Music Banter - View Single Post - 100 Essays on 100 Albums: A Journey Through Music and Life

Davey Moore · 08-13-2009, 02:36 PM

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie (1972)

I have no idea what I am going to write about. But I have to keep on writing. I've taken like a week long break to refresh my mind and I don't know if I am refreshed, but too bad, I gotta keep going. Oh yeah, the album... the album...the album. I don't know what the hell I should write about. It definitely should have something to do with the album and David Bowie.

Bowie's lyrics walk the line between meaningful and nonsense, and so will this essay. As an homage of course, a freaky deeky homage to the space tarantulas and groovy Groovitrons on planet Funky. Am I doing a Bowie homage or a George Clinton homage? And what a coincidence, this is essay thirteen, the unlucky one. Thirteen is an unlucky number because of the Knights Templar. What did they find under Solomon's Temple of Groove? I bet it was pretty freaky, man. And love is not loving.

Bowie said during his appearance on the show Storytellers, that he'd been accused of helping to kill the Sixties, and that he took particular offense to that. 'The Sixties were already dead', he said 'I just helped to clear the rotting corpses'

That tickles me.

You know what I don't like and think is pretentious? I won't give you time to answer because I will say why. You see, I never really wanted you to answer, I just wanted something to say as a buffer to the next statement I will say about what I don't like and think is pretentious: albums with insanely long names that can't fit on one line of white lined paper if you're writing it down. I'm looking at you, 'Lifted' by Bright Eyes. Damn you Oberst! Whenever I was listing my favorite albums I would get pissed off whenever I came to Ziggy because it was so long and it would disrupt the aesthetic I was building when scribbling the list down in the middle of pre-Calculus in high school.

I have just read an interview where Bowie supposedly explains the plot of this album. It makes slightly more sense than the story of Scientology. I'm not the biggest fan of concept albums. I think that the simpler the plot and concept is, the better it works. I don't like dumb operas, I like albums with one loose overriding concept. Like Sufjan Stevens. Or '69 Love Songs' by Magnetic Fields.

But who cares what it's about? The goal is music, not narrative. On the surface, this album is an amazing collection of brilliantly written pop songs, that rise and fall in mood and temp but never in quality, and have their own sense of grandiosity and reach up into the sky in a very 'I'm the King of the Whole Goddamn World' sort of way. It's that which Bowie does best, an all or nothing, operatic, catchy number with vocals that pulse with emotion and character every breath he takes. Just look at 'Under Pressure'

When I hear the last song on this album, which is my favorite track, here is the image I get: Bowie on a stool, smoking a cigarette, a look of cool detachment on his face, reminiscent of William Shatner and his spoken word version of 'Rocket Man'. Then imagine that the curtains burst open just as the drums kick in and as Bowie first sings the line 'Oooh oooh ooh, you're a Rock and Roll suicide'

And then the thing becomes a laser show, with Bowie on a platform surrounded in mist that rises higher and higher as he says 'OH NO LOVE, YOU'RE NOT ALONE'

The freakiest thing about this album is how uninnovative it actually is. This album is literally Bowie putting on a weird suit, then playing songs that are some of the most accessible things you can play. It's great and a funny sort of practical joke. Imagine hearing the hype about this new 'Ziggy' album by Bowie, about how he is all dressed up as a character. You must think, 'Wow, that sounds pretty out there', but when you listen to the album, you hear a beautiful Rock and Roll homage to 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' in the song 'Starman.' Like I mentioned previously about 'Exile on Main St.', this is not innovation, nor is it a rehashing, it is a perfection of a certain sound. And Bowie hit the f*cking mark. And always remember this:

YOU'RE NOT ALONE

YOU'RE NOT ALONE

YOU'RE NOT ALONE

YOU'RE NOT ALONE

YOU'RE NOT ALONE

08-13-2009, 02:36 PM	#51 (permalink)
Davey Moore The Great Disappearer Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: URI Campus and Coventry, both in RI Posts: 462	The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie (1972) I have no idea what I am going to write about. But I have to keep on writing. I've taken like a week long break to refresh my mind and I don't know if I am refreshed, but too bad, I gotta keep going. Oh yeah, the album... the album...the album. I don't know what the hell I should write about. It definitely should have something to do with the album and David Bowie. Bowie's lyrics walk the line between meaningful and nonsense, and so will this essay. As an homage of course, a freaky deeky homage to the space tarantulas and groovy Groovitrons on planet Funky. Am I doing a Bowie homage or a George Clinton homage? And what a coincidence, this is essay thirteen, the unlucky one. Thirteen is an unlucky number because of the Knights Templar. What did they find under Solomon's Temple of Groove? I bet it was pretty freaky, man. And love is not loving. Bowie said during his appearance on the show Storytellers, that he'd been accused of helping to kill the Sixties, and that he took particular offense to that. 'The Sixties were already dead', he said 'I just helped to clear the rotting corpses' That tickles me. You know what I don't like and think is pretentious? I won't give you time to answer because I will say why. You see, I never really wanted you to answer, I just wanted something to say as a buffer to the next statement I will say about what I don't like and think is pretentious: albums with insanely long names that can't fit on one line of white lined paper if you're writing it down. I'm looking at you, 'Lifted' by Bright Eyes. Damn you Oberst! Whenever I was listing my favorite albums I would get pissed off whenever I came to Ziggy because it was so long and it would disrupt the aesthetic I was building when scribbling the list down in the middle of pre-Calculus in high school. I have just read an interview where Bowie supposedly explains the plot of this album. It makes slightly more sense than the story of Scientology. I'm not the biggest fan of concept albums. I think that the simpler the plot and concept is, the better it works. I don't like dumb operas, I like albums with one loose overriding concept. Like Sufjan Stevens. Or '69 Love Songs' by Magnetic Fields. But who cares what it's about? The goal is music, not narrative. On the surface, this album is an amazing collection of brilliantly written pop songs, that rise and fall in mood and temp but never in quality, and have their own sense of grandiosity and reach up into the sky in a very 'I'm the King of the Whole Goddamn World' sort of way. It's that which Bowie does best, an all or nothing, operatic, catchy number with vocals that pulse with emotion and character every breath he takes. Just look at 'Under Pressure' When I hear the last song on this album, which is my favorite track, here is the image I get: Bowie on a stool, smoking a cigarette, a look of cool detachment on his face, reminiscent of William Shatner and his spoken word version of 'Rocket Man'. Then imagine that the curtains burst open just as the drums kick in and as Bowie first sings the line 'Oooh oooh ooh, you're a Rock and Roll suicide' And then the thing becomes a laser show, with Bowie on a platform surrounded in mist that rises higher and higher as he says 'OH NO LOVE, YOU'RE NOT ALONE' The freakiest thing about this album is how uninnovative it actually is. This album is literally Bowie putting on a weird suit, then playing songs that are some of the most accessible things you can play. It's great and a funny sort of practical joke. Imagine hearing the hype about this new 'Ziggy' album by Bowie, about how he is all dressed up as a character. You must think, 'Wow, that sounds pretty out there', but when you listen to the album, you hear a beautiful Rock and Roll homage to 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' in the song 'Starman.' Like I mentioned previously about 'Exile on Main St.', this is not innovation, nor is it a rehashing, it is a perfection of a certain sound. And Bowie hit the f*cking mark. And always remember this: YOU'RE NOT ALONE YOU'RE NOT ALONE YOU'RE NOT ALONE YOU'RE NOT ALONE YOU'RE NOT ALONE __________________ The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.