I Will Always Lose You: Learning From The Whitney Houston Story
I Will Always Lose You: Learning From The Whitney Houston Story
Public reaction to the demise of Whitney Houston has much to teach us so let’s go. First of all, if there is anyone left stupid enough to believe that fame and fortune buy happiness, (besides Kanye West), let them look here for irrefutable proof that it does not. Outpourings of grief and hand wringing about what has been lost have everything to do with what we no longer have and nothing to do with the end of a sad life. Indeed, Ms. Houston had been little more than a walking corpse for over a decade.
When a celebrity dies, our sense of loss is increased because we value celebrity as a thing in itself, without understanding it for the curse it usually becomes. Death is not tragic any more than life is tragic; death is life. Tragedy can only be found in a life of pain, loss, and torment. It is in this respect alone that we are able to find tragedy in the story of Ms. Houston, her drug addiction and perverse relationship with Bobby Brown were like a self-inflicted gunshot wound carried out in slow motion, a Kabuki dance of death performed on camera for our entertainment.
As was the case with Anna Nicole Smith and Amy Winehouse, a crowd of onlookers choked the sidewalk, looking up, waiting for the swan dive and resultant splat. (Indeed, feminists can take heart that social equality has brought us to the point where women now have equal access to Rue James Dean.) If you want tragedy, real tragedy, find a Vietnam vet huddled on a steam vent, nameless and faceless, panhandling for the next shot. Look for the guy who never had any chance at all, much less a second chance.
Ms. Houston was more annoying than tragic, life handed her an endless succession of second chances all of which she slapped away disdainfully; arrogant, haughty, and clueless to the end. Addiction comes in many forms, physical, psychological, spiritual. But even a stone cold, physical addiction – like nicotine or heroin – can be defeated quite easily if one is determined to do so. After a time, the circular trips around the drain cease to be an indictment of friends, managers, and family members who tried to help and failed. What remains is an attraction to self-destruction that has triumphed over self-love.
Whitney Houston had exceptional gifts bestowed upon her; she did not earn or merit them. We can say she was a great beauty, and beauty has a nice way of opening doors. And we can also say that her voice was a natural instrument so extraordinary that one may compare her to Aretha Franklin or Stephanie Mills. Unfortunately she came of age at a time when the nation’s musical taste had bottomed out. Consequently she never needed to learn the real artistry of singing, settling instead for the now pervasive, wretched and overwrought “urban yodeling” she unleashed. With Ms. Houston it was always all about technique and flash, and even jejune practitioners know that an artist who makes it “all about me” is not serving the art, or the audience.
The irony here is that Houston’s cousin, Dionne Warwick, could have taught her that a great singer doesn’t need to scream.
Those who enjoy the humorous, thought-provoking writing found here will love my books. All three are available from Amazon – paperback & digital – simply by clicking on the descriptions below.
INVISIBLE DRIVING – The original bipolar memoir. Unique in that it takes readers inside a manic episode – from liftoff through recovery. Incendiary.
MOONLIT TOURS – Dark comedy/social satire/crime drama. This gritty, urban novel is thick with quirky characters from all social strata. Acerbic.
WASHED UP – Wickedly funny novel delivering an irreverent, affectionate take on alcoholism and recovery in the genteel suburbs. Transformative.
Buy one today. If you’ve read them, please tell someone else about them. Thanks!
Posted by blog.alistairmcharg.com at 2/14/2012 10:38 AM 
Categories: Music, Suicide, Mental Health, Art, Spirituality
Tags: Whitney Houston Anna Nicole Smith Amy Winehouse Aretha Franklin Stephanie Mills Suicide Alcoholism Serlf-Destruction Urban Yodeling Heroin Nicotinee
Categories: Music, Suicide, Mental Health, Art, Spirituality
Tags: Whitney Houston Anna Nicole Smith Amy Winehouse Aretha Franklin Stephanie Mills Suicide Alcoholism Serlf-Destruction Urban Yodeling Heroin Nicotinee
This is a remarkably honest assessment of Houston, the first I've read. Particularly accurate are the comments about Houston's squandered "gifts" and the enabling by a culture of musical mediocrity that made it possible. The extensive, in some cases ham-handed use of AutoTune to correct her voice, especially later in her career, speaks to the difference between real singing and recorded vocals. Yes, Dionne Warwick could have taught her much: consider Warwick's recording of "Anyone who had a Heart," from 1964. And the larger point McHarg is making here is an important one: individuals squander their gifts-- and when they do, it's not a tragedy, except in the Aristotelian and Shakespearean sense-- an object lesson in willful self-destruction.
Reply to this