Remembering an icon. · 3:23pm Jan 11th, 2016
This is another post about David Bowie so feel free to skip over it if the man didn't really factor into your life.
I vividly remember the first time I was properly exposed to David Bowie. I'm sure I'd heard his stuff on the radio plenty, but I didn't recognize who it was by. I grew up on classic rock, there was so much of it.
I was with a friend I'd made in grade nine. Maya. she was crazy, and I do mean that in the both unhealthy and affectionate sense. She would do wild things, like tape her mouth shut as a protest during school. She would scream out loud for no reason. And being with her was, intoxicating. It made me feel like I could get a little bit of her confidence, like her madness was catching. We would wear wigs to class and feign confusion when folks asked where my long hair went, or why she was suddenly a blonde. Small silly things, but to a high school student, it felt like everything. She was also the one who introduced me to The Rocky Horror Picture Show and taught me all the callouts.
We were on lunch, and had gone to her house. She told me she wanted to show me her favourite records. I eagerly agreed and we tromped upstairs to her messy bedroom.
She dug out an album called Diamond Dogs with a fantastical picture on the cover. I remember staring at it as she put the record on and feeling shocked. I knew this song, but somehow, sitting in her room, it became more. I eagerly asked her who it was and she looked at me in surprise and said "David Bowie, duh."
Bowie was her idol. She adored him, while others were into more recent bands, she felt Ziggy was the be all end all and wouldn't hear a word against him. Her favourite film was The Elephant Man, with The Man Who Fell to Earth a close second.
He really did seem ageless, and his death seems all the more shocking as a result I'm sure. I know I'm crying as I write this at the thought that this incredible talented human being is gone.
I'm at an age where my heroes are passing, and every time it happens seems to shock me, no matter how old they are or who they were. It's as though No it's about it. I do still have that childish feeling that no matter what, your heroes are larger than life, and aren't human somehow. That you can aspire to their heights yes, and even gain it. But that they're ageless and timeless, that they'll always be there somehow. to be reminded of that so forcibly is almost a painful shock.
Maya and I drifted apart, I felt her craziness was too much for me and she likely found me too timid. I hope she's well, wherever she is, as I've no doubt this is likely hurting her more than me.
There will never be another like him.
But at least the music he created'll live on.
~Skeeter The Lurker
I think this is the worst part about growing up. All the people you grew up knowing and idolizing keep dying.
i.imgur.com/RQkV7Qx.jpg
He was awesome in several ways.
And to think he released his final album, which is all about his struggle with cancer, three days ago. I must admit, the man had impeccable timing.
(And, no, I'm not being flippant. He really did time the album's release to coincide with his death.)