David Bowie may have defied the Twitter age by keeping details of his comeback secret, but that hasn't prevented the social network from exploding in a blur of instant verdicts, fan worship and terrible puns.
The Guardian's chief pop critic Alexis Petridis described Where Are We Now? – the singer's first music in a decade – as "a beautiful, elegiac ballad, Bowie's voice sounds gorgeously fragile – not the fragility of someone nearing 70 who's lost their vocal power to the ravages of age, but the fragility of someone who wants to communicate an aching wistfulness."
And there have been plenty of fans, writers and celebrities similarly ecstatic over Bowie's return, as this selection of Twitter tributes proves.
Bowie's new song has made me cry! Happy tears of course!
— boygeorge (@BoyGeorge) January 8, 2013
Bowie "Where are we now?" bit.ly/V6MIk7Destined to be a regular on break up compilations.
— Mark Thomas (@markthomasinfo) January 8, 2013
Quote of the day: David Bowie's PR paying tribute to his "massive contributions" to "sexual exploration".
— Patrick Strudwick (@PatrickStrud) January 8, 2013
David Bowie showing it's possible to be 66 and young. Great song
— Alastair Campbell (@campbellclaret) January 8, 2013
HAPPY 66TH BIRTHDAY TO DAVID BOWIE"People stared at the makeup on his face..."Today is David Bowie's... fb.me/1ShfZ3iYJ
— David Bowie Official (@DavidBowieReal) January 8, 2013
have they gone for Guetta or SHM for remix of the Bowie song?
— ed simons (@eddychemical) January 8, 2013
A TOWIE SINGLE? HAS TELEVISION FINALLY LOST ITS FUCKING MIND?
— Ian Martin (@IanMartin) January 8, 2013
@grahamcoxon: So is Bowie goin back to blonde hair and pegs or that bugs bunny thing he's been vockink for a while #bugsbowie
— graham coxon (@grahamcoxon) January 8, 2013
Only David Bowie could make a song about using public transport in Germany sound so wracked and lovely.
— Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) January 8, 2013
Happy 66th birthday to one of my all time musical hero's David Bowie.
— Nikki Sixx (@NikkiSixx) January 8, 2013