being replaced by a very nasty, selfish, shallow culture
In fairness I'm not sure I'd call the hedonism of the rock and rock culture particularly socialist and selfless in nature and I think there is a danger in looking at the past and the present in that way.
I think its ok to use rose tinted spectacles as long as we also try and appreciate the great gains and positives we have now.
Bowie himself was a leader and champion of the internet and trying to spread culture.
Just because what we had 20, 30, 40 or 50 years ago is gone or going does not mean that there is not something else out there. Its just different.
Its just the end of a golden era of something, but we may be entering a golden era of something else in the eyes of the next generation.
We can't and shouldn't stand in the way of progress and change. Progress and change were the sounds that make Bowie sound fresh to several generations.
The question is more who is going to bravely stand up in his place and say 'I'm a Blackstar'?
There will be someone. But they are probably for generations younger than me and I will not understand their power, incite, influence and indeed wisdom.
I dunno, I guess I'm left with this idea after running out to buy to buy Blackstar this morning before it sells out that Bowie was aware of how others viewed him but how actually each generation passes the baton to the next one coming and that is how life and ideas are renewed through art and its evolution through the ages.
That probably sounds like a load of pretentious bollocks to some people, but that's what art should be though - interpreted through the eye of the beholder so I guess he got something right.