i’ll stick with you, baby, for a thousand years
by Stace on January 9th, 2011
filed under let me entertain you
in walked luck and you looked in time… never look back, walk tall, act fine… come get up, my baby… i’ll stick with you, baby, for a thousand years… nothing’s gonna touch you in these golden years… – David Bowie, “Golden Years”
It was early 1987. I’d never seen anything so glorious in all my life. He had long, spiky blond hair, some really beautiful makeup, a codpiece, and…that voice. I didn’t care that they were calling him the goblin king, or that I was supposed to consider him the villain. I always thought Sarah was a fool for not staying with Jareth in his world, baby or no baby. But I digress… From the first time I saw him, I loved him.
Over the past (nearly) 25 years, not much has changed in this area. Like a friend you’ve known for a great many years, at times I drift away from the magic that is David Bowie, only to find him again when I realize it’s been too long and enjoy getting to know him all over again. This past summer, something shifted…I realized I wasn’t giving him nearly enough credit for the influence he’s had over so many moments and memories in my life.
Back in August, my friend Jen & I took a road trip to Portland. Both of us having recently graduated from Cal, we were touring the city looking for a place to rent together. As it turned out, it wasn’t meant to be, but it didn’t matter – we spent the entirety of our brief getaway talking about life, guys, the city, and music. We had a blast. While Jen was showing me around the city (her hometown), she told me of a chain called McMenamins. What they’re known for doing is renovating cool old spaces (hotels, bars, movie theatres, music venues – a school, in one instance) into hip, offbeat hangouts. One such place was in a neighborhood (Hawthorne) that turned out to be my favorite in the city. We discovered (much to our shared delight) that the Bagdad Theatre, a McMenamin’s venue (that serves beer and food!) was playing Labyrinth. Jen being as huge a fan as I, we were stoked. Because I was so young when the movie first came out, I’d never been able to see it before on the big screen – much less beer in hand! All I can say after having had this opportunity is that if you’re a DB fan and you ever have the chance to do this, DO IT. It was such a treat; I’d absolutely jump at the chance to do it again.
Jen had been struggling over a guy (or two) and after that night at the movies, every time she started to stress in conversation in the car, one of us would turn on Bowie and immediately she’d chill out, happy for the distraction. (Hence the post titled “who needs shampoo when you have david bowie?” in my travel blog – he makes it pretty easy to wash something right out of your hair!) Since then, I’ve stopped to really think about how many times over the course of my life I’ve associated a Bowie tune with a turning point or at least a memory. There aren’t many artists like this in my life. Billy Joel is another (hence the “she’s write on time,” a play on a Billy song’s title). More frequent are those I fall for briefly, only to burn out when their sophomore album disappoints or they fade from the scene entirely. Sometimes, though, it’s not them – it’s me. Whatever the case, rare is the artist with whom you can grow over many years, loving every single thing they release for you. When you love music as much as I do, and so easily catalog emotional experiences with the lyrics (or just a melody), it becomes easier to understand why a musician I’ve spent any length of time listening to means so much to me – much less one of whom I’ve been a fan for nearly my whole life.
I recently received a belated graduation gift from a couple of girlfriends who live out of town and weren’t able to make it to celebrate with me. Knowing how much I love to read, they sent me a gift card to Borders – it didn’t take me long to put that to good use. Because I tend to prefer fact to (mediocre) fiction, and also of course because I had yet to discover/read a decent one, I immediately sought a Bowie biography. Just this week I’ve started it, and already I’m learning things I had no idea about. For instance, did you know he’s shy? This always floors me about a celeb, but DB in particular I can’t quite wrap my head around! That said, though, I’ve been trying to piece together who he actually is as a person for a while, and I have to admit I’m a bit surprised at what I found: as I keep telling a friend (and fellow Bowie lover) of mine, he’s just so…normal! And please, don’t ask me, “what’s normal?” The point is, we think of him as such a legend, such a rock star, such an icon…and it seems to me that he still thinks of himself as just Davey Jones. He’s just a regular guy, and quite charming. (A little YouTube evidence, in case you need to see it for yourself.) The more I find out about him, the more I like him. Not to put too fine a point on it, but how often do we find this to be the case? (Not only with musicians/celebrities – with anyone?)
For all these reasons and more, I dedicate a blog post to my favorite musician of all time. Today is winding into tomorrow as I type this, and I really did him proud. Today was DB’s 64th birthday, and the first thing I did this morning was dedicate this to him, with my answer an emphatic yes!:
I must say, the man makes 64 look amazing. But then again…he is a rock star unlike no other.
My next small homage was to wear as much glitter on my face as I could get away with at my job, (and my age!) as well as fabulous and almost over-the-top accessories. At work, I managed to (easily) convince the rest of the crew that we needed to listen to our Bowie playlist, and my day was complete. My last small contribution…well, you’re reading it. I admit it, though, I even considered a bottle of bubbles in his honor, but forgot to grab them on my way out of Target at break-neck speed (I don’t like to linger there on weekends when it’s crowded). To be fair, though, I don’t usually find that I need much reason to pop a cork on bubbles…days that end in ‘y’ usually will do – that’s just how I roll. Anyway, my plan was to add a little ginger liqueur and some clove syrup and call it a Ziggy Stardust – a little strange, a little spicy, and hopefully a lot delicious. I’ll let you know how it turns out (if it’s any good).
In closing, I’d like to thank the late John & Peggy Jones for procreating. Thanks to DRJ and the alter egos (Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke, Thomas Jerome Newton, and especially Jareth) for making such amazing music, movies, pop culture, and everything in between. Oh, and… can you please at least tour once more before you officially retire? I’d love to see you live just once…not to mention a shot at meeting you. Thanks, and happy birthday!
Love,
Stacy
(And a quick shout out to Elvis’s would-be birthday, while I’m at it.) 
don’t let me hear you say life’s taking you nowhere, angel… come get up, my baby… run for the shadows, run for the shadows, run for the shadows in these golden years…
