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    The Swell Season Suicide


    Created on Saturday, August 21, 2010        Bookmark and Share

    Home    Blog    2010    August


    I should probably toss out a disclaimer right up front. Some of what I am about to say may appear to be a little bit insensitive but I hope you read the whole thing to see where I am coming from.

    As you may know we saw The Swell Season a couple of weeks ago (link here). The band is better known as the duo from the fantastic movie Once (my review here). The band is apparently on a long tour that brought them to California this week. And it was there that a "fan" took his own life by jumping on stage in the middle of a concert. Apparently he jumped right after they finished playing my favorite song of theirs - When Your Mind's Made Up (see the video below - it was taken just before he jumped and there is nothing disturbing to see). The lyrics and passion associated with the song are incredibly powerful:
    You see, you’re just like everyone
    When the shit falls all you want to do is run, away
    And hide all by yourself
    When you’re far from me, there’s nothing else

    When your mind’s made up
    When your mind’s made up
    There’s no point trying to change it
    When your mind’s made up
    When your mind’s made up
    There’s no point even talking
    When your mind’s made up
    When your mind’s made up
    There’s no point trying to fight it

    I know I've written about this topic before but I felt compelled to address it again. I have extremely mixed emotions about suicide. I am a firm believer in the right to end your own life in a humane way. If you want to go nobody should be able to tell you that you can't. I would hope that they tried everything they could to try to improve their situation (assuming they didn't have a medical issue) but at the end of the day I am not the one to tell someone how to live (or not live) their life.

    However......

    This does no a get-out-of-jail-free card. There are situations where the previous paragraph does not apply:

    1) You have dependents
    2) You do it in a very public place
    3) You do it in such a way that will scar the lives of whoever found you
    4) You leave a mess that someone else has to clean up

    I see the band took the high road on this by saying that their hearts go out to the victim. Good for them. I'm sorry, I say he is a douchebag for doing what he did. Do I feel bad that he apparently suffered? Of course - I really do feel bad for him. But to this guy is a first-class a-hole for what he did. Several thousand people were just out for a good time and this clown had to make it about him. So many times suicide or attempted suicides are just another "hey, look at me moment". And that's all this was - one last plea by a selfish individual.







    Baby Updates and Other Stuff   More in AUGUST   Wednesday Morning Mish Mosh

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