Paranoid Pop

There’s a moment in this year’s most talked-about music film that I particularly enjoyed—and like almost everything catchy about David Bowie, it’s perfectly timed. As Brett Morgen’s 134-minute documentary Moonage Daydream arcs into the final portion of its subject’s remarkable life, we catch a glimpse of what appears to be a still from the last music video Bowie ever made. It’s the promo for ‘Lazarus,’ the spooky single from his final album Blackstar, the introductory lyric to which feels like Bowie’s most superfluous line: “Look up here/I’m in heaven.” It’s almost too on-the-nose.