Loving the Bowie Voice(s), Playlist 4: The Political Octaves

Blog

0

by
sandraphflowers

I think any artist—or any person—whatever they do in life is a political statement….If you say hello to somebody and you feel superior to them, you are making something of a right-wing statement. If you feel inferior to them—unfortunately—it’s a feeling of being part of the working class. If you feel at one with them, then there’s a socialistic tendency….So I think whatever a writer’s writing, he has to have an understanding of how he feels about society so it’s natural. (David Bowie – Rock Report 1987, 5:18-5:55

With America’s tortured brow permanently wrinkled from the nation’s 2016 presidential campaign and its outcome, I suddenly find that I’m afraid of Americans. Well, not all of them/us, of course. Probably 25 to 30 percent, based on election and census math. In turn, the outcome leaves me afraid for Americans and America, a sentiment shared around the world.

Is it any wonder, then, that political songs have been on my mind of late? That’s the reason I’ve selected for Loving the Bowie Voice(s) Playlist #4 a few songs in which Bowie takes on political issues.

BOWIE’S POLITICAL MUSIC: PRESCIENT, UNIVERSAL, TIMELESS

Although David Bowie sometimes described himself as “apolitical,” he clarified this description over the years, saying that by “apolitical,” he didn’t mean “anti-political,” just that he wasn’t one to affiliate with groups.

As he explained periodically, his music was never didactic. Still, considered as a whole, it reveals that political issues were always of concern to him. Given the mixed-race/interfaith/multinational composition of his immediate and extended families, this should come as no surprise. He lived his politics, in other words. Add his genre-defying music and global travels to the mix and you have a true citizen of and ambassador to the world. A political citizen-ambassador, that is.

Against that background, then, let’s take a look at “Little Bombardier,” “Repetition,” “Time Will Crawl,” “I’m Afraid of Americans,” “Black Tie White Noise,” and “I’d Rather Be High.”

Is it bullying or molestation? Bullying ranges from personal attacks against individuals to dictatorships. Somewhere between those extremes lie bullied victims like Bowie’s “Little Bombardier” (1967), the alienated, friendless, broken-spirited war veteran overtaken by “the hand of authority.” But when that same veteran is characterized as a “loser,” everything about him, especially his relationship with children, becomes suspect.

“Don’t hit her.” Spoken abruptly by “Johnny,” the angry, abusive head of an economically struggling family, this sentence from “Repetition” (1979 audio, 1999 live) raises the question of the relationship between mental health and domestic violence. Once treated as problems “other people” have, both circumstances have become high-visibility political issues since Bowie wrote this song.

Man-made and natural catastrophes. In Time Will Crawl (1987), the protagonist vividly describes what he sees as the twentieth century draws to a close. Essentially, it’s a future in which humankind and Earth destroy each other with deadly man-made substances, weapons, and indifference. In this decaying world, the “last man standing” turns out to be a deadly “talented child.”

Guess where 82% of gun deaths in 22 high-income nations occur.* The answer, of course, is the United States, which averages around 30 gun deaths per day.** Bowie’s 1996 I’m Afraid of Americans video dramatizes this issue as the protagonist flees from a stalker who seems intent on making him one of the day’s 30. (How U.S. Gun deaths Compare to Other Countries, **Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)

Racism: Next to religion, the hottest political issue of all time. Bowie was in Los Angeles, California, during days of rioting over the acquittal of four white policemen charged with beating black motorist Rodney King. He recalled the event as “a situation that I wanted to address and something I wanted to comment on and write about” (David Bowie MTV Interview 1993 from Italian TV, 15:44-16:24). One comment took the form of the song Black Tie White Noise (1993) and its multi-racial video.

“War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!” Bowie adapted these lines from “War,” sung here by Edwin Starr, for use in “Fame” during 1987’s Glass Spider Tour. In tone and style, “War” is about as far as one can get from Bowie’s last war song (he made several during his career), I’d Rather be High (2013). Yet, both songs hold mankind accountable for what war is and does.

Thank you for exploring this playlist. If you’ve enjoyed it, please like and retweet it on Twitter, share or like it on Facebook, and check out Loving the Bowie Voice(s) Playlists 1 through 3 in the blogs section of David Bowie News. You can also find me on Twitter @revisingmyself.

Main article picture by Denis O’Regan.