David Bowie - Heroes

As you all recall 2016 was a pretty rough year for celebrity deaths. We lost a lot of great musicians that year, like Lemmy, Prince and Keith Emerson. I typically have a pretty level head about death, everyone must die eventually and if you can be a rock god before you go I feel like you lived a pretty good life and your death should be more of a celebration of a great life then a grieving of loss. Having said that, the death of David Bowie was kind of a bid deal.

It was not that long ago that everyone was saying how remarkably well Bowie was aging. In 2007 Bowie turned sixty and he looked no older than forty, and a handsome forty at that. One of the most impressive things about Bowie was his ability to stay relevant as time went on. It would have been easy, at least in the short run, to remain as Ziggy Stardust with the gigantic success of those albums, but instead he took a big risk and became Halloween Jack, and then the Thin White Duke, and then whatever the hell he was supposed to be in “Scary Monsters and Super Creeps.” The man had an almost unnatural ability to adapt to any style or challenge he embraced. He was even an accomplished actor. Bowie was unstoppable.

Than he finally died, and rather early in life compared to expectation. Death is always tragic, but losing Bowie was something a little more. He was truly one of kind, a artistic chameleon, able to reach audiences of all walks of life, seemingly immortal, and now no more.

It was a great loss and everyone is hurt by it.

I have a slightly different perspective however.  While Bowie's death is a big deal, I still hold the opinion that it is better to celebrate life.

Death is nothing to be surprised by; everyone is going someday, and we are only fighting for the chance to be last. I may feel the pain of the loss of a great hero like Bowie, but I more so reflect on the life he lived then the death that ended it.

“Forget death, seek life.” – The Epic of Gilgamesh

There is no way of pretending David Bowie’s life was anything short as magical. A man who dreamed of being a global rock star who smashed that dream’s highest possible hope and became a multi-generational rock god, also, he stared in movies, and married a super model; pulling off any one of these things would be impressive, but he did it all. Also, his first son grew up to be a pretty damn good movie director (watch “Moon.”), he made friends everywhere he went, aged remarkably well, and just lived an almost impossibly amazing life. So while I am sad to see Bowie go, I am not filled with too many regretful concerns about what he did with his time. It is a life well worth celebrating.

What I am trying to say is that David Bowie is a god damn hero, and that is my cheesiest segue to date.

I have been listening to David Bowie for a long time and I have been listening to a lot of his music, so it is slightly difficult to remember my earliest memories of him. I believe the first two songs by Bowie that I was familiar with in my youth must have been “Space Oddity” and “Heroes.” In many ways “Heroes” is an ideal radio song for Bowie, it has an amazing intro, easy to remember lyrics, so everyone can sing along, and is very catchy. Now that I am older and I have listened to “Heroes” probably a thousand times or more, the song has lost some of it’s magic, and what makes it unique has blended into the background of my thoughts, yet it remains, without question, a top-quality song in my casual thinking. I always enjoy hearing it, every time, and it still holds meaning, not just for it’s message of possible heroism, or perhaps adventure, but for it's cultural significance, and the symbol of comfort and familiarity it has become to me.

“Heroes” the song, but also the entire album, was recorded in Berlin and marked that era of David, when he was hanging out with Iggy Pop in Germany reinventing himself for the… forth time was it? “Heroes” was part of the trilogy of albums produced which also included “Low” and “Lodger.” Of the three albums “Heroes” has remained the most popular and well known, and that has a lot to do with the strength of the title track. Despite the dozens of hit songs Bowie produced, impressively “Heroes” stands out not just from the Berlin Trilogy but amongst Bowie’s entire song list.

When it comes to the arts David Bowie has become one of the most influence and important people ever; furthermore he is inarguably one of the greatest song writers of all time. He was not just a hero in music, but in life. He made some of the greatest music ever, but he also lived the best life I have ever heard of.  Far from a hero for a single day, Bowie will be remember forever for all the reasons mentioned just now and countless other reasons.

- King of Braves