Do da da Do Do Do do

In the movie Labyrinth, a teenage girl muscles her way through an elaborate series of adventures to get her baby brother back from Jareth, the Goblin King, played by David Bowie. He sings. He dances. She learns. She grows. At the beginning, some things seem important to her, but at the end, other things have taken their place.

Sarah: Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle; beyond the goblin city, to take back the child that you have stolen. My will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great...

Jareth: Stop! Look what I'm offering you. Your dreams.

Sarah: My kingdom as great...my kingdom as great...I can never remember that line.

Jareth: I ask for so little. Just fear me. Love me. Do as I ask and I shall be your slave.

Sarah (suddenly remembering): You have no power over me!

With that, Jareth is crestfallen and Sarah is jolted back to reality. She won!

Recently, I’ve been hearing David Bowie everywhere. Golden Years and then Modern Love on different radio stations. The next day, Fame. Then, Under Pressure, and again a few days later. The second time, I thought it was the Vanilla Ice song at first. 

Golden Years takes me back to a time of new beginnings. 

Don't let me hear you say life's taking you nowhere, Angel…

Modern Love, back even further. 

Fame. That deep “Fame, fame, fame,” and then higher, “What’s your name?” It sounds like an accusation. 

I saw a blog too, with an amazing Bowie mural. Two posts were dedicated to it. One and Two. There was even an album at Cracker Barrel of all places.

This morning I went looking through old boxes for something else, but came across a paper I’d written in college on the song Wild-Eyed Boy from Freecloud. In it, I analyzed the song, the characters, and the rhyming scheme. I cringed a little at my words, but it was one more Bowie thing and I noticed that song came out the year I was born.

I had a giant version of this in my dorm room, but took it down when I became a born-again Christian:

 I am pretty sure I saw this live: 

What does it mean? This is an era gone by to me. These songs remind me of old times, long lost friends, some now gone from this Earth before their time, and dreams of foolish things. Though it is painful to say that, youth has some foolishness, doesn’t it? I don’t believe now what I believed then. What I mean is, some things seemed important to me then, but now do not.

And then today I found this. I had never seen it before. It seems like someone would have mentioned it to me, but somehow I missed it until just now. It’s David Bowie reciting the Lord’s Prayer. It was April 20, 1992. Wow. I wish I had seen this then.