To continue with the combined themes of Crystal Palace and of being physically here but mentally somewhere else, I’m reminded of the Bowie song with the same title as this posting. The lyrics include the characteristically odd sentiment “You can walk around in New York while you dream in Penge” – Penge being that occasionally maligned London suburb that one looks down upon from the eastern prospects of Crystal Palace. Dreaming of somewhere desired while forced to endure somewhere perceived as dull, is a healthy and not uncommon urge for a young person.
The boy David of course made it to New York, and I’m also reminded of him because on Monday of this week I ventured out in a blizzard to buy his new CD, “The Next Day”. Currently I’m in the interesting phase of repeated listening, familiarising, getting to know, getting to like, amused by the unexpected echoes of The Shadows and Neil Young. It’s surprisingly resistant to assimilation, which I hope is a good omen for longevity of appeal. Curiously connecting with my previous posting are Berlin references in the song “Where Are We Now ?”, recalling Bowie’s late 70s residency in that city, at Hauptstrasse 155 in the district of Schoeneberg, a cosmopolitan, railway-straddled, inner southern district, more a Brixton analogue than a Penge one.
Close by, as seen on the adjacent photo, is an intriguing reference for those who like to observe such things. A subconscious influence for “V2 Schneider” perhaps ? Surely not; more likely the sign is far more recent. Nevertheless, it is true that without realising it we absorb so much from our environment, triggers to creativity, styles borrowed or stolen that help to make us who we are, fuels for our subjective take on things, influences that steer us towards more of the same.
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