‘Tis a Pity She Was a Whore: One breath inhales and the second song begins. “The groove was a one bar loop on the demo,” says Mark Guiliana (Modern Drummer, Feb. 26, 2016). The challenge he faced was doing the repetitive parts while staying the moment while pushing the intensity. They did this track while in the studio together so their energies could feed off each other. You could hear how much David enjoyed this track by hearing him shout out a few times. Bassist, Tim Lefebvre, said in an Observer Music article (Jan. 20, 2016) that before they went into the studio David gave them a demo. He said that as soon as he heard the line, “Man, she punched me like a dude” he fell on the floor laughing. I have got to admit I found the line hilarious too. The title comes from a play written in the 1700’s. Typical. The whole song just flows it just comes pouring out from the drums to the joyous abandon of the horns.. Not a whole lot of deep meaning just a fun jam.
Lazarus: Also the title of an off-Broadway play he planned. This is probably his most direct song about death. His second video off the album. There is still a little humour in this one but, nonetheless, a serious song. The Sax part has got to be the most melancholy musical sigh I’ve heard recorded. I don’t think the song is so much about the fact of death as it is about the acceptance of death. It’s the declaration the with death the masks are off. What you were in life is what you were. No more shaping, revising, explaining . . . this is it whether you’re ready or not. No cell phone, no money no fame, no demands.
Some people when they are dying, I believe, gets some glimpse of death before they really go. I haven’t done much reading on the subject (and there is a lot of documentation out there) but it seems like there was something he was seeing before he knew for sure. Mind you, he was still thinking about another album if he had time.
Many will disagree with me but I do like the video for this song better then the one for Blackstar. There’s a little more atmosphere to it, I think. The deathbed, the levitation and the wardrobe. The alternate self coming out of the wardrobe to write something (whether it’s a song, a note or a will is unknown) is done with humour. The dumb looks on David Bowie’s face while writing are priceless. When he sings some line about the bluebird which is trite and maudlin, he has humility and the humour to follow it with “Hey, ain’t that just like me?” I really think it is one of the best songs written about death I’ve heard. “It’s this way or no way.”
End of Part 2. Part 3 will come shortly. Stay tuned!