10 David Bowie songs that will be remembered in 100 years
On January 8th, 2016, David Bowie released Blackstar. On January 10th, 2016, he died.
The news came as a shock to music lovers around the world, but the timing of his passing cemented a suspicion that we’d all had for some time: Bowie is the greatest musician to ever walk the Earth. His album was well-liked when it first came out, but when people listened following his passing, it took on a new role. It wasn’t just a piece of music; it was a man coming to terms with his own mortality, sharing his end-of-life revelations to anyone who would listen.
The humanity embedded within this record is unlike anything else you’ll hear in music. The song ‘Blackstar’ will go down in history because of its honest nature, but that’s not the only Bowie song which will stand the test of time. Throughout his entire career, great songs followed Bowie around like shadow. Regardless of the style he was dabbling in, the emotions he was drawing from, or what he was going through in his personal life, he seemed incapable of releasing anything less than perfect.
So, as the ten-year anniversary of his passing approaches, let’s celebrate these songs that remain immortal in their brilliance. These are the David Bowie songs that make him timeless and which people will still be listening to in 100 years’ time.
The Davie Bowie songs that are immortal in their brilliance
‘Space Oddity’
Why not start where the majority of Bowie fans did? Talk about releasing a debut single which cements you as a complete individual. Rather than writing a song which touches upon themes such as love, sadness, angst, and all the usual topics, Bowie decided to create a conceptual piece where he assumes the role of a melancholic astronaut orbiting Earth.
The song was incredibly well put together, but it also established one of Bowie’s first ever characters, and showed people just how much of an expansive mind the musician had. When people heard this song, it was evident that Bowie was a mind unlike that which they had come across before. Bowie was something different, and they had only just scratched the surface.
‘Starman’
We will talk about the song ‘Five Years’ later in this list, but in brief, the end of the world lingers and is promised in five years’ time. ‘Starman’ offers a glimmer of hope on this doom-entrenched concept album, as salvation is promised to the people. The way that Bowie manages to embody this sense of hope is truly inspiring, as the song is sung from the point of view of someone hearing about the Starman on the radio and suddenly realising that their world could be saved.
“I love ‘Starman’ as it’s the concept of hope that the song communicates. That ‘we’re not alone’ and ‘they’ contact the kids, not the adults, and kind of say ‘get on with it’,” said Woody Woodmansey discussing the track, “’Let the children boogie’: music and rock ‘n’ roll! It lifted the attention away from the depressing affairs in the ’70s, made the future look better. ‘Starman’ was the first Bowie song since ‘Space Oddity’ with mass appeal. After ‘Starman,’ everything changed.”
‘Heroes’
While David Bowie used to play heavily with different concepts throughout his music, he was also able to draw from the real world when creating these pieces of fiction. There are plenty of songs of his that reflect his ability to create stories out of something factual, but one of the best examples is the track ‘Heroes’.
“I’m allowed to talk about it now. I wasn’t at the time. I always said it was a couple of lovers by the Berlin Wall that prompted the idea. Actually, it was Tony Visconti and his girlfriend,” said Bowie explaining the real world events that inspired the song, “Tony was married at the time. And I could never say who it was (laughs). But I can now say that the lovers were Tony and a German girl that he’d met whilst we were in Berlin. I did ask his permission if I could say that.”
He continued, “I think possibly the marriage was in the last few months, and it was very touching because I could see that Tony was very much in love with this girl, and it was that relationship which sort of motivated the song.”
‘Moonage Daydream’
While we praise Bowie because of his ingenuity and ability to choose new characters and styles when it comes to tackling different projects, we also shouldn’t miss the glaringly obvious: He was a bloody brilliant songwriter. While a lot of the songs on this list represent Bowie not only as a musician but as a cultural icon, tracks like ‘Moonage Daydream’ celebrate the most basic of Bowie instincts, and that is his ability to pen some of the best tunes ever.
Bowie said that he was inspired by The Hollywood Argyles with this track, specifically their song ‘Sure Know a Lot About Love’. “It was a combination of the baritone sax and the piccolo on the solo, which I thought, ‘Now there’s a great thing to put in a rock song’ (laughs),” he said, “Which I nicked, then put in ‘Moonage Daydream’ later.”
‘Changes’
When I was growing up, there was a club called Spiders, which I used to go to every Saturday. It was a weird place, between you and me, I only really went because I was 16 at the time and they weren’t too strict on checking ID. I went out of necessity, but without realising it, so much of my music taste was shaped within those four dingy walls.
The top floor was predominantly indie music, and that’s where I spent most of my time, drinking cheap beer, trying to look cool, and wondering why Louise didn’t like me back. One of the only things that snapped me out of this coming-of-age daydream was the eruption in the room when the chorus for Bowie’s ‘Changes’ kicked in. Those vocals still resonate deeply today because they take me back into that room, they represent his innate ability as a songwriter, and they capture themes that resonate with listeners decades after the song was originally written.
This is a long-winded way to say I just love this song, but there you have it.
‘Life on Mars?’
Ricky Gervais has a great story about this song, which I’ll butcher here but you’ll get the gist. The story goes that when Bowie agreed to star in the British comedian’s sitcom Extras, Gervais gave him lyrics for a comedic song he would sing on the show. According to Gervais, he asked for the tune to be similar to ‘Life On Mars?’ To which Bowie responded, “Oh yeah, I’ll just knock out a quick ‘Life On Mars?’ for you shall I?”
I love that story because it’s funny to know that someone like Bowie, whose entire career was flooded with hits, is able to recognise when he’s created something well and truly genius. This bonkers depiction of space pondering is a ballad for the ages, something that should be played across the stars because on the off chance there is life out there, they’re missing out by not hearing this.
‘Ashes to Ashes’
Bowie didn’t look back too much when it came to his music. Even though he came up with great concepts, he didn’t like to hold on to an image for too long, and was always keen to move forward with the next thing. That’s why ‘Ashes to Ashes’ was such a treat for fans, as it’s one of those rare Bowie numbers where the musician looks back to a specific moment in his career.
This is essentially a sequel to Bowie’s debut hit ‘Space Oddity’, where he calls Major Tom a “junkie.” Once again, fans think Major Tom remains a character that Bowie uses to talk about himself, and the public perception of Major Tom in ‘Ashes to Ashes’ certainly breathes life into that idea.
‘Five Years’
Many artists have previously tried and failed to write about the end of the world, but no one has previously been able to do it in a way that resonates as effectively as Bowie. The dream-like approach that he takes when tackling a tune such as ‘Five Years’ is representative of the inspiration for the track, but is also reflective of the blase approach that some take towards the impending end.
Bowie had the idea for the song when he dreamt his father warned him the world would end in five years. Channeling the fear that was pulled from the dregs of his subconscious, Bowie managed to put together a tune that was both haunting, beautiful and pounding. Five years? Try 100, and we’ll still be running this back.
‘All The Young Dudes’
This wasn’t a track that Bowie made famous himself, but his style and panache are entrenched in every single second of the Mott The Hoople hit. Once again, no bells, nor whistles, but a very simple example of how David Bowie is one of the best songwriters on the planet.
Bowie was a big fan of the band and so wanted to write something for them. His offering wound up becoming one of their biggest tracks, and is still revered as one of the greatest songs ever written in the modern age. “‘All the Young Dudes’ is a song about this news,” said Bowie, “It’s not a hymn to the youth, as people thought. It is completely the opposite.”
‘Blackstar’
We end in the same place we started, with Major Tom. While the character wasn’t one that Bowie revisited a great deal throughout his career, it was one that stayed in the hearts of listeners. People felt as though the character was the closest to Bowie as an individual, which is why they now believe the dead astronaut in the music video for ‘Blackstar’ is representative of the enigma that started it all.
‘Blackstar’ took on a whole other image after it was released, as once Bowie passed away, it was clear the music was representative of him coming to terms with his imminent passing. His ability to channel the combination of emotions that stare down point black when you know your time is coming is something that other musicians couldn’t even fathom. And yet, Bowie makes it sound and look easy. His innate ability to be introspective and yet convey those emotions to the rest of the world is unlike anything music lovers have ever or will ever come across. While not his best song, ‘Blackstar’ remains the most poignant, and sees Bowie say goodbye in the only way that would be fitting.
