Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Performance, Androgyny, Orgasm, Death

David Bowie is perhaps most well known for his ability to genre-hop, but to me what is actually most interesting about him is his discernible, but not entirely explicable, continuity. Like Dylan, people constantly try to peg him as this, that, or neither, but in reality, he's an entertainer, and any other insights into who lurks behind the curtain are doomed to fabrication (as is your own life). This does not, however, nullify or erase the fact that these men are devastatingly insightful, both possessing a terrific grasp of irony as well as a grand capacity for manipulation (albeit benign enough).

The following clip is from the 1973 D.A. Pennebaker documentary Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars. Essentially a very straightforward concert video (as straightforward as the final show on one of the most legendary tours ever can be), Ziggy is a nice counterpoint to Dont Look Back, which shows a rambunctious Dylan alternately reveling in and tiring of being under the lens constantly. Bowie, on the other hand, very calmly sits smoking backstage as his make-up artist meticulously puts on his face. Just about the only quip we get from a placid and focused Bowie is a sharp "You're just a girl, what do you know about make-up," directed at someone named Angie who very briefly appears backstage. Indeed, there is a chanteuse-like calm and gravity to Bowie (the '70s?) in this film that contrasts well with the wit, anxiety, and "boyish impetuosity" (what movie!?) we see Dylan (the '60s?) constantly exuding in Dont Look Back mostly off- and backstage.

Other expository points:
  • Both men look great with a cigarette.
  • Bowie wrote a song about Dylan in 1971. Dylan never reciprocated (unless "Ballad Of A Thin Man" somehow proves that Dylan is as sagacious [and bitter] as he sometimes seems).
  • Dylan's given name was Robert Allen Zimmerman. Bowie's given name was David Robert Jones. Both men (obviously) changed their last names, however Bowie didn't change his until 1966, one year before his first record was to be released on Decca, the reason being he did not want to be mixed up with the Monkee.
SO, this clip is of Bowie performing an English version of Jacques Brel's "La Mort," or as Bowie re-named it, "My Death." Bowie was fond of covering the songs of his peers (1973's raucous Pin-Ups is all covers), but the only one that charted was his jaunty version of the Jagger/Richards song, "Let's Spend The Night Together," which appears on Aladdin Sane (released the same fucking year). THIS cover, however, I think is his most captivating, not simply as a song or cover, but as a performance. And considering the fact that he subsequently announces that night, to the surprise of his band, that it would be the last show they would ever play, it takes on new meaning.



Final point: Performers always like to leave certain lyrics to the audience. Not only does it bring performer and audience together, but it strokes the performer's ego like a lubricated fist or finger. That being said, I think both realities are intensified here at the close of the song, when the audience claims to be that bitch in front of the door behind which lies his death. Just saying.

7 comments:

Ms. Feldman said...

Bowie meant so much more to me after I watched the "Ziggy Stardust." Before I thought of him as a simple rock star with a knack for songwriting, but afterwards I thought of him more as an insightful performer/chanteuse like Edith Piaf, Judy Garland, and Billie Holiday. Way more than a rocker.

joshua francis said...

"This does not, however, nullify or erase the fact that these men are devastatingly insightful, both possessing a terrific grasp of irony as well as a grand capacity for manipulation (albeit benign enough)"

Quick thought: does the modern phenomena of mass entertainment afford potentially dangerous and powerful minds a "safe" outlet?

Christina Spinelli said...

Fun (?) fact:
'Angie' is David Bowie's former wife.
It is rumored, yet denied by Mick Jagger (although they did have a relationship), that the Rolling Stones' song Angie was written for her.

Ambiguous Q. Thunderwing said...

UPDATE: Scott Walker, the elusive crooner known for covering Brel tunes in English, covered My Death on his solo debut in 1967, a full six years before Bowie's version.

Josh - a compelling question indeed. I think I would respond with a question of my own: what constitutes a dangerous and powerful mind?

Christina - good call, I totally forgot about that. I personally think "Angie" is easily the Stones' most overrated song, but whatever.

On a slightly related note, another one of Bowie's great cover's is of Biff Rose's Fill Your Heart" which originally appeared on 1971's Hunky Dory. Biff's version is great, but Tiny Tim's is even better.

joshua francis said...

Michael - what constitutes a dangerous and powerful mind? Anyone charming has the potential to be dangerous, especially when that charm is coupled with a thirst for private amusement and an affinity for irony.

Trusting souls beware of the thin man with a cigarette.

Ambiguous Q. Thunderwing said...

Shakey threw a party
that lasted all night
Everybody drank a lot of something nice
There was an old fashioned band
of married men
Looking up to me
for encouragement
- it was so-so

The ladies looked bad
but the music was sad
No one took their eyes off Lorraine
She shimmered and she strolled like a Chicago moll
Her feathers looked better and better
- it was so-so

Yea! it was time to unfreeze
When the Reverend Alabaster danced on his knees
Slam! so it wasn't a game
Cracking all the mirrors in shame

[CHORUS]
Watch that man!3 Oh honey, watch that man
He talks like a jerk but he could eat you with a fork and
spoon
Watch that man! Oh honey, watch that man
He walks like a jerk
But he's only taking care of the room
Must be in tune

A Benny Goodman 1fan painted holes in his hands
So Shakey hung him up to dry
The pundits3were joking
the manholes were smoking
And every bottle battled
with the reason why

The girl on the phone wouldn't leave me alone
A throw back from someone's LP
A lemon in a bag played
the Tiger Rag3
And the bodies on the screen stopped bleeding

Yeah! I was shaking like a leaf
For I couldn't understand the conversation
Yeah! I ran to the street, looking for information

[CHORUS]

Watch that man [repeat ad inf.]

joshua francis said...

I watched an Angie Bowie video on YouTube. David has better make-up.