So, today is David Bowie's 66th birthday and to celebrate, he's released a new single - and why not? I am something of a Bowie agnostic. Apparently, I once tried to chat up a woman at a party by claiming to be a big Bowie fan (as she was) and dropped myself in it, by admitting that I'd never heard TVC15. I say 'apparently' because I remembered nothing of the conversation after the party and was only told afterwards by a mutual friend (of the woman I was trying to chat up, not David Bowie).
I do, genuinely, own a couple of Bowie's albums, and find some of his work awesome; I also find a lot of it pretentious untuneful tosh - I might be wrong. Anyway, I've listened to his new single: I like the wistful chord changes, but I'm not sure about the lyrics; on the whole, it's enjoyable enough, if not exactly earth-shattering (but see my earlier caveat about the 'pretentious untuneful tosh' comment).
The video is the most striking thing. Bowie appears yoked to a woman said to look like Bjork. I didn't see the Bjork resemblance: to me, this woman looks like Yoko Ono, particularly in her attachment to a famous musician. Towards the end, Bowie sings 'so long as there's me', which is followed (in no way predictably) by 'so long as there's you' - the whole thing reminds me of Lennon's 'God', although I might (as previously hinted) be wrong.
I don't know if there's any significance in this; I suspect David Bowie is just having a laugh at our expense - and why not? Anyway, Mr B, if you're reading this, happy birthday, whatever your intentions.
Update: It seems that I am a bigger Bowie fan than I realised. I have just taken this quiz on the Guardian's website and scored 9 out of 10. This, apparently, entitles me to 'bore on' about Bowie.
