Quicksand (From Hunky Dory – 1971)
There are few more profound purposes of art than empowerment, and there are few more powerful than Bowie. Ever erudite and insightful, Bowie’s vast array of influences danced from ballet to blues, from theater to science fiction. This is no more apparent than in ‘Quicksand’ from 1971’s Hunky Dory, a pensive exploration of a philosophical spectrum ranging from Golden Dawn occultism to Nietzsche’s proclamation of the “Übermensch”. It is arguably the latter philosophy which would eventually come to describe the journey of Ziggy Stardust; the transformation of obscure art geek to celestial, androgynous messiah.
This Bowie ballad implores us to reject the incarcerations of mundane reality and aspire to the “potential of a superman” (Bowie claimed he felt “puny” when he considered himself no more than “homo sapien”). Shaky, insecure vocals wail over soft guitar and piano, contravening the rallying cry to self-overcoming with melancholic tones, seemingly expressing to the listener that we can only become more than human in the face of, and alongside, sadness and mediocrity. Ultimately, ‘Quicksand’ is a subversive rejection of “bullshit faith” and a triumphant hymn of liberating humanism, reminding the listener that “I am destiny” – my disenthrallment is my own responsibility. It is also a reminder that old convictions must give way to new, as old heroes must leave the stage for new icons.
After all, new “knowledge”, new ideas, new challenges, they are all bound up in “death’s release”, and as reflected in his final single ‘Lazarus’, pop culture’s Starman always grasped the potential and importance of endings.
Words by Aidan Kearns
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP2SS8ggLtU&w=740&h=422]