Where Are We Now??

OK, I'm a Bowie fan. A big Bowie fan. I have been for the best part of 35 years. So it was with some apprehension that I clicked on the youtube link I'd been sent on his 66th birthday. After all, it's been a fair while since any new material and there have been a lot of rumours about Bowie's health.
So... first impressions?? Well - I thought the video doesn't do Bowie any favours - he looks awful. The song itself? My first thoughts - a bit whiney... (Sorry David if you happen to stumble across this!)... that's not to say I didn't like it. No - it doesn't come out and grab you, but it's a ballad - it's not meant to. I found it to be a beautiful piece of music  - introspective, yes - but I think also optimistic and full of hope. I may be wrong but I think Bowie is saying 'yeah - it's shitty now but things will get better' and he puts this as a parallel to his own life back in the 70's when he was living in Berlin - when he arrived in Berlin he was hopelessly addicted to cocaine but he broke his habit and produced 3 of his best ever albums (in my opinion) whilst there... It's growing on me with every play - I don't think it has the lasting appeal of Lady Grinning Soul, Wild is the Wind, or Loving the Alien but then again, I thought that about The Loneliest Guy which is now one of my favourite Bowie ballads and that is probably closest to the style of Where Are We Now.
So - don't listen to the press who have been so quick to herald this single as the bell tolling for any musician over the age of 20, listen to the music. Bowie still has the same creativity he always had. He can still write songs which have meaning and which are still in your head more than 10 minutes after you heard them. Perhaps it's not the best thing he's ever done - so what? Did you buy Never Let Me Down? Just because it's not the best thing he's done doesn't mean that he's past it.
Me? I'll be playing it to death and looking forward to the album in March!!