If the homework brings you down

My first memory of listening to Bowie is when I was about 11 or 12 and discovered my older siblings LP called ''Hunky Dory'' which had a funky picture on the cover and a man - who looked like nothing I had seen before (early-mid 70's). I listened to it casually and at first hearing, was hooked. Reading the lyrics carefully, avidly and thought the lyrics were more like poems or stories than song lyrics. When I heard 'Kooks'' I was elated. I felt like this guy was talking personally to me, or that he had read my mind....''if the homework brings you down then we'll throw it on the fire and take the car downtown'' - that line seemed anarchic yet kind of sweet and vulnerable, as if this guy had days like that too...Then '''what to say to people when they pick on you...cause if you stay with us you're gonna be pretty kookie too''.....that line felt like permission to be odd, to be different, to be weird. I loved this guy - who was he? His words were so honest, true and vulnerable at the same time.
I can't say I followed him and his career like a fan.... but Scary Monsters, a few years later popped into my consciousness when my life was at a very low ebb and raucous, strong beats with crazy lyrics and meandering, wild images were just what I needed...I fell in love with Bowie again. His songs weaved in and out of my life, peripheral, yet when they appeared they seemed to drop right into my consciousness. Seemed to mirror my own thoughts.
When I read the news he had died, I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach....and have felt a kind of grieving process happening for the past 2 or 3 weeks, even crying .....grieving a poet, a comforting, clear voice in my ear, an innovator, a soundtrack to my consciousness...
I'd say he'd be saying to me .....if things aren't want I want them to be...no worries...''we''ll throw it on the fire and take the car down town. Lets Dance!''

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