Last night, when I heard that David Bowie had died, I immediately flashed back to the summer of 2003.  I spent that summer hanging out with my friend Jay.  I was an aspiring writer and he was the musician who got all the girls.  Jay was also a David Bowie fanatic whose cover of The Man Who Sold The World was at least as good as Nirvana’s.  When I think about that summer, I remember the all-night bull sessions, smoking in Jay’s backyard, watching reruns of Hawaii 5-0 and agreeing that McGarrett was one cool dude, and the weekly poker games where I always seemed to lose.  But mostly, I remember David Bowie providing the greatest soundtrack anyone could want.

Over his 50 year career, David Bowie reinvented himself many times.  When he released his first single in 1964, he did so under his real name.  He was 17 years old when Davie Jones and the Queen Bees released Liza Jane.

By the time he released Space Oddity in 1969, Davie Jones had become David Bowie.  Space Oddity would introduce the world to Major Tom, a character to whom Bowie would return in the future.

1970’s The Man Who Sold The World is often erroneously believed to be a retelling of Robert Heinlein’s novella, The Man Who Sold The Moon.  In 1997, Bowie himself said that the song was about being young and feeling incomplete.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Bd3iJSFyE

Life on Mars? was once described by BBC Radio 2 as being “a cross between a Broadway musical and a Salvador Dali painting.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v–IqqusnNQ

1975’s Golden Years, with its chorus of “run for the shadows,” is one of my personal favorites.

In 1977, David Bowie appeared on the final Bing Crosby Christmas Special.  He and Bing performed Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy.  At the time, Bing was quoted as saying about Bowie: “clean-cut kid and a real fine asset to the show. He sings well, has a great voice and reads lines well.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADbJLo4x-tk

In 1980, Major Tom returned in Ashes to Ashes.

Rather than grow stagnant as an artist, David Bowie was always reinventing himself.  In 1997, he proved he was still a force to be reckoned with when he released I’m Afraid of Americans.

In November, David Bowie released Blackstar.  In the song’s video, Major Tom made his final appearance.

Lazarus was the last single that David Bowie released during his lifetime.  The video was released three days before he died and feels like it was his way of saying goodbye.

Rest in peace, good sir.  And thank you for the music and the memories.