My previous blog post was about Esperanto and its connection with Warsaw. (Click here if you missed it). I also threw in a teaser about a world famous artist, believed to be a big Esperanto enthusiast.
Yes, it was David Bowie, may his soul rest in peace. In fact there is a story going round which has reached mythical proportions.
Bowie and Warsaw
April 1976, traveling from Zurich to Helsinki via Moscow, his train had a technical break in Warsaw. The story goes that Bowie most likely left the train and took a walk around the city. Back then, Warsaw was under a communist regime, shut behind the Iron Curtain.
A much mythologised walk, probably ended in Bowie heading towards Plac Komuny Paryskiej (today Plac Wilsona, Wilson Square). There he bought a vinyl album by Śląsk, a Polish folk ensemble.
Around a year later, a melodic line and some distorted words from one of that LP’s compositions appeared on Bowie’s break-through album "Low", the song "Warszawa."
Like I mentioned, the lyrics were distorted, weird. Like he was singing in some kind of new language. On Blackstar, his final album, the song "Girl Loves Me" he used Nadsat, the English-Russian slang invented by Anthony Burgess for his novel "A Clockwork Orange". Which is one of my favorite English books by the way.
But this was something totally different. A mix of all kinds of languages with resemblance to Esperanto and the Polish dialect he heard on that LP he bought. The fact that he walked literally a few hundred meters from the place where Esperanto inventor Zamenhoff lived (the Jewish district), makes this myth pretty trustworthy.
The absorber
Bowie's former manager stated that Bowie was a great absorber of information, a very intelligent man. Some might think it just was just curiosity in combination with LSD or some other hardcore psychedelic substance. Others just think he was a nutcase, one with a nice voice, who totally lost it. Critics said this was the best song on the album, apparently they were on some excellent quality stuff as well...
Bowie and Warsaw
April 1976, traveling from Zurich to Helsinki via Moscow, his train had a technical break in Warsaw. The story goes that Bowie most likely left the train and took a walk around the city. Back then, Warsaw was under a communist regime, shut behind the Iron Curtain.
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| Bowie and Iggy Pop |
A much mythologised walk, probably ended in Bowie heading towards Plac Komuny Paryskiej (today Plac Wilsona, Wilson Square). There he bought a vinyl album by Śląsk, a Polish folk ensemble.
Around a year later, a melodic line and some distorted words from one of that LP’s compositions appeared on Bowie’s break-through album "Low", the song "Warszawa."
But this was something totally different. A mix of all kinds of languages with resemblance to Esperanto and the Polish dialect he heard on that LP he bought. The fact that he walked literally a few hundred meters from the place where Esperanto inventor Zamenhoff lived (the Jewish district), makes this myth pretty trustworthy.
The absorber
Bowie's former manager stated that Bowie was a great absorber of information, a very intelligent man. Some might think it just was just curiosity in combination with LSD or some other hardcore psychedelic substance. Others just think he was a nutcase, one with a nice voice, who totally lost it. Critics said this was the best song on the album, apparently they were on some excellent quality stuff as well...
Bowie himself always answered questions about the song in a very mysterious way, leaving people behind with even more questions than they initially had.
Mural
Opposite to the workplace of my wife, in the Żoliborz district, "Stary Żoliborz" to be precise (Old Żoliborz).
The below mural is painted in a block of appartments. I sometimes pay a visit to her employer and always try to have a quick peek around the corner, very pretty. This is very close to the earlier mentioned Plac Wilsona.
And more recent:
Conclusion
I personally just think he loved Warsaw, was fascinated by Esperanto and his mind was influenced by the LP he bought here. Which is funny because this LP's vocals were in heavy Silesian dialect. An area at the other end of the country. Well I would not be able to distinguish it from the Polish language either after my first visit, fair enough.
I'm afraid that this myth will always remain after Bowie's passing, but that is what myths are for, right?
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