Friday, January 22, 2016

The Other End of The Spectrum


Lemmy Kilmister dead at age 70 on December 28, 2015; David Bowie at age 69 on January 10, 2016; Glen Frey at age 67 on January 18.

In a weird way it brings me back to the deaths of Jimi Hendrix on September 18, 1970; Janis Joplin on October 4, 1970; and Jim Morrison on July 3, 1971.

All at the age of 27.

I suppose that thought process comes from my obsession with the fact that many of the people who influenced my life are dying.

It feels weird. It puts me in my place and reminds me of where I am in life.

Jimi, Janis and Jim did themselves in, "living" the rock cliche and dying prematurely because of it.

I am not sure that is a bad thing. It begs the eternal debate - is it better to live a short interesting life or a long boring one?

We all have to make our own decision about that, although most of us never do. Instead of thinking about it and acting upon whatever decision is made, we slither along indecisively until there is nothing left.

No choices, no fun, no alternatives, no life.

Lemmy, Bowie and Glen lived their lives. They achieved fame and success and money yet they too died young.

It feels to me like the other end of the spectrum.

An end I'd rather not deal with.

Cold as it is to say, when Jimi, Janis and Jim died I could say "That sucks", but I could also say that ain't gonna happen to me.

I mean for Christ sake, I was 17 years old in 1971. I was invincible.

I cannot say that ain't gonna happen to me in 2016. I am 62 years old and I have a yellow bruise on the back of my right hand where the IV drip was inserted on Wednesday to knock me out for an endoscopy.

These deaths represent an abrupt end to pieces of my life. They are a nasty reminder that life moves inexorably towards death and no one is exempt.

Selfishly, they feed my obsession with making a real life for myself in 2016.

(Editor's note: I was trying to express my reaction to the deaths of these three men. I found someone who did it better, talking specifically about the death of Glen Frey. The man's name is Marc Eliot, he wrote a biography on The Eagles called "To The Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles." The following quote is from a tribute written by Eliot and published on the CNN web page.)

"For people who came up in that time, the death of Frey - and earlier this month the death of David Bowie - comes as a reality check, a resounding reminder that the days of "Take It Easy" and the promise of "One of These Nights" are long behind us. Instead music, the blood of our youth, has somehow been replaced by mortgages, credit cards, spouses, children, divorces, alimony, expanding waistlines and diminished dreams."

Perfect.


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