On Sunday night we lost one of the greatest musicians of all time, David Bowie. Millions of fans have mourned the legendary singer's death and the tributes have been flooding in from across the globe. David Bowie has been a personal inspiration of mine for quite a few years now, ever since my Dad said "you'll like David Bowie." I bought a CD and I've never looked back since. I was blown away by his music- it was like nothing I'd ever heard before.
As a 16 year old, David Bowie is someone who has taught young people (including myself) not to follow the crowd and to simply live your life as you want to. Don't have any boundaries or barriers. Don't let other people judge you or let them tell you how you should live your life. David Bowie was someone who excelled all of this, starting when he posed in a dress for the cover of his 1970 album 'The Man Who Sold The World.'
I truly started to develop my taste for music about 6 years ago when I started high school. David Bowie was one of the artists who I was gratified by the most. My taste in music is perhaps almost 40 years too late, but thanks to the invention of the internet I was able to listen to all of Bowie's songs- discovering more and more each week- without having to impatiently wait for the next album to be released; It had already been released over 30 years ago.
In early 2013 David Bowie unexpectedly released his brand new album 'The Next Day.' I was so excited when I heard the news (I was in school when it was announced) that I came straight home and listened to the track 'Where are We Now?' It was so different to any other song I had heard by Bowie before and, yet, I loved it so much because it was so unique. The talent of a musician can be measured by how diverse their range of musical genres are. Bowie did pretty much every genre imaginable.
In early 2014 I started to learn some of Bowie's songs on the guitar. My favourite ones to play are Space Oddity and Ziggy Stardust. I remember being extremely excited watching astronaut Chris Hadfield's cover of Oddity which was the first music video filmed in space. Maybe the first music video filmed on mars will be 'Life on Mars'?
About a year or so ago I decided to buy the boxset for Ricky Gervais' 'Extras.' Without a doubt my favourite episode was the one with David Bowie in. I adored that scene where he sings the insulting song about Gervais' character, Andy Millman, and I can't help but sing along every time I watch it: "Pug, pug! The little fat man with the pug-nosed face!" This is still one of my all-time favourite comedy moments and I'm thankful that Ricky Gervais managed to persuade Bowie to do the scene.
I have been asked several times this week "What's your favourite Bowie song?" My answer, usually, was "Starman." But the true and honest answer would be "I don't have one" because they are all so unique, neither two songs sound similar. From the lively 'Rebel Rebel' to the haunting 'Life on Mars,' there was a Bowie song for every mood.
On Monday I was overwhelmed to talk to so many of my friends who I didn't even know were Bowie fans! That in itself is breaking the boundaries for young people, like Bowie did, by not listening to 'mainstream' artists which the media attempts to force us to listen to. I spoke to many people about his film 'Labyrinth' (which I actually watched for the first time three weeks ago as I received it as a Christmas gift) where people seemed to love his memorable performance as the Goblin King. Only Bowie could have played that character and it was brilliant to hear that so many of my friends loved his performance.
"I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring." This quote summarises how Bowie lived his life, and how we all should. David Bowie lived his life by doing whatever he wanted to do and we should too. We are only here for a very short amount of time, so we should learn to make the most of it. Bowie leads an example that every member of the human race should follow.
He came down, he blew our minds, and now he's waiting in the sky. The legacy of David Bowie will forever live on.