Happy Late Night, Sweet Baby,
I hope you had a nice Sunday. We had good singin' in church, and we nailed our song, though I missed a note or two near the end. All in all however, it was a success. I hope we get to do more songs like this one, that are vocally challenging.
I saw a bunch of posts today, a few that were music related (including the paint job on Sarah's guitar which looks really cool, almost like PopArt from the 1960s). I saw, and read, the Chris Cornell post too. That was an excellent article, and the guy nailed it about Chris, that he was - or seemed - above it all, above trouble. He seemed both super humble and a big time rock star all in one. The last thing in the world he seemed was depressed, although a look back at his lyrics gives a very clear picture. So many references, in practically every song he ever wrote.
The guy who wrote the article suggested that we have all been depressed, to some degree, and I imagine that is true. It is part of the human condition. I even wrote a blog entitled "Depression Blog" several nights ago, and right after I posted it I saw the news that Chris had died, though I didn't know right then that he had killed himself.
But yeah, I have suffered from depression in my life, though thankfully not for prolonged periods, and also in my case I do not believe it was ever "clinical" i.e. any kind of chemical imbalance. My Dad had clinical depression for a while, and I could see how hard it was on him, though again he managed to live a full life until 88 years of age.
But these horrible drugs they prescribe - the benzodiazipines - are what take people over the edge. I have lost two friends that way, including my best friend Dave S., who died in 2008. He was taking Wellbutrin. Another friend, Steve J. took Klonopin and killed himself in 1995.
Psychotropic drugs suck, they are worse than street drugs. When my Dad was being treated by the VA for alcoholism in the 80s, they had him so doped up on meds that he would lose his balance and fall. Repeatedly. He fell and hit his head on the ground numerous times. Good thing he was a Tough SOB (toughest I ever knew), and Dad was the opposite of suicidal. But he suffered from depression and they doped him up with these meds called "anti-depressants". All I could see was that they made him more depressed, as well as dizzy, sleepy and off-balance. I could tell all of this as a 17 year old in 1977, long before the publicity on these things came to the fore.
So the writer of the Chris Cornell article nailed it, but he left out the part about the meds. Because to make a snap decision like that - play a concert and then Boom!, come of stage and kill yourself, that's the drugs making that happen.
Ordinary depression, at least the physical component, can often have to do with simple blood sugar issues. And of course a mindset that has been conditioned by growing up in a dysfunctional home. But when you add the benzo drugs into the mix, it's like letting the Devil into your head. I have never taken any such pills, nor any prescription drugs, but from what the evidence shows, benzos can lead to "suicidal ideation".
I will say flat out that I believe it lets demons into a person's head, much like a schizophrenic person hearing voices.
And I think that's what happened to Chris Cornell, a guy who had suffered depression but had seemed to rise above it or at least live with it. I agree with his family that those drugs caused him to make a snap decision.
I am tired tonight, cause of getting up early for church, but maybe tomorrow night I'll write a little bit more about it, and how I discovered for myself that getting your endocrine system into balance really can help to eliminate a lot of episodic depression. At least it did for me. I'm not perfect, but I don't suffer the moodiness I had in my 20s when I was smoking pot on a daily basis and drinking a lot.
Marijuana is another drug I do not think is good, in the big picture. And I don't think it's a great idea to legalise it and promote it for overall use, as is being done now. But that's another story.
Well anyhow......Chris Cornell. Man, could that guy ever write a song. He just plain "had it in him", because I don't believe he had a lot of musical training. But he taught himself, and he could play many instruments too (like someone I know). And he knew how to use dissonant chords, 6ths, 7ths, and weird keys like G to D#, that resulted in a totally original song like "Black Hole Sun".
Who ever sounded like that?
Nobody.
So he channeled what he was feeling, boy did he ever, and he channeled only that. Only his own influence got through, which is why his music is so original.
Anyway, I hope you had a great weekend.
I will see you in the morning.
I Love You. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxo :):)
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