David Bowie did not die. Don't believe what you've heard. Kill the messenger. Burn the newspapers and magazines. Yell out your window. David Bowie is alive. So alive, and he will live forever.
Many cultures, religions and tribes have their thoughts on life, afterlife and immortality. How does one achieve "Everlasting Life"? Sadly for all institutions, your words, your mores and your doctrines are no good here. Your social compass just isn't accurate in outer space.
At the end of a life there is really, only one question. "Did you love? Were you loved?" Before you point your aging finger and point out that those are actually two sentences, I'll save you the trouble and tell you that you're wrong. To love and to be loved is cyclical. A circle is a singular item. Like David Bowie and the love he gave. And gave. To his bride, to his children, to his music, and to his fans. The love he received in return will forever burn and spin and live as lighted stars (the prettiest star) in the ether long, long after the false report of his death.
"Like David Bowie, we can be heroes. ... If you live your lives right, my friends, you can live forever."
David Bowie did not die. He will live forever. Through speakers and ear buds and conversations and photographs David Bowie will rise and rise and rise and rise. Why else would he name his last single, "Lazarus"? Why else would the first lyrics be, "Look up here, I'm in Heaven,"? Like Christ, like MLK, like Malcolm X, like JFK and many other immortals, he called his shot. He predicted his own death. As always, his timing was perfect.
Bowie once said, in a 2002 Associated Press interview, "... I've always chosen to write with things to do with isolation, abandonment, fear and anxiety -- all of the high points of one's life."
Listen to Heroes today. Bowie starts the song conversationally. As the verses increase, so does his isolation, abandonment, fear and anxiety. The song is a high point for all our lives. By the last verse, David Bowie is screaming, begging, crying to his lover (perhaps lover lost), "I can remember standing, standing by the wall. And the guns shot above our heads. And we kissed, as if nothing could fall. And the shame was on the other side. We can beat them! Forever and ever... We can be heroes... Just for one day."
Have you loved? Do you love? Go kiss today as the bullets fly over your heads. Let some other bastard feel shame. Be fearless. Because if you live your lives right, my friends, you can live forever.
Like David Bowie, we can be heroes. But my darling David, just for one day? Hardly. You beat them. Forever and ever.... You will never, ever fall.
David Bowie did not die today. David Bowie ensured himself eternal life.
Lazarus. Ziggy. David. All ours. Forever and ever.