So, the idea was that my first list of 2016 would be a belated round up of the best of 2015. But then, we all know what happened. I don't think I've ever felt this affected by a celebrity's death. I'm not sure why, to be honest. Maybe it was because of the eagerly awaited new album; it made it feel so very unreal. Or just the way I suddenly realised how absolutely omnipresent he's been. So... this is not 'the best' five Bowie songs. Just 5 of amongst 10, 20, 50? of the songs that could have ended up on such a list at any point since my teens. ...and that aren't already in my top 5 archive.
David Bowie - Memory of a Free Festival
I remember having this as the ending of a mix cassette tape for my first festival visits. And as much as the entire Space Oddity is in one way poking fun at and dissecting the hippie-culture, there's also something truly genuine and nostalgic going on here. Who doesn't feel like "the very source of joy" runs through that outro?
David Bowie - Velvet Goldmine
One of the very best songs of the Ziggy-era, and it didn't even make the album. But my local library had some kind of box set or special edition of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust... so this was there from the beginning for me, and next to Moonage Daydream, it was always the favourite. Those backing vocals!David Bowie - Be My Wife
As much as Eight Line Poem lives up to its name, the eight bare bones lines that make up the lyrics for one of Low's 11 best songs (yes, that's all of them) are sometimes just the simplicity you need:
Sometimes you get so lonely
Sometimes you get nowhere
I've lived all over the world
I've left every place
Please be mine
Share my life
Stay with me
Be my wife
David Bowie - Golden Years
We were singing along to this in the car up to our New Years getaway in Aberdeenshire.Nothing's gonna touch you in these golden years
David Bowie - Blackstar
Talk about going out on top. It's got everything I wanted David Bowie to be in 2016. Tinges of jazz. Swathes of electronica. New nods to Scott Walker. Sudden flashes of classic Bowie-melodies. A fair helping of darkness and foreboding. A LOT of magic.Also a good time to revisit this amazing tribute:
 |
| How is this an image of a dying man?! |
