Seasons

Jay Dreyer

3 minute read

Song:Seasons
Artist:Chris Cornell
Release Date:1992

How did this happen?

RIP Chris Cornell 7/20/64-5/17/17

Go ahead. Let’s hear it.

So about the song…

If you’re one of the 3 readers of this site, you know it’s all for fun. But this one isn’t fun. Yet another artist I love is dead. Dead because he didn’t want to live anymore so he ended it himself. It’s an old bit, but this one is tougher because, as far as I know, Chris wasn’t an addict. But, he and I weren’t friends so I can’t say what his status was. I don’t know. You don’t know.

I don’t know.

I do know this is getting old, right along as I get older. This happens for everyone, regardless of generation. You just have to shrug and move on. Right? No?

I don’t know.

It started (for me) with Cobain in ‘94. That was big, but you kinda knew it was coming. Layne Staley from Alice in Chains od’d in 2002, and that, unfortunately, was not surprising to many. Elliott Smith, one of my favorite artists of all-time, killed himself in 2003. That was surprising. That one still hurts. Prince died in 2016. You can add in your favorite artist(s) in the timeline.

I struggle with this. Why do I care? Why do I care about someone I didn’t know and who didn’t know me? It’s a person that wrote/sang a song I like and they died/killed themselves. I guess it’s hard to explain. I’m not sure I can explain it.

I guess it’s the power of music. I really like music. That’s kinda why I have this dumb site. Because I wanted another way to talk about music. There’s something about music that can weave around all the bullshit in life, at least for me. And I’m guessing for many others.

Maybe it’s just me, but I can tie songs to events/times of my life. I’m guessing anyone reading this can, too. A song you danced to during a middle school dance. A song you and your friends argued about in HS (“Red, Red, Wine” by UB40 is still awful, btw). Your first concert. Songs you and your friends loved in college. That song when you were dumped. Wedding songs. The list goes on.

To me, those songs really are a part of your life. To be cliché, it’s the “soundtrack of our lives”. So when one of the voices of the soundtrack of your life kills themselves, or dies, or whatever, it matters. It sucks.

I’m not going to sit here and pretend that Chris Cornell, or most any other artist, was the cure for world hunger, or sickness, or any other ailment. He was someone that provided us with music that a whole bunch of us really enjoyed.

I will miss him.

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