mostly due to his addiction and lack of sleep.

However, the mental illness in his family is known, and his brother was institutionalized. But again, from the interviews with people around Bowie during this time, particularly Visticonti, there is no mention of mental illness.

What do we know...anyway..Black Star is a fantastic Goodbye...

2 1 2 0

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TornAndFried
Nice essay by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.

[www.rollingstone.com]

Amazing and very touching.

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whitem8
I totally disagree he was battling mental illness! There is simply no proof at all that was the case. In fact it sounds like he was happy and retreated to being with family. David's addictions with cocaine were well known and during his Station to Station period he was dealing with some mental issues, mostly due to his addiction and lack of sleep.

However, the mental illness in his family is known, and his brother was institutionalized. But again, from the interviews with people around Bowie during this time, particularly Visticonti, there is no mention of mental illness.

yes, i agree. what a ridiculous thing to postulate.

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treaclefingers
yes, i agree. what a ridiculous thing to postulate.

It's definitely ridiculous - and quite uncharitable - to postulate something like that on the basis of zero evidence.
Just because someone in your family has suffered from mental illness doesn't mean you do,
or that it's something that would suddenly incapacitate someone when they're in their 50s.

Love and light to the man, and thanks and praises.

That's an amazing piece from Trent. Very moving.

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with sssoul

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treaclefingers
yes, i agree. what a ridiculous thing to postulate.

It's definitely ridiculous - and quite uncharitable - to postulate something like that on the basis of zero evidence.
Just because someone in your family has suffered from mental illness doesn't mean you do,
or that it's something that would suddenly incapacitate someone when they're in their 50s.

Love and light to the man, and thanks and praises.

It's not an entirely improbable situation that Bowie may have experienced some type of mental illness in his later years. Perhaps not such an extreme condition as schizophrenia as his half-brother suffered from, but possibly some degree of depression and even mild paranoia. I recently read an interview with one of his friends who mentioned that in the period following his heart attack in 2004, Bowie was "in a dark place." Perhaps this was a normal reaction to his feeling of mortality following his health scare, but it was certainly unusual for him to make such an abrupt and complete and withdrawal from performing and making pubic appearances over the next decade. It's hard to speculate the reasons behind his almost obsessive need for privacy and reclusive behavior based on such scant evidence. Many of his friends and musical associates (including Mick Jagger) say they completely lost touch with him over the past decade, which seems to suggest something more than just a strong need for privacy and security.

I do think it is just tabloidish to speculate on him having mental illness. Now depression was most probably a given. Most heart patients after a heart attack and surgical procedure experience depression. But I doubt that is what consumed him during his reclusive stint. I suspect he was inspired by his hero John Lennon to do something very similar and pull back from the industry to focus more on family and person.

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whitem8
I do think it is just tabloidish to speculate on him having mental illness. Now depression was most probably a given. Most heart patients after a heart attack and surgical procedure experience depression. But I doubt that is what consumed him during his reclusive stint. I suspect he was inspired by his hero John Lennon to do something very similar and pull back from the industry to focus more on family and person.

Perhaps. He no doubt felt something change following his heart attack and likely re-assessed his life and decided to make spending time with his wife and daughter a priority. However, it's hard to deny he seemed to withdraw in an almost fanatical way from his previous public persona. Maybe he just found it easier to withdraw completely and permanently from the public eye and cut off all ties with his celebrity past.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2016-01-27 22:08 by TornAndFried.

Well I don't find it strange to pull back so much. You either pull back completely or continue to be drawn back. He went tentatively at first, the first two years after the heart issue he was still a little active, playing with Arcade Fire, The Killers, and producing Scarlet Johansen's album. And acting in The Prestige. Then he pulled back completely. Good for him. I am sure he left feeling no regrets of missing his family and new daughter's life.