In My Head: Today: David Bowie - Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for t...

(WARNING: NSFW but toooooootally worth it!)

A little less than a year ago, I was sitting in bed, having come home from some evening activity or other. I was catching up on the Tweets of the day, when something caught my eye.

Duncan Jones @ManMadeMoon

Would be lovely if all of you could spread the word about da's new album. First in ten years, and its a good 'un!  http://www.davidbowie.com/the-next-day

I screamed like a little girl.

For those not hip to the fact, Duncan Jones is, in fact, David Bowie's son. So this was for REALS!

Okay, admittedly, I came to the David Bowie party late (see previous post about my year-long Bowie "catch-up" phase). But once I was in, I was waaaay in. So, hints of a new album were devastating... good devastating. Mind blowing, in fact.

But this January announcement wasn't about the actual album, it was an announcement that an album was on the way.

The Next Day - it seemed like the next year before the darned thing came out.

After months of waiting, a first video came out. The Stars (Are Out Tonight) is a mini-movie starring The Thin White Duke and Tilda Swinton. Right there, we are talking about something wonderful. Tilda is the new Bowie, after all! The album followed and OH  MY GOD! True Bowie. Poetic, melodic, weird, harsh, catchy - you name it. It was all there.

But, back to the video above. The song is one of my favorites on the album. This remix of the song is incredible, the video just mesmerizing. Every video that has accompanied The Next Day has been visually stunning. Works of art, befitting the man himself. It even includes some catch-it-if-you-can Bowie sightings. But this one.... it just sucks me in every time I see it. I pull up the link to send to a friend, or I post it on my FB page, or start a blog post with it and.... If I see more than about 30 seconds, I will undoubtedly watch the entire thing.

I don't have any ending for this entry. I don't have a deep insight into how this video reflects or informs my own life. I just fucking love this video. And should you happen onto this page, set aside 10 minutes (Remember the warning! NSFW) and enjoy.

In my head today: David Bowie

The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell



A lot could be said about this song, and the video itself seems to speak volumes. I've tried for a while now to describe it but can't put words around my thoughts. Phrases come to mind.

You've forgotten the beauty
You've killed the beauty in me
What I once thought was beautiful I now see is actually ugly and cursed - did you do that to me, was the "truth" revealed, or is it a pack of shit?

"I'm reaching the very edge, you know.... I'm reaching the very edge..."

The next car in my unusual train of thought was The Elephant Man. Huh? For those that don't remember here's just a brief review, courtesy of the 1980 movie:




David Bowie performed this role on Broadway. With no make-up. David Bowie is physically a beautiful man. (I have no idea but I suspect he's pretty awesome on the inside as well - but leave that for now)

I have found very few clips of this to share, but here's one:



On the surface, The Elephant Man was about the plight of a horribly disfigured man. At a deeper level, The Elephant Man was about a beautiful soul that few people bothered to see. They could not look beyond the physical appearance of this man to see that he was an intelligent, artistic and kind man.

The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell.

First-impressions make all the difference, right? How much do we miss because we spend 3 seconds sizing someone up? How many kind, beautiful souls get passed by? I wonder sometimes what the world would be like if we had no eyes.

On that note, a couple of Bowie songs that I just like.



Some that have disabled the embedding:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VrqCBsbeuc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA27aQZCQMk