Starman (From The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars – 1972)
Bowie’s music has been played constantly in our household, so a huge number of his songs have formed the soundtrack of my life so far. ‘Starman’ in particular has always been important to me, as clichéd as that sounds, just because it evokes so many fond memories of childhood, holidays and my family. One of my earliest memories is being about two years old, being filmed by my parents on a clunky video camera singing ‘Starman’, wielding a basic little guitar, pretending to play chords whilst belting out the tune. His 1972 Top of the Pops performance has always inspired me, and I remember being struck by the image of him pointing at the camera during the line ‘I had to phone someone, so I picked on you…’ I loved the idea that he was a musical saviour who rescued 1970s youths from the soulless, banal music scene at the time, a generation who had been subconsciously yearning for Bowie.
The introduction of Ziggy Stardust was a life-changing moment for ‘the kids’. That performance catapulted him into the musical stratosphere and his legacy will remain there forever. Every musician owes their gratitude to Bowie for championing fearless individuality. There will never be another who revolutionises culture as drastically as Bowie did. Written from the perspective of a kid who hears Ziggy (the Starman’s messenger on Earth) singing of an alien ‘waiting in the sky’ to come and ‘blow our minds’ – there was nothing else like it. But it was Bowie himself who was blowing minds. Bowie was Starman, the giver of hope, and we should be eternally thankful that he did come down to Earth and let us all, the ‘children’, boogie.
Words by Zia Larty-Healy
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B5zmDz4vR4&w=740&h=422]