Innovator, visionary, idol, genius, legend... words are not enough. We miss the Starman far too much. His earthly form left forever, but his music, his expressions, his ideas remain. And among them, there is a BBC interview from 1999 in which David Bowie talks about the future, and especially, about the potential of the Internet. The interviewer doesn't seem very convinced, but David's bluntness is more than contagious.
History tells us that David Bowie began his career in 1962. Citing his own words, it was difficult to listen to music back then... and many other things too. Rock and roll had become a subversive, rebellious, chaotic symbol. The champions of morality and ethics called to limit or fight its effects, while the political class toyed with the idea of turning the Cold War hot.
But David remained above and beyond all that. He recognized changes before they came, reinvented himself, flowed while others remained static. When the name “Internet” began to be heard more frequently, many artists ignored it completely, only to discover years later that they had to adapt to the network of networks or disappear. However, David Bowie had a different opinion...
(Editor's note: Subs are in English, but you can follow...)
Internet and the future, according to David Bowie
The interview you just watched is from 1999. The singer exchanged thoughts with Jeremy Paxman about some of his most important artistic moments, including the manifestation of his alter ego Ziggy Stardust, but he also made a couple of confessions, for example, that if he had been a teenager in the '90s he wouldn't have dedicated himself to music, but would have been “a fan and record collector”. He became a musician because he felt it as an act of rebellion, a “call to arms”, if you will. In the '90s, music became a career, and what would continue that idea of subversion and rebellion is the Internet. “Chaotic and nihilistic”, were his words.
But it doesn't end there: “Forget the Microsoft element. Monopolies don't have a monopoly… maybe on software.” The interviewer pointed out that anyone could do or say anything on the Internet. A complicated point, no doubt, but David responded from an angle he completely dominates, and that is music. He spoke of a “demystification” between the artist and the audience, and that there would be a new construction between the two with the Internet.
And when Paxman suggested the idea that he was exaggerating its potential, the singer said “we haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg”, that its effects on society, both good and bad, would be “unimaginable”, and that they were at the pinnacle of something “exciting and terrifying”. It's a pity the interview doesn't have Spanish subtitles, but I guarantee it's worth every second. Thank you so much, Starman, we are in your debt.
