The Score Magazine - Archive February 2015 issue! | Page 37

Debraj Choudhury
Perhaps the most famous suicide till date is that of Kurt Cobain.
Found in his own home three days later with a shotgun and
suicide note. The ‘Teen Spirit’ composer had talked of putting a
gun to his head and blowing it off; but that just went unnoticed or
perhaps ignored as a badass talk. In his suicide note, Kurt wrote
“I'm too much of an erratic, moody baby! I don't have the passion
anymore, and so remember, it's better to burn out than to fade
away.”
The stress of being in a public life is great. The competition is
so much among musicians these days that they always have
to constantly up their game to remain on the charts. The chart
starts to define their lives and when they have to respond to more
humane challenges, the first conflict occurs. Evading the conflicts
seem the easy way out and many do take it but then the conflicts
just keep piling up, the darkness gets too great to contain.
Trying to analyze why do musicians commit suicide we stumble
across a few very disturbing facts
Artistic professionals are at a greater risk.
Musicians are actually professionals with high stress jobs
where success is fickle.
The musicians experience a lot of unemployment,
underemployment, liaising and multi-tasking.
Their PR just always has to be spot on so as to make an
impact.
Only these four facts makes it impossible not to treat musicians
as simple human beings. And then the basic question arises: why
does a person commit suicide?
One thing we can be sure of is that a person doesn’t commit
suicide if he is happy. The absence of happiness is wha t gets
to us in the long run. As we get slicker we tend to dismiss
the idea of support and start fantasizing about this fantastic
concept of a standalone tree that’s been there for ages. But
that tree there is an exception and not a rule; the gamut
of trees around it that died were rules. Dr. Christine
Moutier, Chief Medical Officer for the American
Foundation for Suicide Prevention says “There’s
definitely a known connection between creativity and
mental illness. Many artists and people who commit
suicide share character traits such as perfectionism.
Common pathways in the brain lead people to both
be more creative and experience mood and behavior
patterns outside the norm”.
Kurt Cobain
(1967-1994)
Lead singer of Nirvana,
was found dead at his
home, the victim of what
was officially ruled a
suicide by a self-inflicted
shotgun wound to the
head
The recent tragic demise of Manipur guitarist sheds some light on
the state of affairs at our end in India.
No news whatsoever as to the circumstances that
led him to commit suicide
News not to sensationalize but to understand and learn, so as to
prevent other such lives which may be lost.
Fact that he was seeking other avenues of
employment
He was going to sit for an exam to be a Fireman.
The loss that has happened has to be used in a constructive way, a
way that respects the recently departed and pave way to save the
few souls on the threshold. My father once said to me, “If you put
a frog in a boiling pot of water it will jump out but if you put a frog
in water and gradually heat, it will get boiled but never jump out”.
The very same applies to the musicians, touring all over India or
their respective countries they are on the road more than they
are home. Only thing common is the stage where they perform.
That stage remains the same but that’s only for a specific period
of time. After that it’s an unknown place, room and bed for the
day with the echo of adulation. They don’t even realize when they
start seeking that adulation in every sphere of life and taking that
downward spiral and living their lives for the stage, where things
are predefined and as they should be.
I am not able to nor will I even try to give any solutions towards
the prevention of suicide as frankly I believe it completely and
entirely depends on
The individuals
Individuals need to understand that their lives are precious,
whether they are famous or not, everybody touches few more lives
besides their own and by taking it away all of a sudden they rob
another person of the comfort that they find in the said individual.
Even while practicing music they “share” their creation, art and
talent and the same is true with lives, life needs to be shared. It
needs to be soaked with happiness.
The people close to the individuals
The people close to the individuals are close because they get that
particular individual, so by default they have the responsibility
to understand them, notice them. Understand that they are in
a stressful job or that they are building stress on themselves,
belittling themselves and notice whether or not they are going
astray or showing inclinations towards the ‘Russian Roulette’.
Donny Edward
Hathaway
(1945-1979)
Grammy winner,
supposedly jumped
from his 15th floor
room in Essex House
hotel.
Elliot Smith
Wendy O Williams
(1949-1998)
(1969-2003)
Oscar nominated in Best
Original Song category,
found with two stab
wounds in his chest.
Autopsy inconclusive
whether self-inflicted.
Grammy nominated
for Best Female Rock
Vocalist, labelled
notorious, died due to
self-inflicting a gunshot.
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