David Bowie premieres politically-charged music video for ‘I’d Rather Be High’

David Bowie has revealed his new music video for “I’d Rather Be High” online.

The legendary singer/songwriter unveiled the accompanying visuals for “The Venetian Mix” of the track, taken from his critically acclaimed comeback album, The Next Day.

Directed by Tom Hingston, the video makes a strong political statement, fusing various scenes of classic wartime footage, with grainy, black and white headshots of Bowie.

The lyrics, too, paint a stringent and somewhat psychedelic anti-war picture.

“I’d rather be high/ I’d rather be dead/ Than training these guns on those men in the sand,” Bowie sings poignantly.

But the new visuals couldn’t be further from the original video that premiered “The Venetian Mix” as part of Louis Vuitton’s Autumn/Winter advertising campaign, of which Bowie is the face.

The short film, entitled L'Invitation Au Voyage, was directed by Romain Gavras and featured Bowie idly enjoying a decadent Venetian ball alongside model Arizona Muse.

David Bowie’s most recent album, The Next Day, soared to the top of the charts when it was released earlier this year. It went on to be nominated for the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize but controversially lost out on the Album of the Year title to James Blake, with his second record Overgrown.

Watch the video for "The Venetian Mix" in full below: