I don't know how much religion has to do with the entire Stardust saga, but I can certainly see where people are drawing their comparisons from. In relation to Bowie's in depth explanation of the Rise and Fall concept (see below), Ziggy does indeed play a similar role to Jesus Christ. Ironically, Jesus died to give hope to humanity, while Ziggy's death was simply a confirmation that hope had well and truly left the building. Still, they were both mediums of a sort, and both sacrificed their lives for what they wholeheartedly believed in.
One of the most exhilarating aspects about Bowie's songs is the way they creep up on you, and Five Years is an excellent specimen. Starting with a lazy beat and brief, semi-apathetic statements, it subtly comes to an emotional crescendo in the final few verses. It runs the gauntlet from anomic grey to bittersweet vermillion without missing a shade in between.
"The time is five years to go before the end of the earth. It has been announced that the world will end because of lack of natural resources. Ziggy is in a position where all the kids have access to things that they thought they wanted. The older people have lost all touch with reality and the kids are left on their own to plunder anything. Ziggy was in a rock-and-roll band and the kids no longer want rock-and-roll. There's no electricity to play it. Ziggy's adviser tells him to collect news and sing it, 'cause there is no news. So Ziggy does this and there is terrible news. 'All the young dudes' is a song about this news. It's no hymn to the youth as people thought. It is completely the opposite. [...]
The end comes when the infinites arrive. They really are a black hole, but I've made them people because it would be very hard to explain a black hole on stage. [...]
Ziggy is advised in a dream by the infinites to write the coming of a Starman, so he writes 'Starman', which is the first news of hope that the people have heard. So they latch onto it immediately...The starmen that he is talking about are called the infinites, and they are black-hole jumpers. Ziggy has been talking about this amazing spaceman who will be coming down to save the earth. They arrive somewhere in Greenwich Village. They don't have a care in the world and are of no possible use to us. They just happened to stumble into our universe by black hole jumping. Their whole life is travelling from universe to universe. In the stage show, one of them resembles Brando, another one is a Black New Yorker. I even have one called Queenie, the Infinite Fox...Now Ziggy starts to believe in all this himself and thinks himself a prophet of the future starmen. He takes himself up to the incredible spiritual heights and is kept alive by his disciples. When the infinites arrive, they take bits of Ziggy to make them real because in their original state they are anti-matter and cannot exist in our world. And they tear him to pieces on stage during the song 'Rock 'n' roll suicide'. As soon as Ziggy dies on stage the infinites take his elements and make themselves visible."
(The above quote is from a Rolling Stone interview with David Bowie. See Wikipedia for more info and references.)
"Ziggy is in a position where all the kids have access to things that they thought they wanted. The older people have lost all touch with reality and the kids are left on their own to plunder anything. Ziggy was in a rock-and-roll band and the kids no longer want rock-and-roll."
"Ziggy is in a position where all the kids have access to things that they thought they wanted. The older people have lost all touch with reality and the kids are left on their own to plunder anything. Ziggy was in a rock-and-roll band and the kids no longer want rock-and-roll."
I don't know how much religion has to do with the entire Stardust saga, but I can certainly see where people are drawing their comparisons from. In relation to Bowie's in depth explanation of the Rise and Fall concept (see below), Ziggy does indeed play a similar role to Jesus Christ. Ironically, Jesus died to give hope to humanity, while Ziggy's death was simply a confirmation that hope had well and truly left the building. Still, they were both mediums of a sort, and both sacrificed their lives for what they wholeheartedly believed in.
One of the most exhilarating aspects about Bowie's songs is the way they creep up on you, and Five Years is an excellent specimen. Starting with a lazy beat and brief, semi-apathetic statements, it subtly comes to an emotional crescendo in the final few verses. It runs the gauntlet from anomic grey to bittersweet vermillion without missing a shade in between.
"The time is five years to go before the end of the earth. It has been announced that the world will end because of lack of natural resources. Ziggy is in a position where all the kids have access to things that they thought they wanted. The older people have lost all touch with reality and the kids are left on their own to plunder anything. Ziggy was in a rock-and-roll band and the kids no longer want rock-and-roll. There's no electricity to play it. Ziggy's adviser tells him to collect news and sing it, 'cause there is no news. So Ziggy does this and there is terrible news. 'All the young dudes' is a song about this news. It's no hymn to the youth as people thought. It is completely the opposite. [...] The end comes when the infinites arrive. They really are a black hole, but I've made them people because it would be very hard to explain a black hole on stage. [...] Ziggy is advised in a dream by the infinites to write the coming of a Starman, so he writes 'Starman', which is the first news of hope that the people have heard. So they latch onto it immediately...The starmen that he is talking about are called the infinites, and they are black-hole jumpers. Ziggy has been talking about this amazing spaceman who will be coming down to save the earth. They arrive somewhere in Greenwich Village. They don't have a care in the world and are of no possible use to us. They just happened to stumble into our universe by black hole jumping. Their whole life is travelling from universe to universe. In the stage show, one of them resembles Brando, another one is a Black New Yorker. I even have one called Queenie, the Infinite Fox...Now Ziggy starts to believe in all this himself and thinks himself a prophet of the future starmen. He takes himself up to the incredible spiritual heights and is kept alive by his disciples. When the infinites arrive, they take bits of Ziggy to make them real because in their original state they are anti-matter and cannot exist in our world. And they tear him to pieces on stage during the song 'Rock 'n' roll suicide'. As soon as Ziggy dies on stage the infinites take his elements and make themselves visible."
(The above quote is from a Rolling Stone interview with David Bowie. See Wikipedia for more info and references.)
@NellieWhiskey damn this is so spot on it's spooky
@NellieWhiskey damn this is so spot on it's spooky
"Ziggy is in a position where all the kids have access to things that they thought they wanted. The older people have lost all touch with reality and the kids are left on their own to plunder anything. Ziggy was in a rock-and-roll band and the kids no longer want rock-and-roll."
"Ziggy is in a position where all the kids have access to things that they thought they wanted. The older people have lost all touch with reality and the kids are left on their own to plunder anything. Ziggy was in a rock-and-roll band and the kids no longer want rock-and-roll."