Bowie is Back. A New Single for Major Tom

David Bowie has been hiding out for the last eight years. Ever since his stint with Arcade Fire back in 2006, there hasn't been a peep from Mr. Stardust. There were rumors that he was ill, there were no personal updates on his website, and he even refused to play the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.

But today, low and behold, on his 66th birthday he has returned with a single that is a somber triumph "Where Are They Now?" The single's lyrics are reflective, and quite solidly based in Berlin. We get the idea that his surroundings are quite familiar but that it is he who is out of sync. It seems when he sings the lyric "walking the dead" he is conjuring up ghosts, then he sings "a man lost in time" about himself as he wonders through the streets. We get the idea that he is feeling quite small in the crowd. With a chorus that is so similar to the verse you barely notice it's happening, and such a subdued climax that seems it is a memory of a climax rather than an actual climax, the song captures this emotion perfectly.



BOWIE'S BERLIN DAYS OF THE PAST

The somberness of this single made me think of the tracks at the end of Low. I got thinking about his younger days in Berlin in the late 70's, when he shepherded Iggy Pop after Iggy kicked dope. In a 1979 interview in Rolling Stone, Bowie explains that he had to leave Los Angeles because he was caught up with drugs and what he called "toxic people." Bowie said "It drove me utterly and totally out of my skull in Los Angeles. I got very near the edge. I did fear for my sanity. Well, I didn't, actually; I was fortunate enough in that I had a couple of friends who sent me off to Jamaica to recuperate, and said, 'Don't go back to America.' So I didn't. And I ended up in Berlin."

What transpired after his exodus from America was a golden age in his productivity, it seemed he was flooded with ideas. He was young, handsome and in great demand. In 1979, when he was interviewed by Rolling Stone, he was making the film "Just a Gigolo" with Kim Novak. Even though he was being offered hundreds of roles, he resented being typecast as an oddity: "I play either awkward people or fanatics. The right person in the wrong time. Or the wrong person in the right time. Never will I quite match."

Here is the link to the full Rolling Stone article: http://www.bowiegoldenyears.com/articles/791004-rollingstone.html

Maybe he was "the right person at the wrong time" to become a big name actor, but in the music world he has been the right person at the right time. "Where Are They Now" is one of his best songs in years and it is beautiful in its restraint. It's kind of a sleeper for a solo single, but maybe he's just a little melancholy these days. That suits me fine, because I am a little melancholy these days too. I will be looking forward to the album, which will be released in March, but if the single is any indication it should be an absolute pleasure. Happy Birthday, Mr. Stardust.

Bowie and Iggy Pop in Berlin