David Bowie’s “Blackstar” Lyrics Meaning
In “Blackstar“, Bowie makes several references to death as though it was a final declaration of who he was and what could happen after his departure.
In the second bridge of the song, he points to the fact that someone would replace him after he leaves the earth. There are also numerous phrases that relate to the singer’s exploration of satanism. For instance, he makes mention of the fallen angel and a flash in the pan which are both symbols ascribed to the devil.
Throughout the song however, Bowie presents himself as a kind of religious and societal rebel who is being prompted about his imminent death. He denies being any other kind of star because although he identifies with the kind of power they wield, he wants to be seen in a different kind of light that opposes the general view.
David Bowie passed on few weeks after he released this song.
What does David Bowie mean when he refers to himself as a “Blackstar”?
“Blackstar” in the context of the song takes on two possible meanings. The first and most likely being a reference to the singer’s rise to stardom and his fall to mortality.
Secondly, the term is used in medicine to describe a type of cancer. Since the singer died of liver cancer, it is also possible that he was referring to his illness whenever he mentioned Blackstar.
“I’m a Blackstar”
Summary
Bowie presents himself as a significant personality who is making a transition into a state where his legacy is carried on despite his death.
Writing Credits
Bowie (as usual) composed “Blackstar” in its entirety. He also worked with noted American musician and producer Tony Visconti to have the song produced.
When did “Blackstar” come out?
On the 19th of November, 2015, Bowie released this powerful track as the first single from his last studio album. Bowie himself named this very important final album after this song.
History on the Record Chart
“Blackstar” performed well on an assortment of record charts. For example, it went to numbers 61 and 78 in Britain (UK Singles chart) and America (Hot 100) respectively. Now, in relation to the latter chart, history was made as soon as the song charted there. And why? This is because the song, whose album version is approximately 9:57 in length, became the longest to ever chart in the Hot 100.
Bowie held on to this record until it was beaten by Tool’s “Fear Inoculum” in 2019. “Fear Inoculum” has a total running time of 10:21.
“Blackstar” shines at the Grammys
At the Grammys held in 2017, “Blackstar” was one of the biggest winners of the Award’s Night. Having being nominated for multiple Grammys that night, it ended up winning two. One was for the award of the “Best Rock Performance”. And “Best Rock Song” was the second. In winning this, “Blackstar” prevailed over these songs:
- Radiohead’s “Burn the Witch”
- Metallica’s “Hardwired“
- Twenty One Pilots’ “Heathens“
- Highly Suspect’s “My Name Is Human”
The Blackstar is linked to the Black star Sapphire , Sapphire being the gemstone for Virgo. A stone that has asterism properties. Asterism meams *star*. Astraea is the Goddess of Virgo, of innocence-purity-precision-justice (associated with the Libra constellation). Astraea means Star-maiden or Starry Night. She is also considered to represent: The Virgin Mary . However, The Blackstar Sapphire is associated to the planet Venus (goddess of love-fertility-divine feminine-etc) Who is also known as the morning star, but also the evening star. In latin, the word for morning star is lucifer, goddess of love…so long story short. Lucifer is the Dark Goddess or Venus or The Virgin Mary or many other names throughout ancient history like Kali, Inanna, Isis, Ishtar, Aphrodite….All LUCIFER :)) So no Lucifer isnt evil or male for that matter.
Lucifer IS the divine feminine. The brightest star . Roses (western version of the hindu lotus), snakes (healing symbol of the caduceus-kundalini energy ), Kundalini is the hindu version of the Holy Spirit, sapphires are linked to the Virgin Goddess Mary, Divine Mother. So in the end Blackstar is Lucifer
I read recently an interpretation on this song saying that in blackstar Bowie exposes papacy being the antichrist. And I have to say I found it very persuasive.
I don’t feel there are any meaning in any of these interpretations, this song is definetely not about religion.
A Big star that dies and becomes a blackhole, this song might have been about himself considering all the facts that come together.
Like everything elve in the universe, since we were born we fight for survival, believe in religions, rituals and superstitions to fight the pain we create untl eventually the fuel of the star ends, colapses and dies.
Bowie is an artist, unusual chords that lots of times sound intentionally strange have been his signarute for many years.
Blackstar is true to the underworld+unheavenly. The Luciferian light in us personified by ritual practice. A duality in dimensions unknown to most humans. An angelic force of demons we can summon. Baphomet, Lucifer, Venus. Our star is above our head shining inward. I’ve known Bowie since i was 13 via my beautiful satanic mummy Patricia Ann+Bowie was my favorite rockstar.
On January 8/9, 2022 Venus will become the morning star
Is this the return of the divine feminine perhaps?
I fear this song that chronicles the demise of everyone. We are all Blackstars in our own world, David Bowie brought all of it into light, ironically as a song named BLACKSTAR.
The mark of a true artist is to be significant enough to be noticed, but nebulous enough not to be truly understood.
Art should provoke debate, where the only sin is to be dull and uninteresting. If you truly got to understood a work of art though, then, from your perspective, you would kill it stone dead.
We all have to find and justify our own truths.
The video begins with finding a long lost “Starman” who could be Bowie’s “Major Tom” on what looks like the moon as the earth eclipses it. The music begins much like Major Tom ended, sans the cheerful guitar strumming.
There is next a sort of Quaking/Shaker religion theme, in which only women kneel and smile ‘on the day of execution’
The next event chronologically is that the ornately bejewelled skull of “Major Tom” (which maybe represents Bowie’s carreer and yet this is mistaken by the true believers as is true personae) is brought into place to start or continue the religion.
“In the center of it all… your eyes” and it is David Bowie whose strange eyes it is referring to. So yeah its Bowie at the center of the religion.
Next, the headless body of Major Tom gets drawn to fall into the earth like a meteor.
Bowie’s commentary: “I (or he) died but someone takes his place.” I think that is not about Bowie dying but a comment about how his career progressed. He first died to create one character, then that character died to create the next. The result is blazing across the sky but the point seems to be that he practically died to achieve it. Also, people didnt understand what they were seeing. It became a religion in a way but maybe he didnt want that. All he can do now is hold whatever tattered scripture (of his life) like a preacher and watch it all go down.
The religious references are intentionally abhorrent. I dont think its a comment about religion, but about the existential threat that we all avoid by putting the rockstar on the altar. Now he really is dying but there isnt anything he can do but watch with horror for a few more minutes.
So I see the video as a summary of his life, not just the event of his death
After careful consideration of all the evidence and taking into account the fact I’ve loved Bowie for 47 years, the inescapable scientific conclusion is that BOWIE IS F–KING AWESOME!!!!!!
What about just letting the music fill your soul without critique and let the art form do its magic with your psyche.
Does anyone remember Black Whole Sun by Soundgarden? This is, without a doubt, exactly what Bowie is referring to. This Blackstar is the sun of our solar system in about 25 years. It will turn black with cooled new elements it’s made through its fusion, and then will micronova this black new element into the universe in all directions. Why do you think NASA tried to erase the moon landing from happening? Bc the moons surface is covered in black glass. Why is it covered in black glass? Bc stars micronova on a cycle, our sun is on a 12,000 year cycle and it’s been just about 12,000 years since last time. What’s significant about this one is that the magnetic field of earth is also doing a reversal, and when the poles meet somewhere over the China Sea we will have no protection whatsoever from any cosmic radiation let alone from a micronova. This is what they are talking about, Bowie knew but Soundgarden may just have been telling the story of the Greenman. Then again Bowie with this knowledge and dying of cancer is fishy just like Chris Cornell knowing and suiciding is more fishy. The timeline doesn’t match up though and I never listened to Audioslave to know anything about his lyrics with them. But you better damn believe Bowie knew the truth.
I think there is a duality here. In one sense it’s his mortality but in the other it’s a jarring social commentary.
In this second and more direct meaning. It’s a story and the speaker is quiet literally a black star and seeking to eschew the monikers and labels the media foist upon him/her. The song is nonconformist in message which may actually be more difficult for this star in today’s mass media narrative.
Cancer is not a gangster robbing you of life. They are just human cells born the wrong way round, doing their own thing. They are the star star and you are the blackstar from the opposite perspective. The eyes refer to the center of this perspective, which reverses upon death and ultimately it is just the duality between order and chaos, the march of entropy.