The beginning of 2016 was struck with numerous deaths in the entertainment world. One lost artist may have had the biggest impact — David Bowie. Two days before Bowie’s death from liver cancer (also his 69th birthday), he released what would be his last album, “Blackstar.” There’s a saying that goes, “You’re only as good as your last performance.” So how does “Blackstar” stack up?

The opening track, “Blackstar” is an epic, nearly 10-minute opus. The first four minutes are filled with incredibly fast, electronic drums and saxophone riffs overlaid with very slow, almost Gregorian-esque chants. The contrast here gives the song a very haunting feeling until around the four-minute mark where everything slows down. The song transitions into a light feel, yet the vocal delivery is still incredibly haunting. There is so much going on in this song that 10 minutes really only feels like five.

Lyrically, you cannot expect much else out of Bowie other than what can be called “bizarre.” Songs like “Sue (or in Season of Crime)” and “Girl Loves Me” are examples of when Bowie makes you stop and ask yourself, “What?”

“Girl Loves Me” mainly consists of the made-up language from the novel “A Clockwork Orange” making it confusing to those who have never read it. While the song, as a whole, may be off-putting to some listeners, it is hard not to sing along with the catchy deliverance of the line, “Where the f— did Monday go?”

“Sue” is interesting in that it sounds exactly like a song one would hear during the opening credits of an old detective show, with fast drum beats and a repeating guitar riff. The lyrics themselves are fairly ambiguous. I can only assume that this song is about a man believing he has the perfect life with his wife, only to find out that she’s been cheating on him. To be honest, I’m still not entirely sure. “’Tis a Pity She Was a Whore” is just as confusing, although the lyrics seem to be slightly more straight-forward…sort of.

One thing that’s hard to miss about the content of the album is the almost prophetic lyrics.

The final song on this album is “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” a beautiful end to an already amazing album. However, the song itself seems to be about a man that sees his oncoming death, singing lines like “I know something is very wrong” and “skull designs upon my shoes.”

The preceding track is “Dollar Days,” while not overly special in any way (in fact, it is the least interesting track on the entire album), it is the hardest to listen to. The last two minutes are of Bowie singing, “I’m dying too.”

If one were to listen to the album in the two-day span between its release and Bowie’s death, the interpretation of the song might’ve been different.

The last track to talk about is arguably the most recognized from the album: “Lazarus.” It is the slowest song on the album, but also the most heart-wrenching.

Lyrically, the song is about a famous star falling from their high. “Look up here, man, I’m in danger/I’ve got nothing left to lose.” The lyrical content rings true for so many that have risen to the top, only to lose it all in the end. However, the song’s notoriety comes from its very haunting music video.

The video shows Bowie lying on a deathbed with bandages covering his eyes while someone hides in the darkness underneath him, almost as if this is Death making his approach. The video ends with Bowie retreating into the closet in the room.

This video does nothing short of solidifying that Bowie was aware of how little time he had left, especially when he sits up in bed, arms raised to the sky, singing, “Just like that bluebird, I’ll be free.”

“Blackstar” is the perfect ending to Bowie’s 50-plus-year career. The album shows its influence of jazz while also calling back to his early work like “Space Oddity” in 1969. Even in his last few months, Bowie held nothing back, delivering an emotional masterpiece that should go down as one of his greatest works.