David Bowie's 1974 album Diamond Dogs was orginally intended to be a musical version of Nineteen Eighty-Four until George Orwell's estate said "Oh no you don't!" The more we go on, the more it shows that in many situations, the only thing Orwell was wrong about was the timing - and I'm not talking about the evil tyranny of socialised medicine.
By the way, lefties, if Orwell doesn't get blamed for all the ways right-wingers misunderstand and misprepresent his work, then give Ayn Rand the same break. It's not her fault if wingnuts miss the point and go thinking they're John Galt in the same way that 12-year-olds think they're Batman.
Bowie's work was prescient in its own way too. There's a line in the title track,
"In the year of the scavenger, the season of the bitch"
I can't think of a better line to sum up 2009 so far.
Whenever anybody mentions Bowie I think of China Girl. Bowie fans hate me.
ReplyDeleteI've got nothing against China Girl.
ReplyDeleteBowie's 80s output is similar to McCartney's - clearly not his most inspired phase but nowhere nearly as bad as people have said it was. I actually kind of liked Never Let Me Down. For me the nadir was Tonight. Tin Machine was a breath of fresh air by comparison.
You are tugging at the heart strings with this post, Bill. I love this album. Bowie was a genius.
ReplyDelete