Religion and Ethics Forum
General Category => Literature, Music, Art & Entertainment => Topic started by: Bubbles on January 11, 2016, 07:04:55 AM
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:o
:'(
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💐💐
Just heard it :'(
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Noooooo. :o :'(
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The moving finger writes ....
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RIP to my school's most famous old boy
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The moving finger writes ....
Yes but does it have to write so harshly and with such haste?
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Friend of mine wrote this blog, 3 years ago, just before he died at a ridiculously early age. Covers my feelings better than I could.
http://kennyharrisblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/ziggy-stardust-changed-my-life.html?m=1
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Rest in Peace Mr Bowie.
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He seemed like Peter Pan, like he would go on for ever. Thanks for all the music, Mr Oddity. He said a while ago that he wrote about the highlights of his life - loneliness, anxiety, abandonment, and he helped generations of people process those things. Thanks, thanks, thanks.
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Yes but does it have to write so harshly and with such haste?
I'm not sure that 18 months of cancer is 'with such haste', Trent.
DB was never one of my favourite musicians - at least not so that I bought any of his records, but pretty well evey album contained what, to me, were jewels. I've heard people say that he was on a par with Elvis (did Elvis ever write his own stuff?), Lennon et al, but I'm not sure that that is even the right approach. He broke ground on a regular basis, which was then developed and sharpened by others, whilst the likes of Lennon and co seemed to hone one or two particular genres.
He will be greatly missed.
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Terrible shock - and just after the new album.When you hear it, it's as if he wrote his own requiem.
RIP David
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Noooooo. :o :'(
My reaction exactly, especially as I hadn't known he'd been ill - I don't know if he'd made it public or not but if he did, I missed it.
Lemmy and Bowie within a few days of each other. Gutted ... absolutely gutted :(
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Yes but does it have to write so harshly and with such haste?
No matter how much we try to control our lives, Trent, events move us inexorably towards our death.
It's sad, but that's the way it is. Enjoy the journey as much as you can.
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Dear Forum,
Jeremy Vine radio 2, 12.00 hrs will be paying tribute to Bowie.
Gonnagle.
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Dear Forum,
Jeremy Vine radio 2, 12.00 hrs will be paying tribute to Bowie.
Gonnagle.
Nicky Campbell was brilliant this morning on 5 Live - the appreciation of a true fan.
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Dear Sane,
Listening to Vine at the moment, you can hear it in his voice, his good wife advised him not to cycle to work this morning as he was in no fit state after hearing about the great man's death.
Gonnagle.
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I'm not sure that 18 months of cancer is 'with such haste', Trent
I merely meant that the grim reaper was in a hurry to take him away from us far too soon. I was not referring to the length of his illness.
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Dear Sane,
Listening to Vine at the moment, you can hear it in his voice, his good wife advised him not to cycle to work this morning as he was in no fit state after hearing about the great man's death.
Gonnagle.
Pondering a post about Bowie and your question on cultural Christianity, given that I could describe the day I was converted to Bowieism, and was just listening to the new album this weekend with the single Lazarus, with the lyrics
Look up here, I’m in heaven
I’ve got scars that can’t be seen
I’ve got drama, can’t be stolen
Everybody knows me now'
But that will take a little thought, till then here is a blog from Chris Difford
http://chrisdifford.com/blog/david-bowie/
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I merely meant that the grim reaper was in a hurry to take him away from us far too soon. I was not referring to the length of his illness.
Indeed. Who knows, he may have retired when he got to 70 - but on the other hand, he could have carried on making music and doing other things for another decade at least.
We'll never know.
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With some people it feels like too soon whatever age they were.
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With some people it feels like too soon whatever age they were.
Sadly, yes. I think it was David Baddiel (may be wrong) who said that he seemed to have assumed that Bowie was immortal - he'd been around for so long that it just seemed as though he'd keep going on and on into the future. And at huge risk of cliche, 69 is no age now, with life expectancy as it is.
Still, as with poor old Lemmy, there's a case to be made that given his lifestyle years ago (though not recently) it's amazing that he got to the age he did.
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There's also the legacy that such an artist leaves, and not just their own work. My cousin, a passionate Bowie fan, once argued that without Bowie artists like Jarvis Cocker wouldn't have become the performers that they have.
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Not just Jarvis and Pulp; a vast swathe of what was known at the time as the Britpop phenomenon in the 90s (I was there, man, I was there) wouldn't have existed with Bowie's influence. Just think of Suede, for example.
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It's not just about influences in pop though, I would call him one of the great English artists of all time.
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Oh goodness, if ever anyone was influenced by Bowie it's Brett Anderson.
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I merely meant that the grim reaper was in a hurry to take him away from us far too soon. I was not referring to the length of his illness.
He was 769. Mick Ronson was taken far to soon (46 - younger than me), but David Bowie lived to a good age.
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69 - which is a good age unless you're 68.
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Or 69. (me).
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69 - which is a good age unless you're 68.
I guess the tragedy, for those of us who did not know him personally is that he was not creatively spent, if the evidence of his last two albums is anything to go by. However, for me, if he did nothing else, his role in the production of Transformer would be enough.
Also Queen Bitch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljv8xCt4Bq8
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Or 69. (me).
This thread is beginning to make me smile!
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This whole thing sort of reminds me of Pink Floyd's 'The Great Gig in the Sky', especially the spoken lines
And I am not frightened of dying.
Any time will do, I don't mind.
Why should I be frightened of dying?
There's no reason for it – you've got to go sometime.
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I always felt that The Next Day was a reflection of a life. Maybe he had an inkling that time was running out. Blackstar is his self-penned requiem.
Both albums are quite deep and personal and I can understand why they don't appeal to some, but I think they show a human being coming to terms with their mortality. A very brave thing to do.
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BBC 4 did Top of The Pops Story of 1981 on Friday. Almost any act on there other than novelty stuff is steeped in Bowie. The 90s other than possibly Pulp because Jarvis is quite old, are influenced by Bowie as a second or third generation.
Whatever you at think of them there is no Smiths, Human League, Joy Division without Bowie.
The day that one hears of his death is not the best one for a proper evaluation but for me I think the output in the 70s is the best concentrated piece of work in terms of its influence that anyone did last century.
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It's not just about influences in pop though, I would call him one of the great English artists of all time.
I think that's about right. Gonzo is right to mention him with Turner.
I have seen a couple of challenges elsewhere about comments from him, notably the one on fascism, and actions, notably his commodification of himself, but artists are not saints, thankfully. After all even saints aren't saints
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Has there been a more significant song writer than Bowie since the Lennon-McCartney partnership dissolved? I can't think of one. Bowie himself might claim Lou Reed, but I think Reed's importance is mainly as an influence on Bowie.
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Ground control to Major Tom, Didn't know what time it was and the lights were low
I leaned back on my radio
Some cat was layin' down some rock 'n' roll 'lotta soul,
he said...
It's a God-awful small affair
Oh man wonder if he'll ever know
He's in the best selling show
My death waits like an old roue'
So confident, I'll go his way
Whistle to him and the passing time
My death waits like a Bible truth
At the funeral of my youth
Are we proud for that and the passing time?
My death waits like a witch at night
As surely as our love is right
Let's not think about the passing time
But whatever lies behind the door
There is nothing much to do
Angel or devil, I don't care
For in front of that door there is you
My death waits like a beggar blind
Who sees the world through an unlit mind
Throw him a dime for the passing time
My death waits there between your thighs
Your cool fingers will close my eyes
Let's think of that and the passing time
My death waits to allow my friends
A few good times before it ends
So let's think of that and the passing time
For whatever lies behind the door
There is nothing much to do
Angel or devil, I don't care
For in front of that door there is you
My death waits there among the leaves
In magician's mysterious sleeves
Rabbits and dogs and the passing time
My death waits there among the flowers
Where the blackest shadows, blackest shadows cowers
Let's pick lilacs for the passing time
My death waits there in a double bed
Sails of oblivion and my head
So pull up your sheets against the passing time
But whatever lies behind the door
There is nothing much to do
Angel or devil, I don't care
For in front of that door there is, Thank You
I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much (she knows!)
Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear....
David, early in his career -use to write his songs by writing lots of lyrics in sentences and then cutting them into strips in a bowl and pulling them out one by one in no particular order. I can think of no fitting tribute better than doing the same with just a couple of his lyrics and his last song which I believe reflected his own facing of his death.
May he rest in peace... :'( :(
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Kudos, Sassy, kudos.
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BBC 4 did Top of The Pops Story of 1981 on Friday. Almost any act on there other than novelty stuff is steeped in Bowie. The 90s other than possibly Pulp because Jarvis is quite old, are influenced by Bowie as a second or third generation.
Whatever you at think of them there is no Smiths, Human League, Joy Division without Bowie.
The day that one hears of his death is not the best one for a proper evaluation but for me I think the output in the 70s is the best concentrated piece of work in terms of its influence that anyone did last century.
Yes, I was thinking of Steve Strange and Billy Mackenzie just now. The influence is astonishing.
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Blackstar - his final album - really is now looking like the equivalent of his Ninth Symphony, with the song titles and lyrics all seeming to point toward death.
On YouTube one of the songs - I Can't Give It All Away - had this comment appended to it just two days ago, which is creepily prescient:
It's strange but I know the day will come that he won't release a new album anymore and it really affects me and moves me... pure genious, not replaceable. Enjoy every second of him as if it was the last one.
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Probably not wise to accept anything as definitive yet given that every source I've seen so far has pointedly declined to specify of what form of cancer Bowie died, but Wikipedia is already saying liver cancer.
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I've just been reading Madonna's tribute, saying how Bowie's stage style set the scene for her own. Very heartfelt.
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More on Bowie's influence here.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35283114
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Thought this was touching: the organist at Kelvingrove Art Gallery/Museum in Glasgow (a place I know well).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-35292054
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The documentary 'Five Years' was shown on the Beeb the other night, I don't know whether it will be on iplayer, as there may be copyright issues. It has some fascinating clips, e.g. Bowie acting in The Elephant Man (very good), working with Luther Vandross (plastic soul, as Bowie called it), and all the usual stuff, Ziggy, thin white duke, the blond Adonis (Let's Dance), and all his other personae. By gum, what a giant he was. My wife compared him to Blake, and I don't think that's an exaggeration.
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Available on iPlayer
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Bowie was a huge part of my teenage years - listened to his music a lot, bought his albums, had the posters on my wall and his pictures on my school folders, went to his concert at Wembley Stadium. Still listen to his older stuff. Very sad to hear about his death.
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The documentary 'Five Years' was shown on the Beeb the other night, I don't know whether it will be on iplayer, as there may be copyright issues. It has some fascinating clips, e.g. Bowie acting in The Elephant Man (very good), working with Luther Vandross (plastic soul, as Bowie called it), and all the usual stuff, Ziggy, thin white duke, the blond Adonis (Let's Dance), and all his other personae. By gum, what a giant he was. My wife compared him to Blake, and I don't think that's an exaggeration.
I am not going to claim that I liked everything that Bowie ever did, TBH Johnny Rotten IMHO hit the nail on the head when he referred to Bowie's acting skills "...David Bowie gets away with it....just". Nor did I care too much for his "Baal" episode. His real talent was not that he wrote catchy songs-SAW were capable of that, but that he wrote clever songs which were accessible because they were so finely crafted. I give as an example "All the Young Dudes". The lyrics on their own give an impression of the brash confidence of the young, but the tune is melancholy, superbly illustrating the bittersweet transience of youth.
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Johnny Rotten IMHO hit the nail on the head when he referred to Bowie's acting skills "...David Bowie gets away with it....just".
Ha ha. Yes. Great musician, not a great actor. I feel somewhat sorry for Tom Conti who was the star - and IMO played a blinder - in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence because everybody thinks of it s David Bowie's film when his part was a supporting part at best.
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Please Dawkins, nooooooooooo!
http://www.gigwise.com/news/105014/david-bowie-death-brit-awards-supergroup-tribute-cover-adele
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Just ffs fffs ffffs
http://www.fm104.ie/entertainment/kanye-west-to-record-david-bowie-tribute-album/4367
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This, however, is gooood
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06whnv6
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Watch Tony Visconti on BBC 4