This is it. It finally has sunken in that you are really gone. It was just few days back when I heard from my boss one morning that you had died of a heart attack. I was shocked. I have never really been a fan, in the correct usage of the word. My life has never been revolved around your songs or albums. Still I was shocked to hear the news. You had in all these years become this figure/personality who I thought, and perhaps everyone else too, would never die. Someone for whom there was no life or death. You were beyond that. And then to hear the news that you are dead was unbelievable, to say the least.
Since then, I have been going back to your songs and your music videos. It was during this period of re-discovery that I realised, I wasn't unaffected by you. My life had been touched in some way or the other by you and your songs. That is when I realised the greatness of you as an artist. To touch the lives of even those who never really bothered to buy your CDs or fight to get tickets to your concerts. That is what a great artist is all about.
My earliest memories are of the days when I would help my sister rehearse for a group song she was to perform during our school's annual function. It was 'Heal The World'. The strength of the song and weight of the words went beyond the wisdom of the little boy then. But since then, I have often heard the song and wondered at the simplicity of putting across a message with such honesty and care.
Thanks to MTV and Channel-V and in recent years VH1, I have been exposed to many more of your songs and videos. Most leave me completely speechless. I haven't really stopped to think and listen carefully to you but now I do. I have heard many say that one should not wait for death to come for someone to really appreciate the person when he was alive. But I guess that's how it's been in my case.
I witnessed your memorial service today. I witnessed those who cared for you say their goodbyes to you. I witnessed other great artists pay their respects and tribute to you and your life. Sitting in my living room, and watching it on TV, I realised it wasn't just the ones who were there but there were many more, all around the world who would have felt a pain in their hearts. An indescribable pain of not really having known you in real or to have seen you perform on stage. And no matter how well they may have lived their life, a space now has been created for regret to reside, knowing they were a part of an era when you lived yet failing to see you.
The world had gathered to say goodbye to you. But for me, it is only the beginning of getting to know you more. To understand your music and your words. For words and music may seem just mere letters or mere notes sometimes, but you know it all too well, they sure can make a BIG difference.
Here's to you! May you be blessed forever. It is a pleasure to really know you...
Since then, I have been going back to your songs and your music videos. It was during this period of re-discovery that I realised, I wasn't unaffected by you. My life had been touched in some way or the other by you and your songs. That is when I realised the greatness of you as an artist. To touch the lives of even those who never really bothered to buy your CDs or fight to get tickets to your concerts. That is what a great artist is all about.
My earliest memories are of the days when I would help my sister rehearse for a group song she was to perform during our school's annual function. It was 'Heal The World'. The strength of the song and weight of the words went beyond the wisdom of the little boy then. But since then, I have often heard the song and wondered at the simplicity of putting across a message with such honesty and care.
Thanks to MTV and Channel-V and in recent years VH1, I have been exposed to many more of your songs and videos. Most leave me completely speechless. I haven't really stopped to think and listen carefully to you but now I do. I have heard many say that one should not wait for death to come for someone to really appreciate the person when he was alive. But I guess that's how it's been in my case.
I witnessed your memorial service today. I witnessed those who cared for you say their goodbyes to you. I witnessed other great artists pay their respects and tribute to you and your life. Sitting in my living room, and watching it on TV, I realised it wasn't just the ones who were there but there were many more, all around the world who would have felt a pain in their hearts. An indescribable pain of not really having known you in real or to have seen you perform on stage. And no matter how well they may have lived their life, a space now has been created for regret to reside, knowing they were a part of an era when you lived yet failing to see you.
The world had gathered to say goodbye to you. But for me, it is only the beginning of getting to know you more. To understand your music and your words. For words and music may seem just mere letters or mere notes sometimes, but you know it all too well, they sure can make a BIG difference.
Here's to you! May you be blessed forever. It is a pleasure to really know you...
I am glad to find someone who has expressed these feelings. I too found myself in spurts of disorientation over this news. I was a big fan of his music, and a fan of the person he was. I tried to understand the controversies, but never did that change his awesome talent. Now I feel all the more at a loss because I know that noone will ever come close to being a legend in our lifetime. We are in an age devoid of icons and idols. So even in death, as yoare also discovering, we are probably reaching out to him to inspire us...because no one else comes close.
ReplyDeleteI recently purchased one of his VCDs aqnd it came as a surprise that even as a child, in the city of Jamshedpur, I knew and appreciated his music like any other child anywhere else in the world. He was a truly remarkable artist and will continue to live on through his masterpieces.
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