It was Monday, January 11 around 9:05 a.m. when I first heard the news.
It was in my first class of the semester, I was ready to start the semester off on a good note and my professor asked if I wanted to listen to some music and of course, I didn’t hesitate to that, which then lead to the big news. She started searching for an artist and then said, “Oh, how about in honor of David Bowie, we listen to him” and I was very confused at first because “…in honor of…” usually meant that someone had passed and I knew that David Bowie was still alive and I asked, “What…?” with a little laugh, “David Bowie…hasn’t died…why…?” and that’s when she told me, “David Bowie passed away this morning.” My heart stopped. I didn’t know what to say.
My classmates came into the room and the first thing that came out of my mouth was, “David Bowie passed away!” and all of them knew and it was like I was the last to know. Class went on and I listened to his music while I drew and there was just something inside of me that felt different, but it didn’t stop me from drawing. As the class began to close, I overheard people talking about Labyrith, one of David Bowie’s most famous works he had done, and I mentioned to them that Labyrinth was what started my love for Bowie when I was younger and how that movie always put me in a good dancing mood. After that moment, the only thing I was singing, whistling and humming that day was “…Dance Magic, Dance…” from Labyrinth.
When I got back to my dorm, I called my mom and asked if she knew what happened and her response was full of sorrow and she asked me how I was doing with the situation and that’s when I broke down crying. I had never felt this way about a celebrity before and I had never cried over the death of a celebrity. My mom calmed me down and said, “Tessa, he’s in a better place now and he is not suffering any longer, He is happy” and I knew that, but the man who changed my childhood was gone. My Goblin King was gone, but I feel him watching over me. At this moment, the lyrics of “Magic Dance” really made sense and it made the song more meaningful to me.
“I saw my baby, crying hard as babe could cry, what could I do? My baby’s love had gone and left my baby blue, nobody knew…what kind of magic spell to use? ….Dance Magic, Dance Magic, Dance…”
David Bowie’s death made me cry and he saw me cry, but what could I do because my love had gone and left me blue, so what did I do? I danced. I danced with joy and happiness. I smiled while I danced. I felt pure and free while dancing.
David Bowie, you taught the world to dance and not care what others think about you. You became our superhuman and left the world speechless. You were a piece of art that changed the world. You taught us that no matter what we are going through in life to just dance. Who cares who is watching, just dance.
Watching Labyrinth for the first time after Bowie’s passing, I felt as though he was sitting right next to me enjoying the movie as much as I was and singing along to “Magic Dance” with me.
Thank you David Bowie for blessing the world with your magic. You will NEVER be forgotten.
“I always had a repulsive need to be something more than human. I felt very puny as a human. I thought, “F*** that. I want to be a superhuman.”
David Bowie
1947-2016
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