David Bowie premieres politically-charged music video for ‘I’d Rather Be High’
The video makes a strong political statement with classic wartime footage
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.David Bowie has revealed his new music video for “I’d Rather Be High” online.
The legendary singer/songwriter unveiled the accompanying visuals for “The Venetian Mix” of the track, taken from his critically acclaimed comeback album, The Next Day.
Directed by Tom Hingston, the video makes a strong political statement, fusing various scenes of classic wartime footage, with grainy, black and white headshots of Bowie.
The lyrics, too, paint a stringent and somewhat psychedelic anti-war picture.
“I’d rather be high/ I’d rather be dead/ Than training these guns on those men in the sand,” Bowie sings poignantly.
But the new visuals couldn’t be further from the original video that premiered “The Venetian Mix” as part of Louis Vuitton’s Autumn/Winter advertising campaign, of which Bowie is the face.
The short film, entitled L'Invitation Au Voyage, was directed by Romain Gavras and featured Bowie idly enjoying a decadent Venetian ball alongside model Arizona Muse.
David Bowie’s most recent album, The Next Day, soared to the top of the charts when it was released earlier this year. It went on to be nominated for the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize but controversially lost out on the Album of the Year title to James Blake, with his second record Overgrown.
Watch the video for "The Venetian Mix" in full below:
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments