I would argue that this darker musical space that I discuss above reflects how the 1970’s can be
seen as a reflection surrounding the anxiety of Britain entering, as Ernest Mandel would say, “a
purer stage of capitalism than any of the moments that preceded it” . This was an era where
31
both Britain and Berlin become similar spaces in a sense, as Jameson would argue; “high
modernism is thus credited with the destruction of the fabric of the traditional city […] while the
prophetic elitism and authoritarianism of the modern movement are remorselessly identified in
the imperious gesture of the charismatic Master” 32 – the space in which such postmodernisms
exist is often viewed as a "degraded" landscape of low-culture that begins to reflect the
emergence of a new type of consumer-dominated society under neo-liberal capitalism. This is
the central theme that is executed through Bowie's skilful use of the language of declinism in an
attempt to express what it means to live in the postmodern world and how one articulates their
experience of it. The definitive elements that made Bowie’s Berlin trilogy what it was - the
language of declinism, the harsh postmodernisms of electronica fused with the traditional rock
form, the performative self, all sought to reflect the hardships of life in the 1970’s during the
Cold War, this was a feeling that resonated with many not just those living dangerously close to
the front line in Berlin, but with the people who listened to his music in Britain and saw their
own anxieties reflected in the dark drones of the trilogy. David Bowie had managed to weave
all of this into the consciousness of popular music and this has undoubtedly inspired and
trickled down into the work of the Brett Anderson’s, Nick Caves and Ian Curtis' of the next
generation.
31 Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism Or, The Cultural Logic Of Late Capitalism (New Delhi: Rawat, 2012).
32 Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism Or, The Cultural Logic Of Late Capitalism (New Delhi: Rawat, 2012).