David Bowie in Berlin

Pop icon David Bowie lived in Berlin from 1976 to 1979 (together, for a time, with punk rocker Iggy Pop).  The Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel republished today a 2002 interview with Bowie where he reminisced about his Berlin years.  Here are two excerpts: 

Warum sind Sie damals ausgerechnet nach Berlin gekommen?

Nach vielen Jahren, die ich quasi unter Hochdruck in den USA gelebt hatte, war das sehr entspannend für mich, in eine Stadt zu kommen, wo man von mir relativ wenig Notiz nahm. Ich konnte endlich mal wieder entspannen und so einfache Dinge machen, wie im Straßencafé zu sitzen, ohne dass ich auffiel. Diese Anonymität hat mir damals sehr gut getan: Zu merken, dass man auch, wenn man schon eine gewisse Bekanntheit erworben hat, trotzdem ein ganz normales Leben führen kann. Das habe ich seitdem nicht mehr geändert. Ich habe trotz meiner Bekanntheit immer darauf geachtet, ein ganz normales Leben zu führen. Außerdem ist damals auch sonst sehr viel mit mir passiert. So habe ich zum Beispiel gemerkt, wie wichtig es mir ist, zu schreiben.

(What made you come to Berlin back then?

(After all those high-pressure years living in the US it was something of a relief to come to a city where people didn't pay me much notice.  I could finally relax and do ordinary things like sit in a cafe without attracting attention. The anonymity was good for me; I realized that even though I had achieved a degree of fame it was still possible to lead a normal life.  I haven't changed that since then. I've alwoys made sure to lead a normal life despite being famous. Besides that, a great deal happened to me back then. For example I realized how important it was for me to write.)

Bowie didn't just live in Berlin.  He was much taken by the city's culture: cinema, music, theater, - and especially art.  The German Expressionist Otto Mueller, the Berlin painter who was later declared "degenerate" (entartet) by the Nazis, was a particular inspiration: 

Und wirkt dieser Einfluss noch bis heute?

Ich denke, ich war damals so besessen davon, dass er mich seitdem nicht mehr losgelassen hat. Er ist Teil meines Vokabulars als Künstler geworden. Es gibt immer noch Momente, da denke ich: Oh, ich glaube, Brecht hätte das jetzt so gemacht.

(And do you still feel this influence yet today?

I think I was so possessed by it back then that since then it never left me.  It became part of my vocabulary as an artist. There are still moments when I think: Oh, I really believe Brecht would have done it this way now. ) 

It was in Berlin that Bowie wrote his song "Heroes" about a couple embracing by the Berlin Wall.  Here he performs "Helden" in German: 

 

 

Comments

[koogleschreiber]

Rest in peace, spaceboy.

I'm sure there will be a David-Bowie-Street in Berlin soon. Here is a great youtube video, it's NIN feat. David Bowie.

https://youtu.be/WPKqigY09Dc

[Hattie]

I tried to watch The Man Who Fell to Earth again a while ago and thought, "That era has come and gone."
I saw him in Portland on his Glass Spider Tour, which was looking dated even back then. Too much straining for effect.
He was an original though, supertalented, and I'm sad he's gone.

[Hattie]

As if to rub it in, the ad on the vid is for "senior cruises."