"Lazarus" - David Bowie
This article is part two of a two-part series on the rise and fall of David Bowie and the unwavering dedication to his creative muse. Read part one here.
Part 2: The Fall
David Bowie died seven years ago. Only now does that news begin to settle in because it seems inconceivable that he was ever mortal. He was more like the fabric of our little universe, a celestial shape shifter. Over the span of his almost 50-year career, Bowie twisted himself to reflect something different to each of us — the drug fueled teen rebellion, the space invader guitar god, the bisexual art exhibit, the suit-and-tie karaoke song, the family-friendly Jim Henson goblin.
Even in death, his mortality seemed debatable. Bowie’s last album, Blackstar, felt precisely curated to prophesize his own demise as just another twist of the fabric. The lead single, “Lazarus,” was released a month before he died. In the song, Bowie speaks to us from the beyond:
Look up here. I'm in Heaven,
I've got scars that can't be seen.
Listening to Bowie face death meant having to consider our own humanity and shortcomings in this life. Have I done enough? What’s my legacy?
A documentary, David Bowie: The Last Five Years, chronicled the burst of creativity that Bowie experienced during his final years. "His passing meant a lot to me," said director, Francis Whately, speaking with me at HBO's offices in 2018. The documentary focuses on the three major projects of Bowie's final years before losing his battle with cancer — best-selling albums The Next Day and Blackstar, alongside his Off Broadway musical Lazarus, which starred Michael C. Hall. The documentary features rare archival footage and interviews with former producer and longtime Bowie spokesman, Tony Visconti, as well as several band members and collaborators. "This period of his career hadn't been explored by anybody so it was very interesting territory," said Whately. "In some ways, he seems to have worked harder in that period than at almost any other time, except the beginning of the 1970s when he was producing Ziggy Stardust, Hunky Dory and Aladdin Sane."
What's most captivating about The Last Five Years is that even before he knew he was ill, Bowie was consciously reflecting on the past — not getting stuck in it, but as a pathway forward. After suffering a heart attack in 2004 while on tour, Bowie disappeared from the spotlight for almost 10 years. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he reemerged in 2013 with a brand new album. Every project during the next five years of Bowie's career is an existential reflection from a man who had a brush with death and then poured all of his artistic vision into facing it head on. The Next Day shows Bowie recycling his iconic Heroes album cover, but with his face blotted out as if moving on from that time.
The title song from the album Blackstar depicts Major Tom from "Space Oddity" finally going home.
The musical Lazarus is a story about Thomas Newton, his character from the film, The Man Who Fell to Earth, coming to terms with his own death.
With each of these projects, Bowie closes a chapter of his life.
Because his last five years on Earth were spent creating art around the theme of death and resurrection, Bowie's great exit from this planet left fans feeling his passing had been meticulously curated. The Blackstar album was released on January 8, 2016 (his 69th birthday). Then two days later, he was dead. But Bowie didn't find out that his prognosis was terminal until October 2015, after much of the album had been written and while he was filming the video for "Lazarus."
Oh, I'll be free
Just like that bluebird
Oh, I'll be freeAin't that just like me?
The music video for “Lazarus” features Bowie lying on his deathbed with his head wrapped in bandages and buttons sewn over his eyes. In the final scene, he retreats into a dark wardrobe wearing the same striped body suit featured on the back cover of his 1976 Station to Station album, where he’s pictured drawing the Tree of Life, which is a symbol used in many religions and cultures to represent the interdependence between life and death. It also symbolizes enlightenment. The Tree of Life is also referenced in the lyrics of “Station to Station,” as a "magical movement from Kether to Malkuth"
.
In Kabbalah (which is an offshoot of Judaism) “Kether” represents the top of the Tree of Life and “Malkuth” represents the bottom. “Kether” means “to wait” and, according to this Kabbalah reference guide, “We wait, in perfect faith, for that level of God’s Divinity, hidden from the consciousness of this world, to become revealed in the consciousness of the world to come.”
At the bottom of the Tree of Life, the “Malkuth” represents self-expression. “The Divine energy comes down and finds its expression in this plane, and our purpose as human beings is to bring that energy back around the circuit again and back up the Tree.”
In the Christian Bible, Jesus exercises his divine power to resurrect His beloved friend, Lazarus from the dead. Perhaps Bowie’s song was a plea for his legacy to live on and continue to inspire us.
Even if Bowie the man couldn’t know his exact expiration date, Bowie the celestial shape-shifter had been prepping the rest of us mortals for years. His intense creativity continued up until his dying breath. Let that be a lesson for the rest of us that it is our divine duty to act on our creativity, learn from our past but not be defined by it, and to create our own legacy.
Did you know?
The artwork for the Blackstar album was designed with a few surprises for fans to discover. Here are just a few:
The gatefold of the album produces a cluster of yellow stars when left in direct sunlight.
2. The black star on the album can be illuminated under a blacklight.
Designer Jonathan Barnbrook, told BBC there were still a few more uncovered surprises with the artwork.
Do you know of any hidden easter eggs in the album’s artwork?
And you’re a material girl.
Welcome to our merch store! Every week, we’ll offer some cool swag based on the artist from each issue.
Did you catch part one of this series?
The conclusion of this essay, about honoring our creative narrative, hits home in a very real way. Thanks for this!
just dropping in to say this was a great two part series. <3 i've always been just on the edge of truly being a Bowie devotee rather than just a casual but respectful admirer. these two pieces defintely move the needle in terms of my wanting to know more about him than I do. thank you for the great writing!