The Indiependent’s Best of Bowie

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Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide (From The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars – 1972)

The last song of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide’ is the final chapter of Ziggy’s story, having gone from intergalactic megastar to washed-up has-been. For many artists, such a vision could have been prophetic: not so for Bowie. His final years couldn’t have been much further from Ziggy’s – still producing music, still inspiring all those who heard him, still capturing the public imagination in his not-quite-human way. Bowie’s penchant for the dramatic comes to the fore here, as this finale swells from a quiet lament into a spectacular end to a spectacular album, complete with string section, and the kind of raw emotion that tends to mark out the very best of Bowie’s work. ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide’ is not his best song: it’s not even the best from this album. But the power and passion in his voice as he delivers his final message, a message of mourning but also of hope, means it will always be my favourite.

“Oh no love, you’re not alone
No matter what or who you’ve been
No matter when or where you’ve seen”

Words by Charlie Worthington

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jg4ekLG9Zo&w=740&h=422]

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