The Falling Boy: Pete Wentz
Pete Wentz, a total heartthrob for angsty teenage girls, and younger musicians idolize him. No bassist has upstaged a frontman like him, with the habit for grabbing headlines: from his suicide attempt, photos with celebrities like Kanye West, or his extravagant Alice In Wonderland themed wedding to his ex-wife Ashlee Simpson. Wentz might seem like he has it all and more, but truth is, he had to hit rock bottom before he even got to his superstar status now. Pete Wentz overcame depression by realizing that he needed to change, expressing his feeling through his lyrics, and having a son to care for.
Around the peak of Fall Out Boy’s career, Wentz was abusing Xanax and Klonopin like it was candy. Even if he tried to cut back once Bronx was born, when the hiatus began he relapsed badly. "I was probably physically and mentally addicted," Wentz says. "It started from insomnia and anxiety from flying, then it spiraled.” Wentz was paranoid all the time, even had his house checked for bugs; he was scared of everything (Fall Out Boy: Life After Emo). It was like there was no escape, his life was a constant nightmare. Wentz said, “I was paralyzed by anxiety and depression at the beginning of my career, and I felt so lost and alone I attempted suicide.” Wentz said, "The darkest moment was when we had just finished recording out major label record and two days later we were going to go to Europe and I felt completely lost and out of control” (A Depressed Pete Wentz Attempted Suicide). But even music affects the musicians such as Wentz, saying that Jeff Buckley’s version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” saved his life (Rolling Stone). His suicide attempt was actually in his car in the parking lot of a Best Buy. Went...
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...r the suicide attempts, Wentz still came through. Came through for himself, the band, and his son. Wentz being here still, alive and healthy is important not only for his family members or band members, it’s important to the fans as well. He has saved lives, helped people with their own depression and addictions, and much more. Really, this teenage heartthrob covered in thick guyliner and skinny jeans is a saint in disguise.
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If he continued on that path and didn’t pursue music then he would have become a nobody and would have probably worked two jobs for his entire life. Axl Rose escaped his likely fate, he took his musical talent and made something of himself. When Sullivan was interviewing Dana Gregory, he said “The night Axl left for L.A., he wrote, ‘Kiss my ass, Lafayette. I’m out of here.’ I wish I’d taken a picture of that.” (140) Axl Rose’s choice to leave his hometown was the best decision he could have made for himself. He got away and he is better off because of it, he wouldn’t have found success if he didn’t move
In Justin Pearson's memoir, From the Graveyard of the arousal Industry, he recounts the events that occured from his early years of adolesence to the latter years of his adulthood telling the story of his unforgiving and candid life. Set in the late 1970s "Punk" rock era, From the Graveyard of the Arousal Industry offers a valuable perspective about the role culture takes in our lives, how we interact with it and how it differs from ideology.
... Cobain is dead at the age of 27. He leaves behind a wife who loved him, a daughter who will never know him and millions of strangers whose lives have been enriched because he lived. (53)
Cobain and the Legacy of Grunge in Fashion – Vogue. N.p. Web 24 Apr. 2014.
Our hero is Kurt Cobain, he is considered a hero because he helped many people in the 1990’s feel happy with his music, and the things that he spoke out against. In the 1990’s about 60,000 families were divorced, most of them had teens. Those teens could relate to Kurt Cobain, and he told them that they weren’t alone.Some background information about Kurt Cobain is that when he was going into his early 20’s he started experience stomach pain due to his scoliosis. This is the reason that he started to take heroin. When he was in high school, he met the bassist of Nirvana, Krist Novoselic, and they became instant friends. They started to practice together every day, and they recorded their first album “Bleach” with Chad Channing on drums. The best reason that Kurt Cobain is our hero is because he knew that he was famous in all but he thought “Since I am well known then maybe I can help prevent men from raping women”.
Suicide is the most accepted theory to Kurt Cobain’s death, gaining support from not only the Seattle Police Department but Cobain’s own family at the time of death. Cobain was reported to have been clinically depressed for the majority of his life and was crippled with severe drug addiction. In photographs taken of the body viewers can plainly see the medical bracelet for the drug rehab center he had broken out of. He was completely dependent on heroin and was quoted saying “This is the only thing saving me from blowing my head off”. Band members also reported that Cobain was disconnected from his friends and family during his final days. Photos of Kurt Cobain’s body have been stated to show Cobain splayed out on the floor with a shotgun firmly gripped in his hand and a box of
It was inevitable, due to the pressure of success, Jeremy was suffering from schizophrenia, consumed by paranoid and disturbing thoughts, a debilitating disorder prevalent in society. (Harrison, 2013). Jeremy, was consumed by theses disturbing thoughts, which many were about his brother, Peter. It led to the end of the band. Jeremy, was unable to accept, he had a mental illness, refused medical treatment, leading to the separation of the brothers. Yet, at 50 years old, Jeremy Oxley shyly walked out on stage at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney, April 2012, as he was received with countless applause. It is remarkable for Jeremy to have survived 30 years of living with schizophrenia. His courage and the strength he had to return to the stage made the performance heroic. (Harrison,
“Life is a deep and contemplative story stuck on repeat — love, loss, self-destruction, self-discovery” (1). Gray by Pete Wentz narrates the life of young Pete throughout the early years of Fall Out Boy, in which he was the bassist and songwriter. He struggled with drug abuse; more specifically with the anxiety and depression prescription drug Ativan, after he and his girlfriend broke up (more than once), which lead to two separate overdose attempts. Reading this story made me realize that even our favorite celebrities (who appear so happy and healthy on the outside) can succumb to the dangerous world of addiction, that we need to be there for people with addictions, and that we don’t always realize it’s happening to someone we love.
The lead singer and song writer of alternative rock band Blue October, Justin Furstenfeld explains on a suicide prevention video that he has “battled with bipolar disorder, psychiatric tendencies as well as anxiety issues throughout much of his life and admits he self-harmed during his teenage years and has reoccurring suicidal thoughts” (Freunde fürs Leben, 2010). Many songs that he wrote are about his mental illness and problems he faced because of it.
P.R. opened a lot about the emotional challenges that he has suffered through. He stated that his wife divorced him after 49 years of marriage. This was one of the hardest things that he had to go through. He stated that “it’s hard to let someone go when you still love them”. Other challenges that he has been through mentally are losing some of his good friends and family members.
Which was no strange feeling to me since I turned to music to cope with whatever ailed me, because no matter what, a song, some headphones, and volume turned way too loud was always there. Returning to the supple age of ten, was a disconnect, mainly between the receptors in my brain that determine whether or not I get enough of the happy chemicals, but between what I am, and what I thought I was. I thought I was a kid like everyone else, I would be sad for no reason often, but moving many times, and having to be on my own for a large portion of my early to late teens, I thought it was how life was for most people in my situation. My situation was dreary at best, people bullied me extensively in middle school to high school, in the first string of serious relationships I had they all left because of some arbitrary meaning of what being happy should have been; coming to a peak on Valentines day of 2012, the first time I attempted suicide. Suicide is the focus of the song, how abandonment can lead to hopelessness and desperation to the point of the ultimate act of despair, death. “I guess I finally had the courage to go away. The promises we made were made hollowly. Sometimes you'd reassure me we'd be okay. But you'd always leave” (A Lot Like Birds. Kuroi Ledge. Equal Vision Records, 2013.
The Beach Boys were a sensation throughout the 1960s. While it has been said that their best albums weren’t respected until many years later, there is not a doubt that they were one of the most popular and influential musical groups in history. The Beach Boys’ front man, Brian Wilson suffers from mental illness (Moverman, 2015). For many years he had a greedy psychotherapist that misdiagnosed him in an attempt to essentially drug him to death (Moverman, 2015). A documentary showcasing the life of Brian Wilson depicts the struggles he faced, and still faces with what is now known as schizoaffective disorder (Moverman, 2015). He called it Love & Mercy, after a song he released after finally receiving the proper treatment for his
This article demonstatres how important Kurt Cobain was both as a rock and roll icon and a philosopher. His songs which he recorded himself are still popular today, over 20 years after his death. The author argues how Cobain influences other young artists and his effect on the direction of the music industry.
Many people have heard or were even fans of the famous band Nirvana. Even if the name isn't entirely familiar, songs from them are popularly known because of the band's great success. On April 5, 1994, the world lost a legendary rock singer, Kurt Cobain. Being the front man of the successful band Nirvana, he created a new era of rock called grunge. Along with the predictable troubles of fame came difficulties in Kurt's life, struggling with his drug addiction, spasmodic behavior, and medical problems that were never examined nor treated. One might agree and say yes, it is obvious Kurt committed suicide but many others beg to differ. His death greatly affected Nirvana fans and some began to speculate that his death, in fact, was not a suicide. Even though Kurt Cobain's life was difficult with the fame and his bipolar disorder, his death isn't believed to be suicidal because, he and his wife, Courtney Love, were on bad terms; he was leaving behind a two-year-old daughter, and Nirvana was at the height of its success.
These tunes make known the downside of the enjoyable, glamorous, and dangerous drugs that people of all classes of society use everyday. They give off vibes of hopelessness and emphasize painful words and phrases. They describe how quickly something can go from a little relaxing self medication to a full out need. These songs help us to realize the consequences of losing control over our actions and help us to appreciate consciousness and life without addiction.