Watch: 'No Plan' the haunting video for one of David Bowie's final recordings
A collection of his last songs was released to coincide with what would have been his 70th birthday.
Apparently it was while shooting the music video for Lazarus from his final album Blackstar that the cult British rock star David Bowie realised that his cancer was terminal. When he died on January 10, 2016, he was at work on his final album, which remained unfinished. Hours before what would have been his 70th birthday, No Plan, an EP containing his final known recordings, were made available to the public.
The music video above is set to the title track from the collection of recordings and is directed by Tom Hingston, who previously worked with Bowie on I’d Rather Be High (Venetian Mix) and Sue (Or in a Season of Crime). The video contains references to one of Bowie’s first film appearances, in Nicholas Roegg’s 1970 science fiction classic The Man Who Fell To Earth.
“Here, am I nowhere now? No plan. Wherever I may go... just where, just where I am,” Bowie sings in the video, which is entirely composed of disparate images on analogue television screens. “Nothing to regret...This is no place, but here I am,” Bowie continues on the track which also contains references to the music video for Lazarus, which showed him on a hospital bed.
Along with Killing a Little Time and When I Met You, No Plan is one of Bowie’s final three recordings. Since Bowie’s death, fans, music writers, and critics have tried to decipher the messages contained in his final album, which many suggested was his parting gift to his listeners. However, the documentary David Bowie: The Last Five Years, suggests Bowie learned he had terminal cancer much later, after the album was completed. He may still have been planning it as his last album, of course.