This an acoustic version of David Bowie’s masterpiece, “Quicksand,” from his 1971 album, “Hunky Dory.” The inspiration for the video was Heinrich Boll’s 1963 novel, “The Clown.” The novel follows, in a series of flashbacks and ruminations, the downfall of the protagonist, Hans Schnier, once an A-list entertainer who toured Europe and performed at the finest concert hall and stayed in the best hotels. He has lost the only woman he ever loved to his stubborn refusal to sign an agreement to raise their future children in the Catholic faith. Additionally, his alcoholism has progressed to the realm of hopeless. The last scene shows him performing on the sidewalk outside a train station, his make-up smeared and cracked, with tears streaming down his face. Quite a book, beautifully written, and I highly recommend it.
The video was directed by Nero Nava, who took my rough concept, which came to me as I was falling asleep one night, and made it into something so much better. I also wish to thank Sonyia Jordan, Maia Panos, Gita, Will Hughs, and Atticus Wolf for being in the movie, and thank Gita, once again, for doing such great makeup on everybody.
