scars that can’t be seen
Bowie appears to have had little trouble getting into a character, but rather more of an issue in ditching him. I think people place far too much emphasis, though, on the number of characters.
Certainly, his fictional character, Ziggy, had a band called the Spiders from Mars. So, Bowie has ‘The Spiders’ printed onto Woody’s drum kit. Now Bowie’s band are the Spiders. He, also, appears to take on the mantle of Ziggy. But he can’t leave him in the theatre and has to take him home. He admits to the dangers of this retrospectively, often. So begins a period of discovering and experiencing extreme mental fragility. I’ve always thought Aladdin Sane (the play on words) was just a mental construct of his personal feelings about his situation at that time. He continued with Ziggy throughout 1973 until he retired the whole thing, personnel and all. Not a good show that. Defries has much to answer for in terms of the shabby treatment of Bowie’s musicians who had given him such stout support over the previous eighteen months during the relentless touring schedule. At this point not even Bowie knew he was just an employee of Mainman. Stardom, eh?
There is one major character who left a huge impression on Bowie. He became so absorbed in this one that the character made the cover of not one, but two album covers. Nick Roeg was convinced that Bowie was the right choice to play the part of an alien who had come to Earth to in an attempt to secure some help for his dying planet. Bowie had all the necessary attributes for the part of an outsider who doesn’t fit in. Wan, emaciated and seemingly emotionally detached, he appeared perfect for the role. Thus he became Thomas Jerome Newton. As Newton he adorned the cover of his own album, Low. The profile shot was from the early part of the film where he is seen stumbling down some shale banking wearing his now-infamous black coat. The other album is Station to Station. On the cover Bowie is seen in character, as Newton enters the new space ship he has had constructed to return to his planet.
Station to Station hints at railways literally, but also radio airwaves. More importantly, there are the overtones of the Kaballah, the religious symbolism of the inter-dimensional stations. Whilst still attempting to release himself from this character, Bowie is immersing himself in the occult and Nazi artifacts, while also consuming huge amounts of cocaine. Not good. There are alternative images for the album, showing Bowie drawing a pentagram on the floor. He begins to think he’s being hounded by witches and even has the pool of his house in LA exorcised! He’s become the character he feared the most, deranged.
Newton left a lasting impression. In 2014/15 Bowie returned to the idea of a multi-media musical drama, a project he titled Lazarus, after the section in the original novel, The Man Who Fell To Earth. Another section is titled Icarus Falling. Perhaps he would have considered a sequel to Lazarus, had he lived. Anyway, Lazarus, the musical, is about Newton, not Bowie. And so is the song on Blackstar. Sorry to disappoint all those fans who watch the video and think Bowie is singing about his own mortality, but he’s playing Newton. He’s lying on a bed looking up at us, the audience. It’s our POV. The shot allows us to be the character singing, “I’m in heaven.” We see Newton in the bed and simultaneously become him in heaven. It’s a simple enough device.
The intriguing bit for the Bowie fan is the line about the scars. Newton has scars that can’t be seen. Of course, we later discover that Bowie had cancer by this time. Fans put 2 + 2 together and so the scars are Bowie’s illness. Maybe he’s throwing in a connotation. Who knows? However, it’s unusual for Bowie to produce directly autobiographical lyrics. Word on a Wing has a plea. Low has many vignettes of his harrowing drug-induced occultism, but generally his creations feature others. Young Americans has personal touches too, but Blackstar just teases.
The ‘musical theatre’ of Lazarus is the place to explore. After all, Bowie scattered a pile of his songs in there. Newton left his mark on him all right. It’s Newton’s scars which need exploring. He’s trapped, perhaps for eternity. Bowie may have more philosophical concepts on show here than a mortal illness. Newton’s predicament is more akin to the character Bowie played in The Hunger than an oncological victim.
Imagine being Lazarus, for ever.