As usual, my thoughts for a blog post have completely escaped my mind the second I sit down to write. So I'm sharing this instead. I heard it on the way home tonight and it's always been one of my favorite Depeche Mode songs. I think it's appropriate for today's news of the passing of one of my favorite artists of all time. Prince was one of those larger than life artists. He came into my life at a young age, around the same time as Duran Duran, and I quickly held onto his sound and never let go. When I was a kid, he was like one of those forbidden fruits because he was someone my dad didn't really want me listening to, but I did anyway because of my sisters. The movie and album 'Purple Rain' have been a part of my life for so long they're like an old friend. I remember listening to the cassette of that album, and wearing it out, when I bought my first car in 1999. I would cruise down the street with "The Beautiful Ones" and "Baby I'm a Star" blaring and the windows rolled down.
Every time a celebrity dies, fans mourn and the question always gets asked as to "why" do we mourn these people. In most cases, we've never met them. We certainly don't usually know them on a personal level as we do many other people in our lives. I found this article earlier today shortly after the announcement of Prince's death. While this article makes a lot of sense, I think the explanation is pretty simple. People turn to music as an escape from their every day life. Whether it's to get over a broken heart, celebrate a victory or just to relax from a tough day, music has been there. In a time when so much ugliness plagues our news and airwaves, music is a sense of therapy for many. I know it certainly has been for me over the years. Music has always been home to me. It's always been my comfort. My escape. I turned to it when my parents divorced when I was a teenager. I submerse myself in it to this day when I have something going on in my life, good or bad. It gets me through the day. And it has brought me family. So when an artist that I admire passes, it hurts. And it sucks. And today it sucked a lot. I started the week out excited to be seeing the first band I ever loved live again this weekend and then to this morning, I was celebrating the birthday of a man whose music has touched my life and my heart for so many years and getting excited about that show next month to then feeling the heartache after hearing of Prince's passing. When the news last Friday of his emergency landing because he was ill broke, my friend I was having dinner with thought something far worse had happened and I was like, no, he's fine, it's Prince. Nothing can happen to him. And now he's gone. So hearing these lyrics again, felt like, well, home. I still can't believe this year has already seen so many talented people go. But I do know that in the end, the music will always live on. RIP Prince Rogers Nelson and all of the others that have left us too soon. And thank you to music for showing me home.
"Finally I've found that I belong here"
