David Bowie Controversy: ‘The Next Day’ Comes Down, Then Goes Back Up [Video]

David Bowie’s controversial “The Next Day” music video has been returned to YouTube. The heavily Catholic-themed footage features Gary Oldham as a priest, Marion Cottillard as some sort of saintly hysteric complete with stigmata symptoms, and Bowie himself in the role of Jesus Christ only if Christ was maybe hung with rope instead of on a cross.

In other words, there’s something to offend just about everyone. And even if you’re not a Christian, you could probably do without the shot of a couple of eyeballs on a platter. Yuck.

There’s also some bare boobies here and there along the way.

It’s pretty much the old “is it a church, or is it a whorehouse” theme that some people might remember from that time Jesus threw the moneychangers out of the temple. Or you might just be reminded of Madonna’s whole Catholic rebellion thing.

But apparently it was all new and shocking to somebody at YouTube, because they yanked the supposedly controversial David Bowie video for about two hours on Wednesday.

Well, it’s back now, so don’t think you’ve missed anything if you didn’t already see it.

You have been warned that it’s explicit and that you shouldn’t watch it if you’re easily offended, so if you do get to “The Next Day” and then get squicked out, it’s all on you. You have plenty of chances to back out. Did I mention bloody eyeballs?

Billboard said they questioned YouTube about the off-again, on-again David Bowie video. Here’s what YouTube told them:

“With the massive volume of videos on our site, sometimes we make the wrong call. When it’s brought to our attention that a video has been removed mistakenly, we act quickly to reinstate it.”

So, at least until they change their minds again about “The Next Day,” adults over the age of 18 who don’t object to gross eye-balls can check out the David Bowie controversy here:

[David Bowie photo by Photobra/Adam Bielawski via Wikimedia Commons]