David Bowie Mural

Warsaw


Following the singer's death in 2016, cultural organisation Stacja Muranów crowdfunded for the creation of this fab mural of Bowie, depicted in his iconic Ziggy Stardust persona. It was unveiled on the 40th anniversary of the legendary brief visit Bowie made to the city that helped inspire the track 'Warszawa' on the album Low.

The story goes that in 1976, during a train journey made with Iggy Pop between Berlin and Moscow, David Bowie got out at Warsaw to stretch his legs. He made it as far as Żoliborz, where he popped into a record shop and heard a recording by the Śląsk Polish National Song and Dance Ensemble. He bought the LP and returned with it to Berlin, where he was busy working on his latest album. When it came to needing lyrics for a particular melody, he was inspired by the folk song 'Helokanie', although the words that Bowie actually sings on 'Warszawa' are not Polish but a language of his own invention.