David Bowie Confronts War in ‘I’d Rather Be High (Venetian Mix)’
David Bowie doesn’t hide his meaning in the video for “I’d Rather Be High (Venetian Remix),” a track from The Next Day Extra edition of Bowie’s first new album in a decade.
The singer pairs fearful lyrics about the realities of war with vintage footage alternating between soldiers at the front and enjoying themselves at dances and parades behind the lines. “I’d rather be dead or out of my head / Than training these guns on those men in the sand,” Bowie sings.
Where does ‘The Next Day’ Rank on Our 50 Best Albums of 2013 List?
The clip is the second video to feature “I’d Rather Be High,” which also appeared last month in a 60-second ad for Louis Vuitton that showed Bowie singing in the midst of what looked like a costume party held during the French Enlightenment.
The singer has kept busy making videos this year: He announced The Next Day in January with a clip revisiting his old haunts for the first single, “Where Are We Now?” He co-starred with Tilda Swinton in a video for “The Stars (Are Out Tonight),” and appeared opposite Gary Oldman and Marion Cotillard in “The Next Day,” an assault rifle in “Valentine’s Day” and puppets from his personal collection in a video for James Murphy’s remix of “Love Is Lost” from The Next Day Extra. A second clip for the “Love Is Lost” remix depicted two lovers disappearing into a tide of digital pixels.