The
following journal entry was written in response to the death of Johnny Cash,
but the sentiment applies equally to the other friends I have lost. I have
mourned the loss of these artists whose work has, in ways I cannot explain,
inspired me to pursue my own creative dreams. Their music, their voices, their
stories, all reach deep into a place within me that unleashes sentiments and
will that were previously unfamiliar to me. I miss them dearly.
Harry Chapin, John Lennon, John Denver, Johnny Cash, Jerry Orbach, and now,
Luciano Pavarotti.
9-13-03
Amy called me at 7:30 in the morning to tell me Johnny Cash died, and sadness and melancholy quietly settled in and accompanied me for the rest of the day. The man whose music has been so much a part of my life for over 25 years is gone, and I feel like I have lost a friend. I saw him perform twice in my life, but never met him. He was present to me in his music, looming larger than life, representing what I admired - strength, independence, sensitivity, and creativity, a fragile and vulnerable man, taking life on his own terms. In my mind, the man in black felt the worlds pain, and responded to it with love, for only love could allow someone to create such an abundant body of work, spanning generations and cultural divides, as his has done.
Whether or not Johnny Cash really possessed these attributes is immaterial, what matters is that through his music and his life they were made real, and shared with me and countless others. .
His music encompasses wide range of emotional experiences, but the common denominator is the evocation of all that is human and personal. There is nothing abstract in his songs, only the presence of the personal, and I admired and respected him for that. His music makes me feel what I want to feel.
Johnny Cash was a man who successfully pursued a creative life, doing what he wanted to do, on his own terms. For that he was my hero.
Harry Chapin, John Lennon, John Denver, Johnny Cash, Jerry Orbach, and now,
Luciano Pavarotti.
9-13-03
Amy called me at 7:30 in the morning to tell me Johnny Cash died, and sadness and melancholy quietly settled in and accompanied me for the rest of the day. The man whose music has been so much a part of my life for over 25 years is gone, and I feel like I have lost a friend. I saw him perform twice in my life, but never met him. He was present to me in his music, looming larger than life, representing what I admired - strength, independence, sensitivity, and creativity, a fragile and vulnerable man, taking life on his own terms. In my mind, the man in black felt the worlds pain, and responded to it with love, for only love could allow someone to create such an abundant body of work, spanning generations and cultural divides, as his has done.
Whether or not Johnny Cash really possessed these attributes is immaterial, what matters is that through his music and his life they were made real, and shared with me and countless others. .
His music encompasses wide range of emotional experiences, but the common denominator is the evocation of all that is human and personal. There is nothing abstract in his songs, only the presence of the personal, and I admired and respected him for that. His music makes me feel what I want to feel.
Johnny Cash was a man who successfully pursued a creative life, doing what he wanted to do, on his own terms. For that he was my hero.
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