The door to bohemia: how ‘Life on Mars’ changed Bono’s worldview
On one of his first singles, David Bowie introduces us to Major Tom. ‘Space Oddity’ talks from the perspective of an astronaut who has grown tired of his life on Earth and, therefore, decides to jet off to the stars. The vastness of space puts his problems into perspective as this now otherworldly artist twirls in tranquillity and smirks at the unrelenting nature of everything. This was the world’s first glimpse of David Bowie, someone who would take a planet by the hand and bring them to space with him.
David Bowie was one of the most influential artists to commit a track to wax in the past 100 years. He was so much more than just a musician; he was a visual artist with a universe of ideas in his mind and the world at his fingertips. He did more than just create songs; he created characters and narratives and gave people a different angle on music.
If you imagine that music until Bowie was like viewing the world in 2D, Bowie gave extra angles to what we took as a flat surface. People could suddenly attack songs from all sides, the convention was thrown out of the window, and creativity was king. He was the turning point for a number of different musicians, whether that is because they realised what they wanted to make or they found their inspiration by having their eyes opened to all of the options out there.
One of the artists who had his life changed by David Bowie was Bono. The lead singer of U2, one of the most successful rock bands on the planet, is very upfront about the fact that he doesn’t think he would be the same artist were it not for being exposed to Bowie’s music.
When Bowie passed away, it hit the U2 frontman hard, as he wrote, “I’ve played at being a rock n roll star, but I’m really not one. David Bowie is my idea of a rock star. Right now, I’m in Myanmar, a little cut off from the reaction to David’s passing, but I can assure you the sky is a lot darker here without the Starman.”
It wasn’t just that David Bowie gave Bono a new perspective on music, but he completely changed the artist’s worldview. The door to the bohemian artist was kicked off the hinges, and it would never go back on. It wasn’t the intergalactic ‘Space Oddity’ that did this; rather, one of Bowies other sci-fi-infused tunes, ‘Life on Mars?’ spoke to Bono on multiple levels.
“With Bowie, you had this sneaking suspicion that if you hung around him, you might find some doors into those other worlds. In my teenage mind, ‘Life on Mars?’ Was much more about, is there life on Earth? Are we really alive? Is this really all there is?” Recalled Bono.
He continues, “And some of the doors Bowie opened led to other artists. He opened doors for me into Bertolt Brecht and Willian Burroughs – and, by the way, Bruce Springsteen, who he was on very early. And for me, the most important door he opened was the one with Brian Eno behind it.”
David Bowie was otherworldly in everything he did, and he was an inspiration to the creative act up until the very end.
