Long Live The Music!

There is something about the death of a great artist that I find very intriguing. Its hard to pin point (part of the reason its intriguing), and equally hard to understand. Take Jimi Hendrix, for instance. People argue, and often with very good reason, that he was THE best guitarist to have ever set foot on the planet. The fact that he was instrumental (forgive the pun) in inventing/discovering everything there is to do with a guitar is obviously right up there in the list of reasons why. However, at the risk of being shot at, I wonder if its just because of how good he was, and not when he died. Jim Morrison is the second name that comes to mind. Arguably, he was one of the pioneers behind the birth of the genre psychedelic rock. The fact that he had a voice to die for did help, of course. So did the charisma he exuded from every pore. Add to the list an untimely death that baffled everyone and Voila!, we have ourselves a winner. Then there was Nirvana, another great band who became synonymous with teen rebellion and rage in the early '90s. Nirvana would have never made it this far, without the charm and mystery that had become a part of its vocalist, Kurt Cobain. Though I personally feel their music was far from what one would call sophisticated, it had something about it that transcended musical capability. One would tend to think it had at least a tiny bit to do with Cobain's dramatic suicide. An incident that, perhaps, made him more popular than when he was alive.The one thing that the three names I mentioned above have in common, apart from the fact that they all died at 27, is that each, at the time of death, was at his peak. Acme. Pinnacle. Whatever you want to call it. Basically, the absolute best.

More than once have I had this discussion with my friends, and more often than not, I have heard,'If they could do so much when so young, imagine what they could have accomplished if they had lived 30 years longer'. I beg to differ. Tragic though it is, for their music to live on, they had to die. No one talks about Iron Maiden nowadays, do they? Or Metallica? Or AC/DC? These bands, each one spectacular in their own right, are all fighting a losing battle against age and decay. Each one is drifting away from the music they were good at - In 'St. Anger', Metallica sounds like a bunch of Chihuahuas in heat, and 'System Has Failed' by Megadeth would have been better off being named 'More than the System has failed' or something. On the other hand, however, if they do see some sense and call it a day, someone will take their place in the inevitable Circle of Life, only to be replaced by someone else in due course of time. And after all the packed concerts and hit singles, no one will so much as throw a retirement party. It takes nothing less than shotgun shell to the brain, or in the Beatles case, a bullet in the chest from a crazed fan, to make them immortal. Such is the irony. Perhaps, Kurt Cobain was right. Perhaps, it is better to burn out than fade away.