![]() ![]() ![]() I lose sight of the fact musicians are real people, and to me it’s strange to think that David Bowie feels the same things as many of us do when we hear music we relate to. A discovery like that – like a Grandaddy or a Pavement – there are certain bands that you think, ‘Oh, that’s exactly what I want to say.’ Or rather, ‘That’s how I want to say things.’ You know, you feel a kindred spirit with these people.īecause that’s exactly how I feel about The Airborne Toxic Event. Because I’m so tired of them not being recognized by anybody. Oh man, I’ve been pushing them for two or three years solidly. I love the way that Bowie has that paternal connection with Mikel. I love the way that Bowie changes direction when Mikel asks a question. In fact, there’s loads of things I love about it: I love the way Mikel feels like a dorky fan reassuring Bowie – not least because that’s how I feel around Mikel – reassuring him that the sound was great, that he looks great, that I really don’t mind that he’s sweaty when he gives me a hug. The piece concludes with a heartfelt summary of his father’s contribution to his life: “All that mattered was the attention, the advice, the jokes, the fact that he selflessly gave everything he had to help me solve whatever problem came up in my life.” In which Mikel recounts the tale of how his bond with his father grew following some advice on how to fight a bully. For me, and maybe for anyone, the answer was, just leave. That whatever prisons we construct in our lives – whether it’s an awful job, a gut, an unhappy marriage, an addiction, the things in life that hem us in, that make us wake up in the morning in a cold sweat and think, How did I get like this? and How can I escape? – all these things are transient. ![]() He sums up the ease of making the decision to change with the paragraph: Then I went to the movies.”īeing bored with an office-based job and sporting an ever-increasing waistband, the film Fight Club inspires Mikel to make changes in his life, to regain the fitness levels of his college days. This piece was published in Men’s Health in 2006. Not a cheerful read, but well worth spending some time on. Is the crack a metaphor for both our hopes and fears regarding our mortality? That’s how I interpreted it. When I read it, I could imagine Mikel singing parts of it – particularly when he uses the phrases “like a child” and the longer sentence, “You sit around with these thoughts and you cry so hard, you wrench and shake and sputter and lie awake trying to think of romantic things for someone to read over your grave-but it’s all so awful and selfish.” The story reads similar to many of Mikel’s lyrics – with the themes of relationships, morbidity and mortality, parts of Los Angeles, etc. The story concerns an unnamed central character and his friends’ preoccupation with both their terminal illnesses and an ever-widening crack in the pavement. This is an obvious first choice: Mikel’s short story, which was published in McSweeney #27. I’m not a critic of written work, so don’t expect anything deep and meaningful – just a fan’s comments. I had a quick Google and found the article, and thought what a great subject matter for This Is Nowhere’s ‘5s’ Mikel’s written work would be. Recently I was watching a documentary about David Bowie on TV, and that reminded me that Mikel had once interviewed Bowie. Shot with a Canon 7D and Canon 50mm 1.8 lens. Whether it’s lyrics, stories, interviews or articles, Mikel Jollett is a master writer. ![]()
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