Greetings,
Okay, so 2016 has been kind of a sad year thus far. We're not even two weeks in and we've lost quite a few great people, Frank Armitage, Pat Harrington Jr., Robert Stigwood and now the person about whom I will be speaking today, David Bowie. That one came out of nowhere for me, because I didn't even know he was sick. Maybe others did, but I never kept up on news about him. To be honest, I was never much of a hardcore fan of his. Sure, I liked a lot of his songs, as evident by what I'm posting today, and I did love to hear him talk in interviews, as he had a talking voice that was even more enjoyable to me than his singing voice. But I know that there are fans out there that are hurting a lot more than I am, because they were, are and always will be those hardcore fans. Still, it is sad that such a great talent is lost to us, so I thought I'd pay a little tribute and share with you what were my favorite songs of his. I hope my attempt at levity here is seen not as disrespect while people are mourning, but as a way to hopefully bring a little smile to their faces and hearts in a time when they need it. Here we go.
Honorable Mention "Under Pressure" - This would have made the list, but I think, technically, it's a song from a Queen album. Still, it's a great song and Bowie is as much of a presence on it as anyone, so it's worth some acknowledgement. And Vanilla Ice TOTALLY stole that bass line!
#10. "Fashion" - Yeah, this reminds me of the getting ready for school scene in Clueless. What about it? Actually, that might be the first time I heard this song. Okay, you true fans can get upset about that. I don't mind. But, you know, better late than never.
#9. "Ashes to Ashes" - You know what is usually awful and unnecessary? Movie sequels. But song sequels? Oh, yeah, I could stand for a few more of those, so long as they're written as well as this, which references a character brought to us by way of an earlier song by David Bowie. One that I may be talking about later. Maybe, maybe not. Yeah, I'll totally be talking about it later.
#8. "Fame" - John Lennon helped to write this one. That's reason enough to include it.
#7. "Heroes" - I've heard that the production of this song has been compared to a "Wall of Sound" production. That seems accurate when you think of the, let's say, grandness of it. It has so many layers and is very rich, and it really feels like those involved cared about making it great. Apparently, that's a thing that used to happen a lot in the music industry.
#6. "Golden Years" - Yeah, this reminds me of the party scene in A Knight's Tale. What about it? Look, it's not my fault that he let a lot of his songs be in movies. But, let's be honest, I'm glad he did.
#5. "Changes" - I use this song to test people who would like to be my friend. I say "What do you think when I say 'Ch-ch-ch'?" If they respond with "Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!", then they are granted the honor of my friendship. If they respond with "Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia (Pet)!"? Fail, fail, fail, fail, fail! Thanks again, Mr. Bowie.
#4. "Ziggy Stardust" - I don't know for sure just who this Ziggy Stardust guy is, but I know that he took it all too far, he could play guitar and I'm pretty sure there's at least one person in the world who was named after him. Also, if I ever got to be in a band with him, I'd be happy.
#3. "Space Oddity" - I mean, you gotta love a song that was not allowed to be played on the BBC until the astronauts from Apollo 11 got back home. No, seriously, that happened. I suppose I can understand that. Though, to this day, I'm not sure if it encouraged more people to join the space program or discouraged them. As long as it encouraged people to write better music (which it did, I believe), I guess it doesn't matter either way.
#2. "Young Americans" - I love when a song plays and you can totally hear what influenced the writer. Here, it is obvious that Bowie was influenced by some serious soul music. I just love the sound of this song and how different I find it from a lot of his other work. But I guess that's what he was all about. He wrote and created whatever he felt in the moment. Also, Luther Vandross sang back up. I mean, come on!
#1. "The Man Who Sold the World" - There's something special about any combination of music and lyrics that becomes haunting. And that is how I would describe this song. It is hauntingly beautiful. I've heard so many explanations for what this song may be about or what it was inspired by, from Heinlein to Cthulhu, but I really don't care. All I know is that it's amazing. That's plenty enough for me.
And so those are my favorites from the late, great David Bowie. Of course, my prayers go out to his family and all the heartbroken fans, and as always, I hope he had everything set right in the end. He was a wonderful artist and this world will miss him.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
