On Prince and Bowie
I've had a note in my bullet journal since January to write about David Bowie. And I'd page past it, sigh, and keep going. I didn't have the words. Not because I am a huge Bowie fan--actually, that's my husband. He's seen him live, loved even the most experimental Bowie material, and was deeply saddened by his loss. I couldn't write about it because I didn't know how to articulate my own thoughts around it.
And then Prince died.
And I have the words now.
I'm a child of the 80s. "Let's Dance" and "Let's Go Crazy" were invitations from both artists to push aside what anyone else thought/said/wanted you to be and be yourself on the dance floor and in life. I was fortunate to see Prince live (one of the most electric performances I've ever seen) and his music has been a touchstone for every phase of my life. Losing Prince is a punch in the gut and I'll wear purple for the next few days.
There's been plenty written about both artists in the way they insipred others to be themselves, to bust out of the norms and expectations of society.
I get that. But I also see something different.
Both artists embodied the idea that art becomes universal from the deeply personal.
David Bowie made music because he loved music.
Prince was a musician first and only--a star secondarily. He performed all the time because he loved playing his music. He wrote an ungodly number of songs for other artists, because he loved writing music. He played concerts at his house because all he wanted to do was play, play, play.
If no one had ever bought an album or went to a show, or heard them on the radio, I'm 99% sure that Bowie and Prince would have made music anyway, because it was who they were. It was the artist's life they lived. The fact that people liked it, that it inspired others, that they were innovators in their field...all that stuff seems (from my far outsider perspective) to be gravy for them. They were happy to share their art, because lots of artists are--but they didn't need you or I to like it or give our blessing for them to make more. They did it because it was part of them. They wrote from deeply personal places (look at "Lazarus"!) and we responded because we could see ourselves in their words, experience our emotions reflected through their compositions. They embraced who they were, whether it was by unapologetically wearing assless pants or bold makeup or bellbottoms or taking on personae, and they didn't care if you were offended or inspired. They did it for themselves. To push themselves, to get at what they were seeing or feeling or just what they felt like doing on a Tuesday.
And when you create art--doesn't matter what kind--from that place, there'll be people who are upset by it (see the PMRC), who don't get it, and who are afraid of it. But those who will get it, get it big.
As my writer-friend Laurel Snyder said at a conference I attended, "If there's no risk that you've upset someone, you probably haven't said very much."
Prince and Bowie said a lot.
So I'm going to wear my purple, and listen to "Heroes" and "Kiss" and "Let's Dance" and "Let's Go Crazy" and "I Would Die 4 U", and think about my own art, and the fact that I'd definitely be writing even if no one ever saw what I wrote, and how much more personal I can get.
And as for for Bowie and Prince...Rest in Rock, you two.
And then Prince died.
And I have the words now.
I'm a child of the 80s. "Let's Dance" and "Let's Go Crazy" were invitations from both artists to push aside what anyone else thought/said/wanted you to be and be yourself on the dance floor and in life. I was fortunate to see Prince live (one of the most electric performances I've ever seen) and his music has been a touchstone for every phase of my life. Losing Prince is a punch in the gut and I'll wear purple for the next few days.
There's been plenty written about both artists in the way they insipred others to be themselves, to bust out of the norms and expectations of society.
I get that. But I also see something different.
Both artists embodied the idea that art becomes universal from the deeply personal.
David Bowie made music because he loved music.
Prince was a musician first and only--a star secondarily. He performed all the time because he loved playing his music. He wrote an ungodly number of songs for other artists, because he loved writing music. He played concerts at his house because all he wanted to do was play, play, play.
If no one had ever bought an album or went to a show, or heard them on the radio, I'm 99% sure that Bowie and Prince would have made music anyway, because it was who they were. It was the artist's life they lived. The fact that people liked it, that it inspired others, that they were innovators in their field...all that stuff seems (from my far outsider perspective) to be gravy for them. They were happy to share their art, because lots of artists are--but they didn't need you or I to like it or give our blessing for them to make more. They did it because it was part of them. They wrote from deeply personal places (look at "Lazarus"!) and we responded because we could see ourselves in their words, experience our emotions reflected through their compositions. They embraced who they were, whether it was by unapologetically wearing assless pants or bold makeup or bellbottoms or taking on personae, and they didn't care if you were offended or inspired. They did it for themselves. To push themselves, to get at what they were seeing or feeling or just what they felt like doing on a Tuesday.
And when you create art--doesn't matter what kind--from that place, there'll be people who are upset by it (see the PMRC), who don't get it, and who are afraid of it. But those who will get it, get it big.
As my writer-friend Laurel Snyder said at a conference I attended, "If there's no risk that you've upset someone, you probably haven't said very much."
Prince and Bowie said a lot.
So I'm going to wear my purple, and listen to "Heroes" and "Kiss" and "Let's Dance" and "Let's Go Crazy" and "I Would Die 4 U", and think about my own art, and the fact that I'd definitely be writing even if no one ever saw what I wrote, and how much more personal I can get.
And as for for Bowie and Prince...Rest in Rock, you two.