“Everything Zen’s” shot at Bowie

I recently came across an online article about the song “Everything Zen” by the 90s band, Bush (actually some form of the band exists today, so they aren’t just a 90s band).

In any case, the article, which might fall into the “churnalism” category* that I usually despise, explains that Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale deliberately adapted two lyrics from Bowie’s “Life on Mars?” after reading an NME interview in which Bowie praised Suede frontman Brett Anderson’s songwriting. At the time, Rossdale was struggling to keep Bush afloat while Suede had become one of Britain’s biggest bands, and he interpreted Bowie’s endorsement as a sign that Bowie was backing the new Britpop scene rather than overlooked groups like his own. Frustrated, Rossdale borrowed “Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow” directly from “Life on Mars?” and transformed Bowie’s “Lennon’s on sale again” into “Dave’s on sale again,” using the lyric to express what he saw as Bowie’s willingness to embrace the latest musical trend. Rossdale later admitted the sentiment was “stupidly bitter,” attributing it to his own professional disappointments and personal struggles at the time.

I didn’t know about the song or the line in the song, so even if this article was “churnalism” in that it is simply repackaged, I learned something new from it. It also suggests that Rossdale interprets the Bowie line about Lennon being on sale again as I do, which is to say kinda a shot at John Lennon. It is also worth noting that “Mickey Mouse” appears in the video at the point the line is delivered.

So, I have to admit that this very post is basically repackaged information from the article that I initially read, so I am guilty of churnalism here myself, except you also now have the privilege of knowing my thoughts on that matter, which I assure you are original!

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* I think “churnalism” in the strictest sense refers to repacked press releases or other articles, whereas this article appears to have synthesized multiple interviews and/or articles. There’s still nothing actually new, but the end product is closer to a genuinely original piece of writing.