I’ve written plenty of times about my love for literature. I love words probably more than anything, but music takes a close second place in my heart.

Like so many singers have sung, I was raised on rock and roll. Growing up in my house, we didn’t really listen to the radio. We popped in cassette tapes and blasted hits from my parents’ teen years. When other kids were listening to Usher and LL Cool J, we blared Eric Clapton, the Doobie Brothers, Elton John and the Eagles.

Perhaps this is where my “old soul” came from, a growing love for music recorded long before my time. I’ve long loved listening to old tracks and finding connections in music produced years later, which in turn inspired my love for bands from the last several decades like The Cure and The Killers

When I watch movies, I listen for soundtracks to help tell the story. When I read books, I play albums that fit the mood. And when I listen to music, I find songs that connect to other songs. If you share this passion one musician you’ve likely found peeking through the lyrics, chords and performance styles of countless other musicians is the late David Bowie.

While I’ll admit I was never one to repeatedly rewind a Bowie tape, I have a huge appreciation for the impact he made — not only on the music world, but also on the youth of several generations, including my own.

My favorite Bowie memory connects to the film adaptation of one of my favorite books (surprise surprise), “The Perks of being a Wallflower.” In a scene early on in the film, Charlie (Logan Lerman), an insecure high school freshman trying to find his way in the world, is riding in a car with two senior friends, Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller), who are helping him along in that process.

The teens are riding down the road when Bowie’s “Heroes” comes on the radio, and while the young people have never heard the song, Sam encourages Patrick to turn it up and drive through their favorite tunnel. The song is the soundtrack to the iconic scene, in which Sam opens the sunroof, pops her head out and spreads her arms “Titanic” style, the wind in her hair.

Charlie, the introvert central character, smiles and says to Patrick, “I feel infinite.”

The song lyrics make the tune perfect for teens transitioning between childhood and adulthood, struggling to prove that they can succeed: “Every day people do everyday things/but I can’t be one of them/I know you hear me now. We are a different kind/We can do anything.”

When I saw the movie in college after reading the book years before, this scene gave me chills, especially after seeing one of my favorite bands, The Wallflowers, cover it live the summer before.

One of my other favorite movies (produced decades earlier), “The Breakfast Club,” opens with a Bowie quote sharing a similar message, “And these children that you spit on, as they try to change their worlds are immune to your consultations. They’re quite aware of what they’re going through.”

As the world mourns the loss of the late David Bowie, I’d like to thank him for empowering adolescents like me not long ago, and teaching people of all ages that “we can be heroes.”

 

Ambrosia Neldon is the managing editor at Leader Publications. She can be reached by phone at (269) 687-7713, or by email at ambrosia.neldon@leaderpub.com.