Anniversary Record Club, Dec 2016: David Bowie - Hunky Dory

The war of 1971 is a lot more interesting than that. Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan, and Pakistan in turn caused a famine that led George Harrison to do his concert. India came to the aid of Bangladesh, and subsequently won, which is why East Pakistan is no longer a thing.

So I killed two birds with one stone and listened to the Anniversary Club Album of the Month and continued my own foray into the discography of David Bowie. Since the other post has my name in the title, I wrote up my thoughts in detail there. It seems bad form to copy and paste a lengthy post from there to here so here's a link.

If that's also bad form my thoughts in brief are: I did not like this album and found it to rely too much on pianos and Cinemax style fuck jam sexophone licks. "Andy Warhol" and "Queen B----" were the best songs since they were some of the few that got away from the hump anthem sexophone/boring piano ballad songwriting rut.

Like so many other things, "Changes" was nearly ruined for me by 7th Heaven.

Before I say anything, I'd just like to say: Fuckin'. Finally.

He's finally fuckin'.

Life on Mars is the song that made me realize that the former Mr. Gwen Stefani and his band Bush (X) jacked lyrics from Bowie for "Everything Zen." I made this amazing discovery last week.

I listen to this album pretty regularly, but it's always refreshing to write some thoughts for this thread.

Let's just say it out the gate: "Life On Mars?" should be the theme song of 2016.

Every so often, I think of a classic, well-established song to be a song of the year. Just as people were suddenly interested in the horseshit John Lennon was peddling in "Imagine" back in December 2001 (at least according to Rolling Stone mag...) I often think of what song could possibly capture a year perfectly.

"Life On Mars?" is my choice for 2016.

This isn't an explicit lyrical matter. Naturally, no song is going to perfectly fit, even in retrospect. But if there was any song I could look to for comfort, it's in the key heres-and-theres of "Life On Mars?"

For starters: it's called 'Life on Mars?' - with the question mark leaving a ambiguous hopeful mark. If Bowie (and let's assume Bowie has left his corporeal being for some prime real estate on the edge of Olympus Mons) is asking this question, it seems to be to clarify, would it be a place to escape the chaos and insanity of the life on earth, or would I find a small, abiding community of like-minded individuals away from the chaos and insanity of life on earth?

It becomes all the more apparent in the chorus, where the lyrics do matter. Indeed this year, we've had our fair shares of freaky shows, law men beating up the wrong guys, and knowing if this is all entertainment to somebody else, all of whom seem to be primitives despite their best efforts. Tied to the repeated line, "It's about to be writ again" -- that history will, inevitably, repeat itself, because we don't fuckin' learn shit.

I'm just sayin'.

As for the rest of the album, which, in my opinion, is built to support this gem of a song, seem to be of songs of generalized anxiety, recognizing the insanity of daily life, the subtle beauty of that insanity, etc. I don't think the songs themselves stand on their own (with the exception of the obvious singles, "Changes" and "Queen Bitch"), but they work in the context of the album.

But I will say: "Queen Bitch" is a song that Lou Reed probably wish he wrote. That indelible hard-rock riff, the space around each line, Bowie's imitative Reed-like "Oooh-oooh!" at the beginning of the third verse, the imagery of dumpy hotels and broken relationships. Oh yeah. This is the best song Lou Reed never wrote.