Moonage Daydream: Bowie for Three Tune Tuesday

in Music2 years ago

I've never really been a Bowie fan, as such, although he's always been in the background, and there's some songs I truly love. However, when Moonage Daydream came out at the cinema I decided to go, because if you're a music fan, then any kind of biopic is really interesting, giving you insight into an artist that you would never have ordinarily gotten. I loved seeing Bowie in his various characters, his incredible fashion and style, his dashing good looks and wondering when he'd finally get dentures as he had terrible British teeth through much of his early career. I thought sharing this one for @ablaze's #threetunetuesday would be appropriate, and I share three of my favourite Bowie tunes as I try to describe the film.


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Directed by Brett Morgen who spent five years pouring over footage provided by the Bowie estate, it's an absolute odyssey at over two hours long. There are no talking heads that detail their experience of the star, only his own voice and a kaleidoscope of live shows, music, and collages that give a snapshot of the marvel that was this incredible artistic, individual, extraordinary man.

Attending with my pregnant daughter in law, I wondered at my grandchild squirming around to the extremely explosive, loud opening where Ziggy Stardust prances across the screen. The soundscape is incredible - a noisy assault interspersed with calmer moments as Bowie walks through landscapes in Singapore, Thailand, LA - and even mundanely hands his passport over at an airport or sips milk in the back of a cab in LA.


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Thematically, it is Bowie's essence - a life dedicated to challenging himself emotionally, artistically, creatively - and believing in change and transformation as essential. There is much of his philosophy in candid interviews and voiceovers. There is a little of his childhood, the loss of a brother from schizophrenia, concern about his own mental illness, and his relationship with his parents.


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Bowie as a mod - uber cool

Much, however, is missing. Whilst it is an absolutely gorgeous biopic that distils Bowie's essence, it does miss other details - you'd be forgiven if you thought he didn't have a love life at all until Iman (who he was married to for twenty years) when in reality he had an extraordinary amount of affairs befitting of the rock star he was. Similiarly, his affair with cocaine is not even mentioned. There's nothing on his children or his first wife, and nothing on how he ended up just all of a sudden exploding into being as Ziggy Stardust. But perhaps that is for other biopics on Bowie - there's certainly a lot of material to work with!

What we loved, however, was learning just how artistic Bowie was - it wasn't just music, but theatre, painting, film and more. Here was a man who lived to create and did so uncompromisingly - although a kind of compromise was suggested as he was accused by a reporter at one stage of doing it for the money. Certainly they skip over the more mainstream ventures such as The Dark Crystal and Tina Turner - I was a little bit glad for this as it wasn't the type of work I liked from Bowie.

Did I like the documentary? Yes. It was dazzling, extraordinary, beautiful, a prayer to a man who made an incredible impact on the world. I'd recommend it even if you, like me, may not be a huge Bowie fan - watching it, you'd gain a new appreciation and tap your feet to some of the tunes you realised you liked more than you thought.

Watch the trailer here:

Are you a Bowie fan? Have you seen the film? What are your favourite Bowie tunes?

With Love,

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Fascinating. "I'm afraid of Americans" is my favourite.

Of course his portrayal of Jareth in Labyrinth is outstanding.

see I never dug Labrinth!!! But I totally want to watch it again with fresh eyes!

I've always been intrigued by this man's authenticity; he was art. He undoubtedly left his mark on the music scene, despite the unfortunate fact that everything had a backstory.

Okay doc. is added on list, definitely will take look.


This is mine fav.

Oh yeah I love that one! We were going through all the collabs he did - more than you think, including Lou Reed, Placebo and many, many more!

I mean he is such a legend and massive in our house! Great pick

I'm a big Bowie fan. Although I must admit it came on as I got older. The younger me was a little too much into macho, masculinity to be ready for what he was doing 😊 Sounds like an interesting film. I will have to check it out. I recently watched Stardust which came out a few years ago and was not really any good. It focused on his brother and his own mental health concerns plus his time before the breakout Ziggy Stardust phase of his career. Kind of the just before he made it film. No music in the film I think they failed to get music rights or approval from his estate. I would probably enjoy Moonage Daydream and you would probably not enjoy Stardust 😁

Hahaha yeah I don't think I would! You'd love this. Worth watching on the big screen. He was the same director who did the recent Cobain film, Montage of Heck.

He certainly would have challenged anyone who clung tight to a particular masculinity!

My husband loved Bowie but I really did not. Never got where he was coming from, just too, too for me...

I never really got him either though I did kinda like a handful of his songs. But now I do appreciate him a lot more!

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I'm not a Bowie fan but more of it because I don't think I have ever listened to his music. I might consider watching some material on him just because of this passion of yours while writing this. I know he is an icon of art. But about his arts my knowledge is near to zero.

Its a great doco. I love music biopics even if I haven't heard of the musician - artistic endeavour is always so fascinating!

For sure it is. And it sounds like such a great biopic.

I haven't watched the movie but I will watch it for sure. I like Bowie. Like you, I don't describe myself as a big fan but I love some of his songs. There is no doubt that he was a genius often misunderstood. My son is a big fan of his. I like many of his songs and to name a couple Starman, and Live on Mars. :)

We sound the same - never obsessive, but do like some of his songs. I think your son would love the documentary!

I'm sure he will love it :)

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The word legend, get's bandies around a lot and lots of the time it's unjustified, but not for Bowie, he was a Legend. So talented and such an amazing back catalogue of art. They don't make em like that anymore, well definitely not as many anyway, but maybe that's nostalgia, I don't know.. Love the three tunes you shared too, not what I would have gone for, but that's the beauty of Bowie, so many to choose from, I must watch this biopic soon.

You'll love it, guaranteed.