David Bowie's Chilling Grand Finale
David Bowie revealed fate in 'Lazarus'
By Eric Frank
January 11, 2016
The world lost an irreplaceable artist, musician and man on Sunday, January 10, 2016.
After an 18-month battle with cancer, the man who gave the world "Heroes," "Fame," "Life On Mars," and "Space Oddity" (among a slew of other hits) passed away peacefully with his family at his side.
His newest album, ★ (pronounced Blackstar and yes, we recognize the irony of our font being white) was released on his 69th birthday, just two days before his death. It is the only one of his 25 albums to not feature a picture of the iconic singer, surely an intentional decision by Bowie as his ultimate fate loomed near.
The producer of Bowie's final album, Tony Visconti, who has worked with Bowie since 1969's David Bowie a.k.a. Space Oddity, released a statement saying the album was deliberately created and timed as a "parting gift" for fans. Said Visconti, "His death was no different from his life—a work of art. He made Blackstar for us, his parting gift. I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn't, however, prepared for it. He was an extraordinary man, full of love and life. He will always be with us."
Ever the artist, the world was given a secret message in “Lazarus,” a haunting music video released in conjunction with ★. It's funny... I had an article by Live For Live Music entitled, "David Bowie's New Album ★ Is Now Streaming And It's Unlike Anything Else He's Ever Done" open in a tab on my web browser for two days of limbo before I actually gave it a listen. By the time I watched it, Bowie had passed and the foreshadowing artistry was evident. We now know why this album was different than any he's ever done. He was saying goodbye in his own way.
The ominous depictions in the video are now obvious, in hindsight. The video opens with a shot of a woman, possibly a portrayal of Death itself, delicately lurking out from an old armoire, which appears to double as a coffin. The way the door slowly breathes open was enough to send a chill down my spine, offering an invitation that we all have no choice but to accept.
Bowie's first appearance in the video shows him lying in what appears to be a hospital bed, blindfolded save for two buttons placed over his eyes. The buttons would seem to be an allusion to Charon's obol, a custom of the ancient Greeks in which coins were placed in the mouths of the dead, believing the deceased would have to pay the ferryman Charon to traverse the river Styx to the underworld. Originally, the dead were buried with a coin under their tongue, but the habit changed to coins over the eyes during Roman times after the start of Christianity. Coins on the eyes are nowadays synonymous with death.
If that metaphor wasn't clear enough, the opening line of the song states, "Look up here, I'm in Heaven / I've got scars that can't be seen," an obvious reference to the cancer that would take his life. The music itself is enough to set tears free as Donny McCaslin's haunting saxophone mourns the iconic and beloved musician. Clutching his sheets, fear of the great unknown takes hold before the body goes limp and begins to levitate slightly above the bed, while the cold hand of Death reaches upward, just as the next line is sung, "Look up here man, I'm in danger! / I've got nothing left to lose."
As the world is spun upside-down, a second Bowie emerges wearing all black. This one is full of life, dancing and posing, and claims the role of creativity struggling to find one more stroke of genius before the last grain of sand falls from the hourglass of life. Nervous of this notion, the black-clad Bowie anxiously scribbles his swan song as Death looks on, awaiting the final touch.
The two men, one and the same, frantically express themselves as the music builds to a powerful and emotional climax. Vulnerable and distressed, the bed-restricted Bowie writhes and convulses as the nervous composer struggles to finish beside a skull that looms, influencing his grand work. Time is running thin. Arms raised, "I’ll be free / Just like that bluebird." The moment draws near. Hurry! A stroke of genius in the final hour. Crescendo! and shuffled off this mortal coil.
While the first character seems to accept his destiny, the second doesn't appear to have completed his toil. Distressed and desperate to complete his oeuvre, the man collapses over his work and is pulled by an invisible force into the coffin that awaits. A final gaze of ambiguous frustration suggests that he didn't finish, begging the question, "What musical magic was stolen from the world with the passing of David Bowie?"
"Lazarus" by David Bowie
Look up here, I’m in heaven
I’ve got scars that can’t be seen
I’ve got drama, can’t be stolen
Everybody knows me now
Look up here, man, I’m in danger
I’ve got nothing left to lose
I’m so high it makes my brain whirl
Dropped my cell phone down below
Ain’t that just like me
By the time I got to New York
I was living like a king
Then I used up all my money
I was looking for your ass
This way or no way
You know, I’ll be free
Just like that bluebird
Now ain’t that just like me
Oh I’ll be free
Just like that bluebird
Oh I’ll be free
Ain’t that just like me
Other references to Bowie's mortality can be heard throughout the entirety of the album. Stream all of ★ below.