You know, I bought The Wind the day it was released, came home and unwrapped it and read the lyrics, and haven't been in the right frame of mind to listen to it yet. I did watch the VH-1 special, which I thought was very nicely done -- emotionally honest and made me cry a couple of times without being manipulative about it. Though I have to admit the fact that he's the same age my father was when he died (55), and the gauntness in his face which reminded me so much of how my dad looked in the months before he died, had a lot to do with my intense reaction to it.
The bit where he's sitting with his very pregnant daughter and she tells him one of the twins is going to be named after him (middle name) -- the look on his face just ripped my heart out.
As sad as it is to be losing such a talent -- in a way I'm happy for him that he's been able to have enough time to come to terms with things on some level, to create a last work that he can be proud of, to say the things he needs to say. That's a tremendous blessing that a lot of people don't get. It's so much better than keeling over of an aneurysm or a plane crash or something. It just sucks to high holy hell that he didn't get all that at, say, age 85.
I just keep thinking how great it would be if he could have some miraculous recovery and all the critics who wrote all those articles about his impending death and stuff would be left eating their words. That would rock so much and would be so appropriate for him.
It's clearly not going to happen and that's just the little wishful-thinking corner of my brain, the little "this is how I'd write it if this were my novel" corner of my brain.
Anyway. Maybe I'll finally listen to the thing this weekend. Between the VH-1 special and the interview with his son on NPR last weekend (should be in the archives if you didn't catch it), I've heard a large chunk of the music already. I just need to be in the right frame of mind to hear it all, I think. We'll see.
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dancing_serpent
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Date: 2003-09-06 12:36 am (UTC)The bit where he's sitting with his very pregnant daughter and she tells him one of the twins is going to be named after him (middle name) -- the look on his face just ripped my heart out.
As sad as it is to be losing such a talent -- in a way I'm happy for him that he's been able to have enough time to come to terms with things on some level, to create a last work that he can be proud of, to say the things he needs to say. That's a tremendous blessing that a lot of people don't get. It's so much better than keeling over of an aneurysm or a plane crash or something. It just sucks to high holy hell that he didn't get all that at, say, age 85.
I just keep thinking how great it would be if he could have some miraculous recovery and all the critics who wrote all those articles about his impending death and stuff would be left eating their words. That would rock so much and would be so appropriate for him.
It's clearly not going to happen and that's just the little wishful-thinking corner of my brain, the little "this is how I'd write it if this were my novel" corner of my brain.
Anyway. Maybe I'll finally listen to the thing this weekend. Between the VH-1 special and the interview with his son on NPR last weekend (should be in the archives if you didn't catch it), I've heard a large chunk of the music already. I just need to be in the right frame of mind to hear it all, I think. We'll see.