By now there are probably thousands upon thousands of eulogies and remembrances of Johnny Cash out there in blog land. I guess I’d like to add my own.
Sadness and grief are two emotions that rarely manifest themselves when I experience a loss or a tragedy. It’s not that I block these emotions. I don’t personify the “a rock feels no pain and an island never cries” ideal. I guess Lynda Barry described what I feel best as a kind of “blankness”. I’m sure psychologists have studied it and grief counselors would opine about it. I’ll let them explain it as it’s just the way I am.
That being said, it is totally inexplicable to me the way I feel when some musicians (and really only musicians) pass away. When Roy Orbison died, I was pretty upset. When George Harrison died, I almost broke down crying in my car. And this morning, when I found out Johhny Cash passed, a profound sense of sadness pervaded my being. For a moment, I was sick with weary. A cloud has been hanging over me all day.
I can’t begin to explain why I would feel this way. I never knew any of these people, except through their music. Never-the-less, the sadness is there. Does anyone out there have any ideas? Does anyone else feel the same? Can you explain it?
Jesse Walker from Reason magazine posted his reaction to Johnny Cash’s death today on a discussion board. It pretty much sums up everything I’m feeling:
Dammit. Goddammit.
Yeah, me too, Jesse. Me too.
