Grammar, Usage /
Thesis Statement Re: Early Mortality of Rock Stars [10]
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Here is a slightly revised edition. The previous version can be deleted, if need be. This is 1826 words.
The Rock and Roll Stereotype
The image of a "drug-addled rock star" is one who embraces risky and careless behavior, who romanticizes the lifestyle summed up in one common phrase: "sex, drugs, and rock and roll." The general perception is, therefore, that all rock musicians are gluttons for that mode of living - that they exist in extreme, sordid contrast to the general population. But while the "drug-addled rock star" image is certainly perpetuated by musicians who romanticize substance abuse, mental illness, and even early death, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy has transcended it by rising above such self-destructive behavior because of his disdain for that stereotype.
One doesn't have to look too far to see the promotion of the "drug-addled rock star" stereotype in the media. Tabloid magazine covers regularly feature the latest casualties of rock stardom. Television shows like Behind the Music specialize in illustrating the hedonistic lives of rock stars, highlighting how many musicians, because of their involvement in the music industry, end up either damaged or dead. Even a study released in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health showed that rock stars are twice as likely to die prematurely than the general population. The study revealed that there is an element of truth in the stereotype, noting that such factors as "stress, changes from popularity to obscurity, and exposure to environments where alcohol and drugs are easily available, can all contribute to substance use as well as other self-destructive behaviors" (Bellis 901). However, there are those who absolutely do not wish to fit the stereotype. One example is Jeff Tweedy, though he has had his own struggle with substance abuse.
One might get the impression simply by judging the titles of his songs that Tweedy, who is the founder and lead singer/songwriter of the Chicago-based rock band Wilco, fits the "drug-addled rock star" stereotype: "I Must Be High," "A Shot in the Arm," "Handshake Drugs." But his lyrics belie that limited perception, especially those of "Handshake Drugs":
They were translating poorly
I felt like a clown
I looked like someone I used to know
I felt alright
and if I ever was myself, I wasn't that night ("Handshake Drugs").
Those lyrics, in retrospect, convey how he might have felt under the effect of prescription painkillers during the making of Wilco's 2004 album A Ghost is Born. Because of his desire for normalcy, he took painkillers in an attempt to eradicate his feelings of depression, his panic attacks, and his migraines, which "had plagued him since boyhood - they'd caused him to miss forty days of elementary school one year alone" (Kot 50). But the pills he was taking were making him someone he was not. Jeff later said, "I just felt like I wanted to feel better, and I wanted to keep functioning" (qtd. in MTVNews.com). But it soon became too much, forcing him to enter himself into a Chicago rehabilitation clinic in April 2004. His stay in rehab delayed the release of A Ghost is Born, but did not affect its track list; one of the songs featured on the album was, ironically, "Handshake Drugs." The fact that he personally sought treatment for his problems, though, is one of many reasons why he does not embody the stereotype.
Jeff Tweedy is not an example of the "drug-addled rock star" stereotype because of the manner of his addiction; the reason that he self-medicated was because he wanted to be able to function, not get wasted. An interview by CBS Cares, a health-oriented division of the television network CBS, with psychiatrist Dr. Nancy Andreasen discussed whether there is a link between creativity and depression. In particular, one idea highlighted in the interview is that many artists do not seek treatment for their suffering because they fear it will stifle their creativity. However, Dr. Andreason said that "most creative people who have at least significant depression feel that having the depression treated enhances their creativity rather than reduces it" (qtd. in CBS.com). This thought certainly applies to Tweedy; he wanted to be able to function and, above that, he wanted to be able to create. Ultimately, Tweedy found that treatment was the only way he could ensure that he could achieve that.
Another reason why Jeff Tweedy transcends the stereotype is because he simply hates it. In Greg Kot's book "Wilco: Learning How To Die," Tweedy was quoted as unmincingly stating, "I despise the 'drug-addled rock star' image" (Kot 131). Via an e-mail interview, I asked Kot what he thought made Tweedy's substance abuse so different from the average rock star. "I think critical to Tweedy's development, and his disdain for the rock star image, is his background in punk," Kot wrote. "Anybody of that generation, who saw [This is Spinal Tap] and saw how ridiculous rock can be, is very self-aware about subjects such as celebrity, sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, etc. That doesn't mean they avoid these traps, however." Kot told me that it took Jeff a long time to open up to him about his self-medicating. "He wasn't proud of it, and didn't want it be the focus of any story about him. Contrast his attitude toward the dudes in Mötley Crüe or Marilyn Manson or Courtney Love. They are the old-fashioned rock stars, who revel in how screwed up they can get, and have written books about it." Kot summarized his view by saying, "If Tweedy represents the new breed of rock star - more thoughtful, yet just as reckless in many ways - it doesn't mean he's not prone to the same self-destructive traps. He's just more conflicted about it."
Jeff Tweedy has himself talked how the stereotype has the power to discourage people from being creative for fear of succumbing to the trappings entailed with fame:
As a culture we just seem so obsessed with it, we have all these VH1 shows, everything, Behind the Music, every single thing this culture does seems to perpetuate the idea that if you're gonna do something like that, really believe yourself and make some art and stick your neck out, you're gonna fucking pay a heavy price. You're gonna end up in the ditch and you're gonna get screwed up and you're gonna do drugs, and I think it's a myth to kind of keep people from trying. Maybe it's a good thing to tell yourself at the end of the day when you're in the checkout line at the grocery store, going through the drudgery of another fucking day, you buy one of those magazines and go, 'Well, at least I don't have to do that' (qtd. in Reese).
While growing up, Jeff's experience with the effect of self-destructive behavior on his family helped to shape his contempt for the excessiveness of the typical rock star lifestyle. David Dethrow, a childhood friend of Tweedy's, said that "his brothers and his father had their difficulties with drinking, and Jeff knew he had to be careful. He knew where he'd be heading if he kept it up, because he saw it in his own home. He didn't like being out of control" (qtd. in Kot 53-54). Tweedy grew conscious of his need to avoid drinking, lest he fall into the same trap - so much so that, when he started dating his future wife Sue Miller, he quit alcohol "cold turkey" in 1991 (Kot 53). Jeff himself said, "I saw the life my dad had, and I knew I didn't want it. He had to care of a family since he was seventeen, and the only real outlet he had was a twelve-pack after working all day. I saw the guitar as my outlet" (qtd. in Kot 15).
Ultimately, what kept Tweedy from descending deep into the abyss of stereotypical rock star decadence was his love of music itself. According to the article "Tweedy's Ghost Stories," written by Mark Binelli for Rolling Stone, Tweedy's stay in rehab initially meant losing the privilege of playing his guitar, which was something he did every day up to that point. Soon, though, Jeff was given permission to play guitar during the clinic's art-therapy classes, which led to an interesting observation. Tweedy said, "The doctors told me, 'Your panic goes away completely when you play guitar' . . . I guess my color changes, everything. That's why we've never canceled shows, and why I struggled with these problems on my own for a long time. Because I always knew when I got onstage and played, I would feel better" (qtd. in Binelli). Shortly after leaving rehab, Jeff said that "music has probably saved my life. No, not probably - I know certainly it has saved my life. It is probably the only really healthy thing I've ever endeavored to do" (qtd. in DeRogatis). The healing effect that music has had on Jeff shows that there need not be a damaging trade-off in being a rock musician.
Because of Jeff Tweedy's intense dislike and lack of respect for the kind of behavior that is attributed to many rock stars, he has survived and thrived - survived his own drug experience with the help of rehabilitation and has therefore thrived personally and artistically. On Wilco's 2007 album Sky Blue Sky - the first studio album by the band since Tweedy's stay in rehab - he sounds as if he is starting anew. As one article described, the album "sounds like a record written by a man whose life has flashed before his eyes" (Mathieson). The lyrics of Sky Blue Sky's title song reflects that:
With a sky blue sky
This rotten time
Wouldn't seem so bad to me now
Oh, if I didn't die
I should be satisfied
I survived
That's good enough for now ("Sky Blue Sky").
Those lyrics convey a renewed sense of acceptance, satisfaction and well-being - feelings that are found buried and twisted within the lyrics of the previously mentioned "Handshake Drugs."
The general perception that all musicians live dangerously in comparison to the general population is contradicted by the life of Jeff Tweedy. The manner of his addiction was not typical because he was not trying to get wasted or lose his mind on drugs; he wanted to be able to function. He hates the stereotype of a rock musician whose very being is entwined with the glamorization of chemical dependance. He also saw how his family was affected by substance abuse, which molded his disdainful view of such behavior. Above all, writing and performing music is what has kept him from growing to be the very "drug-addled rock star" image he has decried on many occasions.
As J.D. Salinger once wrote in The Catcher in the Rye, "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one." Jeff Tweedy does not want to die for the cause of the "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" lifestyle; he wants simply to live so that he can continue to pursue the music that he so loves, which is the best example he can set as the antithesis of the Rock and Roll Stereotype.