Watch Glen Hansard Pay Tribute to Bowie Outside Bowie’s NYC Apartment and In His New “Wedding Ring” Video

Jan 13th, 2016 in Music

GH Bowie

The tributes to David Bowie continue unabated.  The big-hearted and busy Glen Hansard has contributed two such tributes in the last 48 hours.

First, watch below as Hansard lends his formidable vocals and cover skills to a performance of Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes outside the Thin White Duke’s NYC apartment.  Lovely to see the heartfelt notes and gifts to Bowie. About the homage, Hansard told Rolling Stone: “I really just felt the need like everyone else who was drawn toward somewhere to grieve. I just wanted to sing his song there. It’s very personal. I didn’t look anyone in the eye, I couldn’t. The honesty of the second verse of that song has always moved me deeply; I’ve loved the song since I was a child. Bowie was the one we chose to raise us in our rooms, when we first closed the door on our parents and the world.  He told us we didn’t have to be masculine to attract girls.  He told us we could be strange, and even celebrate it. He was so much more than his music. The first real artist I encountered, someone who provoked thought through his message and image and the songs. Oh boy, the songs….”

As for the second, Hansard and talented director Myles O’Reilly have managed to pay tribute to Bowie in the official video at bottom for Hansard’s uber-empathetic Wedding Song. The tribute is made that much more heartwarming in that the video’s Bowie-homage had been in the works for months prior to Bowie’s passing. About Bowie and the video, Hansard and O’Reilly said:

“Thank you David, for being a signpost for our growth and boldness, you gave us the courage to become….” – Glen Hansard

“Working with Glen on this video was the closest I’ve ever felt to being a filmmaker, a teller of fiction. I’m proud to have facilitated his idea. It was Glen’s description of the girl whispering to her poster of Bowie, that stayed with me for months before the shoot. The powerful image of handing down of her icon to her little sister. Glen is master storyteller in sound and in vision. He needs to make a film.” – Myles O’Reilly

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