In our Memoir in a Melody series, Biographile writers examine the storytelling of well-known musicians, exploring the autobiographical elements of their famous songs.

David Bowie is widely considered one of the most imaginative and controversial rock stars of the modern era, a chameleon who morphs between musical styles and stage personas with equal ease. Of the latter, there have been many: The gender-bending glam-rocker alien Ziggy Stardust, cracked-up Aladdin Sane, coked-up Thin White Duke, the paranoiac occult auteur of the Berlin trilogy, and the outsider artist of Earthling.

Out of all of his roles, perhaps the most challenging has been that of husband and father. In 1970, Bowie married model and actress Mary Angela Barnett. Bowie had just had his first taste of success with the release of his groundbreaking album "Space Oddity." His real break-out album, "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" was yet a few years away, but already, he was engaged in a pattern of wild and reckless experimentation darkly hinted at by "Space Oddity"’s eponymous track which was believed by some to be a metaphor for heroin addiction.

They would remain married for a decade, but according to Barnett these years were not always happy ones. Interviews she gave to the press in the years following their divorce portrayed a doomed relationship scarred by infidelity and crippled by addiction. Famously, she once claimed to have walked in on Bowie in bed with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, an allegation Bowie has vehemently denied.

The couple had a son in 1971 whom they Christened Zowie Bowie. Barnett once said that she failed to bond with her infant son, but Bowie, by all accounts, was delighted and proud. This sentiment is reflected in the song he wrote for his infant son: Kooks. Track five of Bowie’s subtly psychedelic album "Hunky Dory," Kooks paints a rosy picture of life in the Bowie household:

Will you stay in our Lovers' Story
If you stay you won't be sorry
'Cause we believe in you
Soon you'll grow so take a chance
With a couple of Kooks
Hung up on romancing

Unfortunately, everyday in the Bowie family was anything but rosy, and young Zowie’s first years were plagued by turmoil. David and Angela separated in the mid-seventies, and their son was shuffled between a long string of boarding schools while his parents fought a bitter battle for custody. Zowie found life away from home difficult. By his own admission, he was a quiet and awkward child whose unconventional name attracted unwanted attention from bullies. His predicament seems to have been foreshadowed in the second verse of "Kooks." Perhaps his parents were wise to what growing up with a name like "Zowie" would entail:

We bought a lot of things
to keep you warm and dry
And a funny old crib on which the paint won't dry
I bought you a pair of shoes
A trumpet you can blow.
And a book of rules
On what to say to people
when they pick on you
'Cause if you stay with us you're gonna be pretty Kookie too

Meanwhile, the "trumpet" mentioned in this verse surely reflects David Bowie’s desire to guide his son into a musical career. Attempts to encourage his son to take up an instrument weren’t successful, by the way. Zowie’s talents lay in a different creative field.

And if you ever have to go to school
Remember how they messed up
this old fool

Bowie may have remembered school in a negative light, but the truth of it is that his teachers were impressed with his musical ability and poise. He was encouraged to pursue an entertainment career.

Don't pick fights with the bullies
or the cads
'Cause I'm not much cop at punching other people's Dads

The "bullies" and "cads" did indeed get to Zowie, who chose to go by a nickname, "Joey" for much of his childhood. While the new name probably attracted less attention, in a couple of decades the world would soon know "Joey" by a different name.

Incidentally, the senior Bowie might not have cared for punching other people’s dads, but he’s been in more than a few fights, himself. Bowie’s left pupil is permanently dilated, a lingering injury from a fistfight in 1962. In 1979, fellow musician Lou Reed attacked Bowie in a restaurant after the Thin White Duke advised him to "clean up his act." Reed was quickly escorted away by his minders.

And if the homework brings you down
Then we'll throw it on the fire
And take the car downtown

It seems that Zowie’s homework probably did bring him down: He was kicked out of his last boarding school for falling asleep in class. He fared better in his college education, receiving an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the College of Wooster. He then attended the London Film School, where he graduated as a director. However, should you bother perusing the school’s records you won’t have much luck finding an alumnus by the name of Zowie Bowie. By that time, he was already Duncan Jones.

Jones overcame a difficult childhood to become a well-known director who, like his father, has occasionally courted controversy. A commercial he directed for the French Connection clothing company that depicted two women fighting and then briefly kissing drew numerous viewer complaints to the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority. The commercial, "Fashion vs. Style," was pulled from the air, but it can still be viewed online.

2009 saw Jones release his first feature film, a science fiction drama titled "Moon." Starring Sam Rockwell as the lone occupant of a lunar mining facility, Moon went on to gross nearly double its modest $5 million dollar budget and garner immense praise from critics. Jones enjoyed similar success with 2011’s "Source Code," a sci-fi action film starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Jones is currently slated to direct a theatrical adaptation of the video game World of Warcraft.

While Jones is reportedly estranged from his mother, he has a close relationship with his father and served as his best man during his 1992 marriage to supermodel Iman. While Jones doesn’t like to discuss his personal life very much, according to the press he’s happy, well-adjusted and enjoying the fruits of his labor as a successful director. Likewise, his father continues to write and perform new music. His most recent album, The Next Day, was released earlier this year. Not bad for a couple of Kooks.