A retrospective on the life and achievements of David Bowie.
It’s a hard thing, to grieve for someone you never knew. Because David Bowie was the only artist my parents could agree on, I grew up with his music around the house constantly. Yet hearing of his death was still a bigger gut punch than I expected.
I think most of us thought that someone as legendary and exceptional as Bowie couldn’t possibly succumb to mortal ills like the rest of us. After all, anyone who’s ever been a goblin king should really be exempt from death.
Some of the things I remember about Bowie will never leave me. I can still recall the first time I encountered Ziggy Stardust. I was six and confronted with this strange and wonderful man wearing makeup. Although baffled, I admired his flamboyance, though I didn’t know the word at the time. Everything about Bowie’s alter ego screamed excess, fun and irreverence, which, as a 6-year-old, I wholly identified with.
I’m also pretty sure my massive love for dance was partially instilled by Bowie. Anthems like “Let’s Dance” and “Dancing in the Streets” loomed large in my younger and present years, and always make me want to move.
And these are the things I’ll treasure about this fantastic human. I’ll always remember those times at home, watching Mum and Dad reminiscing about the one time they saw him live, hearing “Rebel Rebel” as an angry teenager and watching my little brother dance for the first time. Bowie’s ability to create moments like these won’t stop just because he has passed on, and that, more than anything else, is an achievement he would have been proud of.
WRITTEN BY: Kate Snowdon – arts@theaggie.org
