David Bowie: the most forward-looking of singers returns to his past
The nostalgic feel to Bowie's new single has fuelled speculation as to whether his first album in 10 years will be his last
Michael Hann
guardian.co.uk
Tuesday 8 January 2013
The return of David Bowie had, perhaps, been expected – but not in this fashion. Not with a song booted out into the world without pageant or fanfare. Where was the grand stage? The big gesture? That's what had been predicted this summer, when rumour held that Bowie would make his return to live performance at the Olympics closing ceremony, only for fans to sigh at the anti-climax of filmed footage of Bowie appearing in the show's whistlestop tour of British pop history.
And if the nature of Bowie's return as he reached 66 was unexpected, so too was the song with which he came back. Where Are We Now? proved to be the thing this most forward-looking of singers has always avoided: a look at his past. "It's about Berlin in 1976 and 77," said Bowie's biographer, Paul Trynka. "He namechecks all the places he used to hang out with Iggy Pop and Martin Kippenberger. That's significant because he's always eschewed nostalgia."
That very nostalgia is certain to fuel speculation. Are these recordings – Where Are We Now? is to be followed by The Next Day, his first album in 10 years, in March – to be Bowie's last? Is he looking back because the end is nigh?
Rumours about Bowie's health have circulated since he suffered a heart attack backstage at the Hurricane festival in Scheeßel in Germany on 25 June 2004, immediately after coming offstage. He cancelled the remaining 15 dates of his tour, and has not performed headline shows of his own since, though he's hardly been a recluse – he performed in New York with Arcade Fire in 2005 and 2006, with Pink Floyd's David Gilmour in London in 2006, and curated an arts and music festival in New York in 2007.
But pop abhors a vacuum. So the absence of any substantive projects fuelled rumours of serious ill health, and Bowie's own legendarily unhealthy past fed into them – during the recording of his 1976 albumStation to Station he reputedly existed on a diet of peppers, milk and cocaine, giving rise to his Thin White Duke persona.
Trynka, however, was sceptical about the stories of serious illness. "There would have been rumours whether or not he was actually ill," he said. "He got such a rude awakening to his own mortality with his heart attack, and I think that was a major shock." Trynka said it was likely Bowie had simply decided to spend more time with his daughter Alexandria, who was born in 2000, having failed to be a constant presence in the life of his son, Duncan, in the 1970s and 80s. "That would be one of several major factors in his absence, I expect," Trynka said. "He didn't spend a lot of time with Duncan, which he regretted."
Certainly, his return has been met with wild enthusiasm. By noon on Tuesday, Where Are We Now? stood at No 2 on the iTunes singles chart, kept from the top only by the omnipresent will.i.am, who promotes himself rather more heavily than Bowie. But then Bowie didn't need to promote himself – the very existence of the song was enough to generate coverage across all media, with even the Today programme, not always at its most sure-footed when dealing with pop culture, reporting on the release. Then, inevitably, a new spate of rumours began – would Bowie be playing Glastonbury, or its nearest US equivalent, Coachella?
If Bowie were to return to the stage, then a series of high-profile, lucrative festival appearances would be the easiest way to do it. In recent years, though, a number of his near comtemporaries – notably Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen – have been revitalised by taking on the kind of touring schedules that many a younger artist might balk at. And given Bowie's famously electric stage performances, he might actually want to tour – the jaunt to promote his last album, 2003's Reality, lasted a year before it was cut short. Even if he does not tour, though, his profile this year will be bigger than at any time since his heart attack – he has opened his archive to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London for the exhibition David Bowie is, which runs from March to July.
Arguably the biggest question about his return, though, is why a pop singer releasing a pop song should have provoked such a response. "Isn't he the last of the greats?" Trynka suggested. "Where are the people who formed a lot of our cultural landscape? Elvis is dead. The Beatles are gone. This isn't just a single – it's the latest event from someone who has defined our culture."
And if the nature of Bowie's return as he reached 66 was unexpected, so too was the song with which he came back. Where Are We Now? proved to be the thing this most forward-looking of singers has always avoided: a look at his past. "It's about Berlin in 1976 and 77," said Bowie's biographer, Paul Trynka. "He namechecks all the places he used to hang out with Iggy Pop and Martin Kippenberger. That's significant because he's always eschewed nostalgia."
That very nostalgia is certain to fuel speculation. Are these recordings – Where Are We Now? is to be followed by The Next Day, his first album in 10 years, in March – to be Bowie's last? Is he looking back because the end is nigh?
Rumours about Bowie's health have circulated since he suffered a heart attack backstage at the Hurricane festival in Scheeßel in Germany on 25 June 2004, immediately after coming offstage. He cancelled the remaining 15 dates of his tour, and has not performed headline shows of his own since, though he's hardly been a recluse – he performed in New York with Arcade Fire in 2005 and 2006, with Pink Floyd's David Gilmour in London in 2006, and curated an arts and music festival in New York in 2007.
But pop abhors a vacuum. So the absence of any substantive projects fuelled rumours of serious ill health, and Bowie's own legendarily unhealthy past fed into them – during the recording of his 1976 albumStation to Station he reputedly existed on a diet of peppers, milk and cocaine, giving rise to his Thin White Duke persona.
Trynka, however, was sceptical about the stories of serious illness. "There would have been rumours whether or not he was actually ill," he said. "He got such a rude awakening to his own mortality with his heart attack, and I think that was a major shock." Trynka said it was likely Bowie had simply decided to spend more time with his daughter Alexandria, who was born in 2000, having failed to be a constant presence in the life of his son, Duncan, in the 1970s and 80s. "That would be one of several major factors in his absence, I expect," Trynka said. "He didn't spend a lot of time with Duncan, which he regretted."
Certainly, his return has been met with wild enthusiasm. By noon on Tuesday, Where Are We Now? stood at No 2 on the iTunes singles chart, kept from the top only by the omnipresent will.i.am, who promotes himself rather more heavily than Bowie. But then Bowie didn't need to promote himself – the very existence of the song was enough to generate coverage across all media, with even the Today programme, not always at its most sure-footed when dealing with pop culture, reporting on the release. Then, inevitably, a new spate of rumours began – would Bowie be playing Glastonbury, or its nearest US equivalent, Coachella?
If Bowie were to return to the stage, then a series of high-profile, lucrative festival appearances would be the easiest way to do it. In recent years, though, a number of his near comtemporaries – notably Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen – have been revitalised by taking on the kind of touring schedules that many a younger artist might balk at. And given Bowie's famously electric stage performances, he might actually want to tour – the jaunt to promote his last album, 2003's Reality, lasted a year before it was cut short. Even if he does not tour, though, his profile this year will be bigger than at any time since his heart attack – he has opened his archive to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London for the exhibition David Bowie is, which runs from March to July.
Arguably the biggest question about his return, though, is why a pop singer releasing a pop song should have provoked such a response. "Isn't he the last of the greats?" Trynka suggested. "Where are the people who formed a lot of our cultural landscape? Elvis is dead. The Beatles are gone. This isn't just a single – it's the latest event from someone who has defined our culture."
Bowie returns on a high: a strong song, with an emotional vocal. Where Are We Now? is as good a question as any to ask.
ReplyDeleteI predict this will receive a Da cover at The Habit very soon.
What a contrast to the puerile pap excreted by the vast majority of our current crop of pop/rock stars.
ReplyDeleteWell said!
ReplyDelete