Artists are uniquely susceptible to the frailties of life owing to their sensitive nature. Some artists are like a delicate instrument detecting and transmuting the conditions of living into artistic forms. Too big a bump and the instrument is knocked off balance or worse, destroyed.
Nick Drake is another good example - often considered a text book tragic suicide, he was 26 and handsome, beating all the 27 clubbers. On his nightstand lay open a copy of Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus - an argument against suicide, if only he had finished the book. But of course none of this is true in any sense of a motive. What is true is Nick wasn’t in the best place mentally, back home living with his family as his career as a musician had tanked. Shy and reserved playing English folk music just as punk was blooming … it was bad timing but he wasn’t suicidal according to his sister. What he was was frail, underweight, smoked too much dope, drank a little wine, didn’t eat much, took some pills to sleep and never woke up.
You talk about Syd Barrett as another example but from what I know he was always “very strange,” naturally the drugs didn’t help. After his breakdown he wanted nothing to do with rock n’ roll, preferring classical music. He might have gone that way without the drugs. Besides … getting Gilmour in was a good move, elevating Waters to lead vocals.
Jim Morrison … another stellar example of crash and burn. Jim was fearless and lived on his own terms. Could you imagine seeing a sober Jim Morrison on some talk show in the 80s expounding on how “getting sober saved his life” puleeese spare us! Thank god he drowned in a Parisian bath tub.
Jim Morrison was an acceptable sacrifice for getting the perfect soundtrack on "Apocalypse Now." When he sang "The End," he meant it. He was no Frank Sinatra; no farewell tour after retirement tour after goodbye tour for him. Plus he deserved the death penalty for the track "Petition the Lord with Prayer." Justice has been served.
The Doors had a lot of bangers - “Riders on the Storm, Light my Fire, LA Woman, Roadhouse Blues” and heaps more. Great band. Not familiar with Petition … sounds awful. Don’t destroy my illusion of Jim Morrison please. I just want to remember him as a beautiful fuck up.
They definitely had some great songs. Morrison could be absurd with the melodrama at times, but he had a great voice, and the musicians were all top notch.
Daniel! I endured her cringe intro to "Twisted" - where all the narcissism that eventually led to her undoing is already on display - only to discover a song that to me seems pretty derivative. A beautiful singing voice to be sure.
I guess musical tastes are inescapably subjective. One of my favorite styles is early 70s-era singer-songwriters, and I think that song displays songwriting potential that could have been developed into something comparable to, say, Carly Simon. Maybe not Cat Stevens, but definitely Carly Simon. Also, and I know this is a very low bar, but have you heard what passes for popular "music" today?
You are right for sure on your point re music today. In the case of "Twisted,," there's actually a melody, a harmony, and a chord progression. Also her singing is blessedly free of the endless melisma of warbling and screaming in the upper registers that afflicts so many "songs" today. Perhaps I've just seen too many clips of Rachel being self-obsessed to listen objectively. All in all this essay was (as usual) thoughtful and engaging.
<<Her singing is blessedly free of the endless melisma of warbling and screaming in the upper registers that afflicts so many "songs" today.>>
Testify! Sounds like we have some common ground! Popular music really went off the rails in the mid 90s when the three worst elements of black music -- the high-pitched "melisma of warbling and screaming" you so aptly described, synthetic drum beats, and the wholesale "sampling" of old songs (amounting to basically just doing karaoke but with much worse lyrics -- like what Puff Daddy did to Police and David Bowie songs) -- crossed over into the mainstream.
<<Perhaps I've just seen too many clips of Rachel being self-obsessed to listen objectively.>>
Fair point. She is certainly smug and self-righteous about her politics, and that does make it hard to be sympathetic towards her.
<<All in all this essay was (as usual) thoughtful and engaging.>>
Thanks for the kind words and for taking the time to read it and comment! You've given me food for thought on a couple of interesting points too, so thanks for that!
Artists are uniquely susceptible to the frailties of life owing to their sensitive nature. Some artists are like a delicate instrument detecting and transmuting the conditions of living into artistic forms. Too big a bump and the instrument is knocked off balance or worse, destroyed.
Nick Drake is another good example - often considered a text book tragic suicide, he was 26 and handsome, beating all the 27 clubbers. On his nightstand lay open a copy of Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus - an argument against suicide, if only he had finished the book. But of course none of this is true in any sense of a motive. What is true is Nick wasn’t in the best place mentally, back home living with his family as his career as a musician had tanked. Shy and reserved playing English folk music just as punk was blooming … it was bad timing but he wasn’t suicidal according to his sister. What he was was frail, underweight, smoked too much dope, drank a little wine, didn’t eat much, took some pills to sleep and never woke up.
You talk about Syd Barrett as another example but from what I know he was always “very strange,” naturally the drugs didn’t help. After his breakdown he wanted nothing to do with rock n’ roll, preferring classical music. He might have gone that way without the drugs. Besides … getting Gilmour in was a good move, elevating Waters to lead vocals.
Jim Morrison … another stellar example of crash and burn. Jim was fearless and lived on his own terms. Could you imagine seeing a sober Jim Morrison on some talk show in the 80s expounding on how “getting sober saved his life” puleeese spare us! Thank god he drowned in a Parisian bath tub.
Jim Morrison was an acceptable sacrifice for getting the perfect soundtrack on "Apocalypse Now." When he sang "The End," he meant it. He was no Frank Sinatra; no farewell tour after retirement tour after goodbye tour for him. Plus he deserved the death penalty for the track "Petition the Lord with Prayer." Justice has been served.
The Doors had a lot of bangers - “Riders on the Storm, Light my Fire, LA Woman, Roadhouse Blues” and heaps more. Great band. Not familiar with Petition … sounds awful. Don’t destroy my illusion of Jim Morrison please. I just want to remember him as a beautiful fuck up.
They definitely had some great songs. Morrison could be absurd with the melodrama at times, but he had a great voice, and the musicians were all top notch.
Daniel! I endured her cringe intro to "Twisted" - where all the narcissism that eventually led to her undoing is already on display - only to discover a song that to me seems pretty derivative. A beautiful singing voice to be sure.
I guess musical tastes are inescapably subjective. One of my favorite styles is early 70s-era singer-songwriters, and I think that song displays songwriting potential that could have been developed into something comparable to, say, Carly Simon. Maybe not Cat Stevens, but definitely Carly Simon. Also, and I know this is a very low bar, but have you heard what passes for popular "music" today?
You are right for sure on your point re music today. In the case of "Twisted,," there's actually a melody, a harmony, and a chord progression. Also her singing is blessedly free of the endless melisma of warbling and screaming in the upper registers that afflicts so many "songs" today. Perhaps I've just seen too many clips of Rachel being self-obsessed to listen objectively. All in all this essay was (as usual) thoughtful and engaging.
<<Her singing is blessedly free of the endless melisma of warbling and screaming in the upper registers that afflicts so many "songs" today.>>
Testify! Sounds like we have some common ground! Popular music really went off the rails in the mid 90s when the three worst elements of black music -- the high-pitched "melisma of warbling and screaming" you so aptly described, synthetic drum beats, and the wholesale "sampling" of old songs (amounting to basically just doing karaoke but with much worse lyrics -- like what Puff Daddy did to Police and David Bowie songs) -- crossed over into the mainstream.
<<Perhaps I've just seen too many clips of Rachel being self-obsessed to listen objectively.>>
Fair point. She is certainly smug and self-righteous about her politics, and that does make it hard to be sympathetic towards her.
<<All in all this essay was (as usual) thoughtful and engaging.>>
Thanks for the kind words and for taking the time to read it and comment! You've given me food for thought on a couple of interesting points too, so thanks for that!