纪念大卫·鲍伊

Remembering David Bowie 纪念大卫·鲍伊

Few rock and rollers have been as exciting, experimental and personable as British musical legend David Bowie. His death January 10 shocked many and saddened even more. Two days earlier, he had just turned 69 and released a new album, “Blackstar.”

Bowie discovered he had liver cancer in 2013. He had not made the information public.

Millions of fans expressed their grief¹ and love for the artist in a flood of messages on social media and other outlets². Others have left flowers and notes in honor of the musician at places he lived, work or is honored.

?Bowie was famous for more than just music. He was an early gender-bender in his style of dress. And he was a famous experimenter with musical styles as well. He was one of the creators of glam rock, and mixed it with hard rock, dance, pop, soul and punk.

He rocketed to fame with his 1969 song “Space Oddity.” The song is about an astronaut in space. It evokes⁴ the loneliness of the Cold War space race. The song came out in the same month that men first walked on the moon.

Bowie calls the astronaut Major Tom.

Ziggy Stardust

Three years later, David Bowie released "The Rise of Ziggy Stardust and Spiders from Mars⁵.” The album introduced one of music's most famous personas: the red-headed, androgynous, futuristic rock star Ziggy Stardust.

He wore shiny clothes, metallic⁶ face paint and high boots. Bowie retired⁷ Ziggy Stardust in 1973. But he continued to be a beloved character in the world of rock and roll.

In the mid-1970s, Bowie created another persona. The “Thin White Duke” was sophisticated⁸ in a bright white shirt and black vest and pants. His white blonde hair was brushed straight back from his head.

He was seen as romantic and yet emotionless. His character was linked to the city of Los Angeles, where Bowie was living at the time. Los Angeles is often seen as soulless.

The character is introduced in the Bowie’s “Station to Station” album of 1976. Bowie was suffering from a severe cocaine⁹ dependency at the time.

David Bowie was born David Jones in 1947 in London. He was a young music fan and, at 13, began to study saxophone. His older brother Terry introduced him to rock and roll.

Jones changed his name to Bowie because of a popular singer named Davy Jones, who performed with The Monkees. Biography¹⁰.com says he got the name Bowie from the famous Bowie knife.

Among Bowie’s other big hits of the 1970s were the songs “Changes,” “Fame” and “Heroes.” In the 1980s, he had huge success with the album “Let’s Dance.”

And he never stopped creating.

He told the Associated Press in a 2002 interview, "My entire career, I've only really worked with the same subject matter. The trousers may change, but the actual words and subjects I've always chosen to write with are things to do with isolation¹¹, abandonment, fear and anxiety — all of the high points of one's life."

Bowie was also an actor, playing in major movies including “The Last Temptation of Christ,” and “The Hunger.” But he also took part in smaller projects. He played himself in the television show “Extras” and even voiced a character in the popular animated¹² show “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

David Bowie was admitted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. He also co-wrote the musical “Lazarus,” which is finishing its run on Broadway this month.

Bowie is survived by his wife, the model Iman, and two adult children, Lexi and Duncan Jones. David Bowie’s funeral will be private. His family said Bowie told them he wanted to “go without any fuss¹³.”

However, musicians will honor the man and his music with a concert at New York City’s Carnegie Hall on March 31.

Words in This Story

gender-bender – n. the act of dressing¹⁴ and behaving like a member of the opposite sex

evoke³ – v. to bring (a memory, feeling, image, etc.) into the mind

introduce – v. to mention or refer to (something) for the first time

persona – n. the way you behave, talk, etc., with other people that causes them to see you as a particular kind of person : the image or personality that a person presents to other people

androgynous – adj. having both male and female characteristics or qualities

sophisticated – adj. having or showing a lot of experience and knowledge about the world and about culture, art, literature, etc.

isolation – n. the state of being in a place or situation that is separate from others : the condition of being isolated¹⁵

abandon – v.  to leave and never return to (someone who needs protection or help)

1 grief   

n.悲伤，悲痛，悲伤的事，悲痛的缘由

参考例句：

• Don't allow yourself to sink into grief,it can do no good.不要使自己陷入悲哀之中，这样一点好处也没有。
• After her mother died,she abandoned herself to grief.母亲死后，她沉浸于悲痛之中。

2 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。

4 evokes   

产生，引起，唤起( evoke的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• Each type evokes antibodies which protect against the homologous. 每一种类型都能产生抗同种病毒的抗体。

5 Mars   

n.火星，战争

参考例句：

• As of now we don't know much about Mars.目前我们对火星还知之甚少。
• He contended that there must be life on Mars.他坚信火星上面一定有生物。

6 metallic   

adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的

参考例句：

• A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
• He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。

7 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

8 sophisticated   

adj.老练的，精密的，尖端的，高雅的

参考例句：

• She has become very sophisticated since she went to live in London.移居伦敦后她变得世故多了。
• This is a very sophisticated machine.这是一台非常精密的机器。

9 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

10 biography   

n.个人经历，传记

参考例句：

• He is now collecting material for a biography of Tao Yuanming.他正在为写陶渊明传记搜集材料。
• Boswell wrote a famous biography of Dr.White.鲍斯韦尔为怀特博士写过一本著名传记。

11 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

12 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

13 fuss   

n.过分关心，过分体贴，大惊小怪，小题大作

参考例句：

• My mother makes a fuss of me every time I come home.我每次回家，母亲总对我体贴备至。
• Stop all this fuss and do your homework.别大惊小怪了，去做你的家庭作业吧。

14 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

15 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。