David Bowie Tribute: 17 Quotes, 31 Books, 13 Songs

David Bowie Tribute:  17 Quotes, 31 Books, 13 Songs

I do not know a lot about David Bowie. I know that he was married to Iman. I know a few of his songs. He always struck me as someone full of life. But I was very impressed when I saw his list of book recommendations on OpenCulture a couple of years ago. How do you pay tribute to a phenomenal person, who you do not know very well, and be different from other people? I decided that I would write a blog post, including 17 David Bowie quotes, 31 book recommendations and 13 David Bowie songs. I love great quotes. I love great book recommendations. I love great songs. I love people who make the most of their lives.

17 David Bowie Quotes

“I'm not a prophet or a stone aged man, just a mortal with potential of a superman. I'm living on.” David Bowie

“Once I've written something it does tend to run away from me. I don't seem to have any part of it – it's no longer my piece of writing.” David Bowie

“I don't profess to have music as my big wheel and there are a number of other things as important to me apart from music. Theatre and mime, for instance.” David Bowie

“But I'm pretty good with collaborative thinking. I work well with other people.” David Bowie

“To not be modest about it, you'll find that with only a couple of exceptions, most of the musicians that I've worked with have done their best work by far with me.” David Bowie

“I don't have stylistic loyalty. That's why people perceive me changing all the time. But there is a real continuity in my subject matter. As an artist of artifice, I do believe I have more integrity than any one of my contemporaries.” David Bowie

“Frankly, I mean, sometimes the interpretations I've seen on some of the songs that I've written are a lot more interesting than the input that I put in.” David Bowie

“I think it all comes back to being very selfish as an artist. I mean, I really do just write and record what interests me and I do approach the stage shows in much the same way.” David Bowie

“I believe that I often bring out the best in somebody's talents.” David Bowie

“I went through all the musicians in my life who I admire as bright, intelligent, virtuosic players.” David Bowie

“Fame can take interesting men and thrust mediocrity upon them.” David Bowie“I felt I really wanted to back off from music completely and just work within the visual arts in some way. I started painting quite passionately at that time.” David Bowie

“I'm well past the age where I'm acceptable. You get to a certain age and you are forbidden access. You're not going to get the kind of coverage that you would like in music magazines, you're not going to get played on radio and you're not going to get played on television. I have to survive on word of mouth.” David Bowie

“I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring.” David Bowie

“As you get older, the questions come down to about two or three. How long? And what do I do with the time I've got left?” David Bowie

“I had to resign myself, many years ago, that I'm not too articulate when it comes to explaining how I feel about things. But my music does it for me, it really does.” David Bowie

31 Books from David Bowie’s Reading List

1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz, 2007
2. The Coast of Utopia (trilogy), Tom Stoppard, 2007
3. Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon, 1995
4. Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom, Peter Guralnick, 1986
5. Hawksmoor, Peter Ackroyd, 1985
6. Nights at the Circus, Angela Carter, 1984
7. Money, Martin Amis, 1984
8. White Noise, Don DeLillo, 1984
9. Flaubert’s Parrot, Julian Barnes, 1984
10. The Life and Times of Little Richard, Charles White, 1984
11. A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn, 1980
12. A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole, 1980
13. Herzog, Saul Bellow, 1964
14. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea, Yukio Mishima, 1963
15. The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin, 1963
16. A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, 1962
17. Inside the Whale and Other Essays, George Orwell, 1962
18. Strange People, Frank Edwards, 1961
19. The Divided Self, R. D. Laing, 1960
20. All The Emperor’s Horses, David Kidd,1960
21. Billy Liar, Keith Waterhouse, 1959
22. The Leopard, Giuseppe Di Lampedusa, 1958
23. On The Road, Jack Kerouac, 1957
24. The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard, 1957
25. Room at the Top, John Braine, 1957
26. A Grave for a Dolphin, Alberto Denti di Pirajno, 1956
27. The Outsider, Colin Wilson, 1956
28. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, 1955
29. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell, 1949
30. The Street, Ann Petry, 1946
31. Black Boy, Richard Wright, 1945

See the Complete Reading List of David Bowie’s 100 Recommendations

If you cannot view David Bowie's Space Oddity view here.

13 David Bowie Songs/Albums 

1. Letter to Hermione
2. Life on Mars
3. Starman
4. John, I'm Only Dancing (1990 Remastered Version)
5. All the Young Dudes
6. Diamond Dogs
7. Rebel Rebel
8. Fame
9. Wild Is the Wind
10. Word on a Wing
11. Ashes to Ashes
12. Jump They Say
13. The Next Day

Links are affiliate links.