David Bowie Dead: Singer Leaves Cryptic Messages On ‘Parting Gift’ Album
David Bowie, the legendary musician who has died at the age of 69, may have announced his death in his final ever single, ‘Lazarus’.
The star, who has passed away after a private 18-month battle with cancer, released his last album, ‘Blackstar’, on Friday, his birthday.
Fans are now reinterpreting lyrics on the experimental, jazz-influenced album, particular its second single, which begins with the line: ‘Look up here, I’m in heaven’.
The six-minute track, which was released in December, also contains the lyric: ‘Oh, I’ll be free/Just like that blue bird’.
You can watch the unnerving video of ‘Lazarus’ (above) – named after a biblical character who was raised from the dead four days after he died – which sees the Brixton-born singer strapped to a hospital bed.
Bowie filming a video for ‘Rebel, Rebel’ in 1974
Twitter users have pointed out that much of the symbolism in the video, including a skull, clearly relate to mortality.
Elsewhere on the album, the outro of ‘Dollar Days’, its penultimate song, repeats the line: “I’m dying to, I’m trying to,” as the music fades.
Twitter user Andy Levy wrote: “Listening to ‘Blackstar’ (again) and oh man the lyrics on a bunch of the songs take on whole new meanings knowing what he was going through.”
Now, producer Tony Visconti, who worked with Bowie on many of his 25 albums, beginning with his 1969 debut ‘Space Oddity’ and ending with ‘Blackstar’, appears to have confirmed the album’s hidden meanings.
“He always did what he wanted to do,” he wrote on Facebook. “And he wanted to do it his way and he wanted to do it the best way. His death was no different from his life – a work of Art.
Producer Tony Visconti’s tribute on Facebook
“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. For now, it is appropriate to cry.”
Bowie first shot to fame in 1969 with his single ‘Space Oddity’. However, it wasn’t until his reinvention as Ziggy Stardust and his subsequent 1972 album, ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars’, that he truly established himself.
However, it was then Bowie first displayed his restless nature, ‘retiring’ the alter ego at the height of his fame. He spend the rest of the 70s reinventing himself, experimenting in soul, jazz, krautrock, electronica and, by the 80s, disco.
In 2004, Bowie suffered a heart attack and faded from public view. But as fears over his health grew, he emerged with a surprise album, the critically acclaimed ‘The Next Day’, in 2013.
He leaves behind his wife Iman Abdulmajid and two children, son Duncan and daughter Alexandria.
