BONUS MATERIAL FOR “Song For David Bowie”!

David Bowie was and is my #1 favorite artist of all time. I was scrolling the internet at 2 am when I found out he had passed away. I woke Guillaume up, crying.

My Bowie tribute band, The First Church of The Sacred Silversexual, gets together once a year for Bowie’s birthday and we sell out a weekend of shows at The Chapel in SF. We’re a 10 piece band that dresses up and treats each show like church, turning Bowie lyrics into scripture, and instead of saying “amen” we say “Can I get a wham bam?”, to which the crowd responds with a booming “THANK YOU, MA’AM!” We have drag queens and burlesque performers on stage for every song and the audience dresses up as their favorite form of Bowie, singing and rejoicing in everyone’s favorite alien.

At the time of his death, I was writing music for Misfit Cabaret’s nautical themed show, Whimsea. I really wanted to write a song about Bowie, who has had such a profound effect on my life and my music. BUT I had a deadline to write songs about the beach. What to do? Write a song about Bowie on the beach, of course…except not that cheesy, or at least I hope not.

Because we all think of Bowie as an alien, and many of us believed that he didn’t pass away, but left us to go dance in the cosmos. He just went home. And where better to look up at the stars than on a beach, void of the light pollution that comes from living in the city.

And that was the weird workaround way I wrote about my favorite artist and alien. And if it weren’t for Misfit Cabaret and my parameter deadline, the song would have come out very, very differently. Probably. Maybe not.

I write a lot of my melodies and hooks based on emotion. The very beginning of the song, the piano that you hear is what I think it sounds like to look up at the stars on the beach. A slow and quiet breeze, the only sound is the waves cumbersomely falling onto the sand, the dark, the calm. In and out. In and out. Breathe. And then the sound of wind chimes that my grandmother hung on the dogwoods in her backyard. In and out. In and out. Slow breeze. Quiet. Breathe. Look up at the stars.

Performing “Song for David Bowie” for the first time was hard, and my voice cracks at the end from holding back tears.

(Remember, it was a nautical-themed show, which is why Brendan is dressed like a pirate. We’re a heart-warming show, but we’re also very, very campy.)

Bowie.

He was such a personal artist to so many people. I recently bought a print from Noel Fielding that’s an illustration of Bowie saying “I was more upset that you when Bowie died.” I think that’s perfect. That’s how I felt. I think that’s how everyone felt. No artist has touched me deeper, and everyone wanted to claim him as “their artist”.

I don’t know if you are, but if you’re curious, my favorite Bowie song is “Lady Grinning Soul”. What’s yours? xo

SONG FOR DAVID BOWIE

The stars woke me up last night
Burning brighter than I ever could remember
And I knew that you were gone
Fast, I stumbled out of bed
Pitching sideways like a boat upon rough water
Touched my face against the glass

And looking down upon the waves
The stars reflected on the sea
And on they stretched into the dark
In what seemed to me like infinity
But I'll keep swinging

No, love, I know
I'm not alone
I see you dancing in the cosmos
Farewell, alien
I'll see you again
When I look up to the stars

So dance wherever you are
You prettiest star

I'll leave the light on for whenever you come home

Pouring over memories
Thinking back about the stranger you accepted
You were everything to me
Tripping up upon the sand
Kicked in my face
This isn't all there is, you smiled
You made it seem ok

And as I listened to the tide
I swear I faintly heard you sing
There is more to love than life
I closed my eyes and breathed

No, love, I know
I'm not alone
I see you dancing in the cosmos
Farewell alien
I'll see you again
When I look up to the stars

you prettiest star
And I'll leave the light on for whenever you come home
Dance, wherever you are
You're never too far
To show the nobodies we're somebodies, we are because you say we are

No, love, I know
I'm not alone
I see you dancing in the cosmos
Farewell alien
I'll see you again
When I look up to the stars

I won't let you fade
Look now, down on the shore
At all the lights you held so long
We hold them now
We'll pass them on
We'll miss you, Major Tom