Searchers in Your Own Time,

David Bowie’s new single is everywhere. This Sunday, it has even gone slam-dunkin’ into the top ten of the UK singles chart. From breaking news on Tuesday’s BBC Breakfast, Mary Anne Hobbs regurgitating an archive interview on Saturday’s 6music breakfast to C4’s Sunday Brunch, it hasn’t escaped me, nor the cereal-eating public. Also, on Sunday Brunch was Dr Christian, the lad who helps the serial eating public, he didn’t start dancing, nor should he have.

Where Are We Now? demands a few quiet moments of contemplation and often when a song grips us like this, they instantly take on iconic status as an anthem of wistfulness and poignancy. Really, it’s quite a simple song, Bowie doesn’t really have to say anything too complex to have us pondering the trials of life, ‘where are we now?’ is a timeless question. I spend my life dwelling on it and longing for change, but Bowie leaves even me with a sense of hope.

Thinking back, over 40 years ago, Bowie sung Five Years, for me, the reflection in Bowie’s lyrics is of an equally high quality – therein lies the size of achievement that Where Are We Now? represents.