"I'm always amazed that peole take what I say seriously. I don't even take what I am seriously"

David Bowie's words reveal both self-awareness and a playfulness about identity and public perception. He points to the gap between how others perceive him and how he perceives himself, highlighting an artist's paradox: the world often looks to its creative figures for insight, authenticity, and revelation, ascribing profundity to their every utterance. Yet Bowie, intimately familiar with the performative nature of fame and artistry, cautions that he himself does not place such weight on his statements or even on his constructed persona.

His remark mocks the inclination to seek deep truths or consistent philosophies from individuals who constantly reinvent themselves. Bowie's career is marked by shifting identities, from Ziggy Stardust to the Thin White Duke, showing his ease with fluid identity and undermining the very notion of a stable, serious self. Here, he underscores the idea that what the public sees and labels as “David Bowie” is itself a layered act, a set of choices and presentations rather than a fixed reality. This playful attitude toward his own seriousness exposes the artifice not only of rock stardom but of personhood in general.

By wryly admitting his own lack of gravity, Bowie sidesteps the pressure of living up to the expectations placed upon celebrities. Instead, he suggests that taking oneself, or anyone else for that matter, too seriously is misguided. Such an approach opens room for creative experimentation and change; if identity and statements are not sacrosanct, then reinvention becomes possible and even natural. Ultimately, he encourages a more relaxed, perhaps even irreverent, attitude toward both public figures and the self, promoting humility and creative freedom over self-importance. In doing so, Bowie invites others to question their own assumptions about authenticity and seriousness in both art and life, embracing ambiguity and play.