“Look up here, I’m in Heaven!” are the first words in David Bowie’s video for his new song “Lazarus.” Bowie begins the song in a hospital bed, his eyes wrapped in gauze except for two eye holes.
It’s hard to imagine that the visibly frail Bowie didn’t plan the message and visual impact of the song, part of his latest, and final album Blackstar, released this past Saturday — also Bowie’s 69th birthday. And now Blackstar producer Tony Visconti confirms it on his facebook page
“He always did what he wanted to do. And he wanted to do it his way and he wanted to do it the best way. His death was no different from his life — a work of Art … He made Blackstar for us, his parting gift. I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn’t, however, prepared for it. He was an extraordinary man, full of love and life. He will always be with us. For now, it is appropriate to cry.”