David Bowie Talks The Internet, Buddhism & Aliens | MTV Full 1997 Interview

0:04 David Bowie on releasing music through the internet
0:21 Getting older & album sales
1:22 The potential of the internet
3:17 Spirituality & Buddhism
5:25 Bowie on the Dalai Lama
6:15 Organized religion & the arts
9:04 David Bowie's opinion on Aliens
#MTV #DavidBowie
In this MTV News 1997 Interview, David Bowie discusses how the internet and Buddhism guides his work.
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[@ivankaramasov]

Listening to Bowie talk is like listening to a world class intellectual. He is so thoughtful, knowledgeable, and intelligent. No other pop musician comes even close. Not even Dylan. Maybe Eno.

[@robinbeerman4726]

Yuck. Kid pick! Listen to other people's conversations. Feeak.

[@imaweerascal]

"is there life on Mars? I couldn't care less" Beautiful!

[@imaweerascal]

@GoodHeman Nah I'm with Bowie on this. Finding life on Mars would make no real difference to how we see our place in the universe. What's more interesting is understanding ourselves and what moves us, right now - i.e. everything else he mentioned! Each to their own though.

[@jackhammer3878]

@@imaweerascal Your a little short sighted on the Not making a difference. Now consider that if this life there on Mars was not limited to Mars and was responsible for our being Here on earth. How much of a difference to get knowledge of such Importance would be the most interesting part.

[@imaweerascal]

@@vitamind.d.fishinsea8570 that's an appealing idea, but if the overwhelming evidence for evolution didn't achieve that, I somehow doubt this would either.

[@shecklesmack9563]

I feel like this answer is rooted in the fact that he’s probably been asked that a trillion times by the time of this interview by every interviewer who thinks they’re cute and clever asking that.

[@unbalancedlibra9788]

@@imaweerascal who says evolution nd genetic manipulation can't exist in the same universe?

[@sethp8947]

No one was safe in the 90s. Even Bowie grew a goatee

[@Ridiculi]

😂😂😂

[@tommitchell4570]

Goatee needs a top and bottom part, dum dum 😂

[@sethp8947]

@@tommitchell4570 ok beard professor what is it then?

[@rosehubbard5957]

@@sethp8947 chin pubes

[@mgdkns6678]

What?!

[@MrBoy-qj3bs]

Why so many dislikes? Bowie is as charming, insightful, and articulate as ever here. I don't get the disdain.

[@LiquidIronTV]

It's disdain for MTV, not Bowie

[@g13flat]

@@LiquidIronTV That may be the case but the interviewer had obviously done her research and asked some not run of the mill questions.

[@LiquidIronTV]

@@g13flat I know. I didn't dislike it- I liked it. Just explaining why it got so many dislikes.

[@g13flat]

@@LiquidIronTV I know that you know and you know that I know but some people, well they don't know anything.

[@LiquidIronTV]

@@g13flat cheers

[@MarcLowe]

Wonderful interview. I am doing a course on David Bowie at a University in Tokyo and we have been discussing Bowie’s relationship to religion and spirituality, among other things. I will share this, as he talks a bit about how organized religion is being replaced by art/music (this also takes us back in some ways to his fascination with Nietzsche), his relationship to Tibetan (and also Zen) Buddhism, and so forth. Love that final quote about not caring about aliens, as, for Bowie, they were only ever a metaphor for “alienation.” Perfect.

[@neonx9404]

Hey Marc thanks much for the post. Would you mind elaborating on where you’ll be sharing this, I would very much love to hear it! : )

[@MarcLowe]

@@neonx9404 I am teaching at a university in Tokyo but, unfortunately, I cannot broadcast the classes, which are currently in-person and not filmed. I did, in any case, want to thank you for sharing this great interview. 🎵

[@SarahSmith-nr2wj]

He changes his mind about these things a lot however. Personally, I think he was, through his work, downloading all kinds of aspects of his psyche, which he wasn't fully conscious of. Here he's in an analytical mode, and dismisses certain things but tbh, I think for many artists like bowie, the work is mysterious, particularly to themselves. I see him as a truly multidimensional being in a time when most people had no concept of this way of being.

[@CK_Japan_]

@@MarcLoweさん あなたはまだ東京大学で教えていますか？ 私の生徒が東京大学に今通っています。

[@SlimyboyDave]

Bowie's art will be appreciated forever. One of the most influential musicians ever!

[@roadwarrior280]

As someone who practices Tibetan Buddhism,Bowie is so articulate,so smart.You can see how his early experience with Buddhism shaped him .

[@Rayquesto]

Does that show up in seven years in Tibet?

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

Bowie showing himself, as ever, to be an incredibly articulate, thoughtful, intelligent individual. And all the while wearing smashing eyeliner and spikey bleach-orange hair. Ladies and gentlemen, we shared the earth with a legend. 😆

[@robinbeerman4726]

JESUS is the one biwue is a freak.

[@mablestark6501]

bowie was such an intelligent and insightful man, really interesting and amazing

[@turqoiselove1]

I find it amusing that Bowie says he's not that interested in the internet. He obviously changed his mind at some point.

[@tommitchell4570]

Can't blame him for saying that in 1997 --- dialup modems made the internet painfully slow

[@Shiba9870]

This was 2 years before that interview

[@TheSWolfe]

Didn't we all to varying degree?

[@fredwinslow744]

He always gave answers that made more of the questions than they were. Really transparent and interesting

[@islandbirdw]

Bowie did a number of thoughtful gracious (for the most part) interviews and always treated the interviewers kindly. I even saw a video with Bowie and Frampton trying to find a pint of beer at a pub. Very funny

[@TheSWolfe]

Bowie was so much more than his music/imagery. Our Rebel Rebel became a sage. Yet, with all his fame, he was still humble and approachable. I miss him.

[@NickSBailey]

it's interesting how he changed his mind about the internet between 1997 and the 1999 Paxman interview, he really got it's importance by then, the good and the bad

[@GabrielKerr]

Woah, I didn't realize how intensely different his eyes are from one another.

[@GT380man]

Extreme anisocoria, caused by an unlucky trauma (or maybe lucky, as he said himself - it made him look unusual). My adult daughter has just developed the same condition (other eye), and it’s as arresting as it is disturbing (including to vision).

[@kellicamel3350]

~I love the way they have the subject & time it's talked about all laid out for you ...Very helpful ...Thanks :)!

[@254OOPS]

Bowie looks liked like an Egyptian pharaoh

[@sunrise5494]

And should be worshipped as such;)

[@asmrme600]

He really f****** does

[@mgdkns6678]

Omggggggg he doeeessss . In a way. He was totally GORGEOUS here. ❤️

[@254OOPS]

@@mgdkns6678 your long blonde hair and your eyes are blue the only thing I ever get from you is sorrow . 😜

[@mgdkns6678]

@@254OOPS 😍 He really was something else...❤️

[@nureinherz]

great interview!

[@user-qj4qr5ej9f]

David looks so good and healthy here,rip starmanx

[@benstevinson764]

I Believe that David Bowie Had an Alien Encounter! 🛸👽✨

[@tonan8606]

Why do u believe that ?

[@benstevinson764]

@@tonan8606 because he Knew far More than he was Saying about Alien's! 👽🛸 ✨

[@tonan8606]

@@benstevinson764 what do u think he meant with "ferod"?

[@flynnmartschinke5189]

Nah he didnt sorry

[@P121-27]

How did this man look better with age

[@misst.e.a.187]

Bowie invented hair and cheekbones 😁 He was an extremely intelligent and attractive man

[@adamprotz]

I think quitting coke probably helped with that no end!

[@mgdkns6678]

He really did look better with age. At 50 he was gorgeous. Same with Sinatra.

[@warangel4389]

His maturity and confidence were so sexy-

[@sofiafrancis214]

there is noone on earth that can comprehend how much i love him xx

[@warangel4389]

He is beautiful 💕

[@japzone]

It's interesting how his opinion of the Internet changed in just a couple years.

[@waynenorthspacebuoy3529]

ABSOLUTELY fAB ...I hope my YT Cover interpretations make him smile from far far away.

[@CatharticCreation]

he evolves with the times

[@AxentMafia]

In fairness, there's a big change in the Internet between 1995 and 1999

[@grant_-chester4617]

David Bowie we miss you

[@grant_-chester4617]

we really Do miss Sir David Bowie

[@cloudom2418]

I like the way he saw it: interactions betweeen him and the fans.

[@mgdkns6678]

What?!

[@MsJimbo1960]

His comment on Aliens "couldn`t care less" is surprising as he sings about them in a lot of his songs..

[@user-cs6up8eq7s]

I think he's more or less meaning by this point he could care less about them at this point it had been a long time since he sang about space and aliens

[@davehubbard4285]

i find songs like loviing the alien is bowie spiritualy reaching out ,he maintained he was open to that

[@johnatkinson2697]

5:55 was very David Brent! Maybe that's why Gervais got it from, being the Bowie nut that he is.

[@SiGhast]

Yeah, I was watching a bunch of Bowie interviews yesterday, and was noticing a lot of Gervais character mannerisms myself.

[@shecklesmack9563]

Haha vintage Brent no doubt

[@traekas7228]

Always had an aversion to organized religion. Ever since I was a tween, I wondered why we all had to dress-up, gather in one place, on only one day (Sunday) of the week. It never made sense to me. Like David, I think. So, I believe and pray, but I don’t want or need a bunch of well dressed hypocrites (Not all) surrounding me in order to do that.

[@enkii82]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZ6XmYeZh82ip6s hope this helps

[@enkii82]

@@annettesupira9085 too bad and too late because he died in 2016 and request a Buddhist rite for his death.

[@annettesupira9085]

I hope that wasn't true, but I can believe that. I, now realize, I should have been praying for his Salvation.. I am now praying for his family, even though I don't know them.

[@annettesupira9085]

I implore all who don't know the One True God to cry out, if you're truly looking, He will reveal Himself!!!

[@linkin6992]

@@annettesupira9085 Jesus.

[@OlafProt]

His awareness of the internet was always way ahead. Culminating in him fully realising its potential barely a couple of years later in that 1999 BBC Paxman interview, and having started Bowienet. Which I gotta say in 2000/2001 was SO goddamn exciting because it was still relatively small, so he was doing online chats for subscribers. You could interact with him. Him and Pete Townshend saw it very early on. And it’s dangers… that are only really now showing just how dangerous.

[@CK_Japan_]

なるほどそんなことがあったんですね！さすがです。

[@08CARIB]

4:32 great lesson

[@DerekLyons]

WONDERFUL ! So happy that I met David RIP

[@waynenorthspacebuoy3529]

ABSOLUTELY fAB ...I hope my YT Cover interpretations make him smile from far far away.

[@SarahSmith-nr2wj]

He changed his mind about the internet

[@michaelg6641]

Wow never heard him so deep and profound..4:30..have to listen a few times

[@lulumoon6942]

He's always so damned charming.

[@rd264]

interesting comment by the 70 year old Zen master recalled by Bowie, that religion if it is dead or in decline, spiritualality may be alive in art and music.

[@annettesupira9085]

Yes, I know he passed away in 2016, very saddened.

[@monicasomoncini4126]

David ❤❤❤

[@ben_jamin160]

He looks great

[@forrestwheeler916]

Great interview and viewpoints. Bowie has Buddhism in him and zen . Keep searching and becoming . Great video thank you.

[@cheryldahl9192]

I think we should just stop judging others beliefs, and learn to find ways to get along regardless of what others believe. I think people also have a biased idea of what believing in God means. If I say I believe in God, people come at me from a specific direction assuming they know what I believe - and they are always wrong! Next time someone asks me if I believe in God, I will ask them, "What do you mean?" Because it seems like people are really asking something specific that isn't relevant to that question.

[@ricnog7468]

pete townshend " did someone say kid pix???"

[@sparkyhughes131]

This was the big image change moment, basically he got veneers , totally changed his look great job his smile is amazing

[@CharlieDiamondMusic]

Beautiful man, so very articulate.

[@SlimyboyDave]

6:59 ✔

[@alecjohnson5269]

Bowie a rock god total legend

[@SylvianLight]

Why did Bowie say 'Perot' when asked about aliens?

[@mgdkns6678]

I think he said “traitor”. If that’s the segment you refer to.

[@MattCamp_]

Has his eyes always been different colors or is it lighting or what

[@gothziggy]

one of his pupils is larger than the other due to an injury he got as a teenager

[@pushthetempo2]

Bowie and a friend were fighting over a girl and he punched him.

[@junpeixix]

9:04

[@linalorenzo8672]

What is the Bible of Buddhism ?

[@moosehead4497]

he was refering to nieztsche

[@e.d.3729]

love you Bowie. sad all over again today that you're gone.

[@YellowCakeRadio]

David Bowie is a left handed capricorn i am glad to share the same solar passage

[@l.michelleindigenousred2757]

Yellow Cake Radio I'm a left handed Scorpio

[@jessica5497]

Im a capricorn too

[@Jugdjay]

Left-handed Capricorn Sun here :) Leo Moon and Virgo Rising!

[@YellowCakeRadio]

@@l.michelleindigenousred2757 that is amazing lol Scorpio and Cap are both very mystical but in different ways

[@YellowCakeRadio]

@@Jugdjay aye that is a good balance. My Rising and my Moon are both Sag

[@cliffedward]

Bowie and Milla Jovovich look very much alike.

[@ericafleming5197]

cliffedward It's the eyebrows.

[@kellicamel3350]

cliffedward ~Wow ...Now that you mention it, I can see a resemblance :)!

[@mgdkns6678]

I don’t see it.

[@chrisd6982]

What does DB say at 9:12? Perpoux? Pero? Any idea people? Hmm...

[@tonan8606]

Please give me more details!!

[@tonan8606]

And u need to mark 9:10

[@blueangelsfan4072]

Re: amount of dislikes. I can't see that count. IMHO. Overall I think it's partly, casual listeners that don't "know" Bowie. Along with knee jurk reactions to the "religion is dead" quote referenced.

[@uziao]

03:25

[@justinkade0722]

I love you DB

[@61shirley]

I appreciate you uploading this interview. Stick with this stuff and stop being racist.

[@kellicamel3350]

~Why is everyone on here, in the comments, mad at MTV ...I'm so curious and don't understand? Thanks in advance for your help :)!

[@rihannailyas8252]

Kelli Camel they have a history of not featuring black artists to appeal to white audience they posted an interview with Bowie calling them out on racism u should give it a look!

[@solar4bowie]

his hair looks crunchy lmao

[@chuckblack8227]

can’t remember neitsche after saying it a Billion times. Lol

[@AM-wt9ev]

While other pop stars only think and sing abou se8

[@NewJerseyJay]

One pupil is larger than the other.... Hmmm

[@jiggersotoole7823]

Haha the pupil is larger than the teacher

[@sofiamarie9136]

It’s from an injury as a teen. One pupil is larger as it stays dilated due to the injury and gives it a look of a different color but it’s just size of the pupil that does that. He was already sober for 7 years here. 😉

[@ianoliver7271]

'Time and again I tell myself I'll stay clean tonight But the little green wheels are following me Oh no, not again I'm stuck with a valuable friend "I'm happy, hope you're happy too" One flash of light, but no smoking pistol I've never done good things I've never done bad things I never did anything out of the blue, whoa whoa Want an axe to break the ice Wanna come down right now . . . ashes to ashes . . .'

[@PAULLONDEN]

The Chinese communist party.....such sweethearts , and tight buddies with Uncle Sam (untill recently) while Russia was made the perpetual bogey bear to keep the Military Industrial Complexes working......

[@dfjansen1228]

MTV so past not music only bla bla television

[@theWARMJET]

Buddhism/gnoticism/Nietzsche nhiilism i just love all that too

[@whereskimxo1378]

Why are you even showing David Bowie on this channel, and not explaining how much he could have done better? RIP. Seriously MTV GET OUTTA HERE! WE ARE DONE WITH YOUR BS!

[@kellicamel3350]

~Why is everyone on here mad at MTV ...I'm so curious and don't understand? Thanks in advance for your help :)!

[@exiles_dot_tv]

What?

[@mgdkns6678]

Lady, are you ok?

[@planet21music54]

never new he had 2 different color eyes

[@TinyDancer250]

sci fi music He doesn't. See above.

[@mgdkns6678]

One of his pupils is huge, the other is not. I think the iris color is the same, from what I know

[@ursulac8675]

@@mgdkns6678 ya his eyes are the same color but since one is permanently dilated because of an incident where his friend punched him in the eye at age 15, one eye sometimes looks a different color just because of how large the pupil is.

[@mgdkns6678]

Ursula C I know...

[@ursulac8675]

@@mgdkns6678 Oh sorry I was agreeing with you if there was an confusion im sorry! :)

[@LoyalOpposition]

I'm hoping most of the comments here are being made by confused 13-yr olds.

[@khmerxbxboi]

Time Traveler ...

[@klara7247]

If russell brand was slower and therefore intelligable

[@accadaccasuperstar]

banter

[@brandon.parker]

My

[@ArkonBlade]

You shouldn't even have the right to talk about some one as great as David Bowie.

[@mgdkns6678]

You talk to yourself again?

[@benstevinson764]

🛸👽🛸👽🛸👽 ✨🌌

[@helvete_ingres4717]

7:26 - she was too stupid to understand his point and just wanted to hear herself talk. Embarrassing

[@mgdkns6678]

She barely talked and the interview was great. What’s your problem?!

[@joelmorris214]

#MAGA

[@TheStarBlack]

Fuck off!

[@WhittRak]

Stupid fuck

[@nocreativename]

How does that relate? This was years ago. I hope you have COVID now.

[@Xmaslightsallyear]

I don't get the childish fascination with Bowie's essentially sophomoric ramblings. His views are respectable but no more insightful or profound than thousands of late night discussions that take place in college dorms every year.

[@alecjohnson5269]

Bowie a rock god total legend