If music be the food of love...
Urban legend has it that a woman who was kissed on the cheek by Elvis at a concert in the 1950s has not washed her face since. This may explain why Elvis has frequently been seen wandering the aisles of a supermarket in Ladysmith. He has presumably been looking for soap.
Obsession. It's not just a fragrance. It's that bizarre brand of behaviour that leads people down the path of vicarious pursuit of the unattainable. And musicians are a magnet for them.
Two French schoolgirls who were fans of rock band Nirvana shot themselves in the head this week in a copycat suicide modelled on the 1994 death of lead singer Kurt Cobain.
Aurelie, 13, and Valentine, 12, left a note saying they were in love with Cobain. Then they shot themselves with a pistol owned by one of their fathers.
These kids were 10 and 9 at the time Cobain died in 1994 from a shotgun blast to the head in his mansion on the shores of Lake Washington.
"There seems to have been a sort of adoration, a veneration for members of Nirvana and especially of the singer who committed suicide," a local public prosecutor said.
I had thought Nirvana's music to be uninspiring, their lyrics insipid, and their videos tedious. These French schoolkids saw something more. What?
Looking for clues, I dug up Cobain's suicide note:
I haven't felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music along with reading and writing for too many years now. I feel guilty beyond words about these things.
Normal people take a holiday. Weird people like academics go on sabbatical.
...The fact is, I can't fool you, any one of you. It simply isn't fair to you or me. The worst crime I can think of would be to rip people off by faking it and pretending as if I'm having 100% fun.
That's fair. I could tell that he wasn't having fun.
I appreciate the fact that I and we have affected and entertained a lot of people. I must be one of those narcissists who only appreciate things when they're gone. I'm too sensitive. I need to be slightly numb in order to regain the enthusiasm I once had as a child.
I always thought that being dead might really dampen my enthusiasm. Just shows what I know...
I have a goddess of a wife who sweats ambition and empathy and a daughter who reminds me too much of what I used to be, full of love and joy, kissing every person she meets because everyone is good and will do her no harm.
Indeed, this man has suffered.
And that terrifies me to the point to where I can barely function. I can't stand the thought of Frances becoming the miserable, self-destructive, death rocker that I've become.
That is truly a terrifying thought...
Thank you all from the pit of my burning, nauseous stomach for your letters and concern during the past years.
Haven't these guys heard of Rennies?
I'm too much of an erratic, moody, baby! I don't have the passion anymore, and so remember, it's better to burn out than to fade away.
There are differences. Roy Orbison "burned out". Mick Jagger still sizzles. Elvis simply disintegrated.
Peace, Love, Empathy — Kurt Cobain
Frances and Courtney, I'll be at your altar. Please keep going Courtney, for Frances. For her life, which will be so much happier without me.
I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!
At Cobain's memorial service at the Seattle Centre attended by 5 000 mourning fans, his "goddess of a wife", Courtney Love, read those extracts from the suicide note...
...And asked the entire audience to call Kurt an "asshole".
Too bad the two French schoolgirls weren't listening.