David Bowie: A life in lyrics

David Bowie was a mercurial, mysterious pop star, whose lyrics rarely stepped into autobiography.

"I had a spasm of that, but thank God I got out of it," he once told Charles Shaar Murray in the NME.

But every so often, you could catch a glimpse of the man behind the mask. He was ambivalent about fame, honest about his drug addiction and amused by the controversy over his androgyny.

His most recent album, Blackstar, has taken on added poignancy after his death, with lines like: "I'll be free - just like that bluebird. Oh, I'll be free."

Take a look at five of his most memorable lyrics.

Video production by Mark Savage. Music copyright RCA / Sony Music. Photographs via Getty Images. Main portrait Carolyn Djanogly/Camera Press.