For many reasons I have metal on my mind these days. I mean, it’s never far—I’m a confirmed metalhead, lifelong—but my enthusiasm waxes and wanes.
Right now we’re waxing full.
I can’t shake Ozzy’s death. I suspect it might be at least partly due to the algorithms that shape our online existence. It’s everywhere I go, from Youtube to Instagram to Reddit. I’ve been listening to a lot of OG Sabbath and Ozzy solo material.
More on Ozzy in just a moment.
I also have had three people close to me read my heavy metal memoir WIP and am processing their feedback. I’ve submitted proposals to a few specialty publishers and will continue to do so.
I suspect I will self-publish via KDP but who knows… I just know I have to do the thing. I believe in the story. I hit a bit of a lull and the 10th or 20th or 50th crisis of self-confidence but now am coming out on the other side.
Onwards.
***
Back to Ozzy. He’s everywhere right now.
As I write this the live stream of his public funeral in Birmingham is set to begin.
If you haven’t read this fine remembrance by Geezer Butler, please do so: “Ozzy Osbourne was the Prince of Laughter.” It confirms everything I said above.
Darkness? Hell no, he was a beacon of light.
We are perceived a certain way, but that doesn’t mean we are that way.
We make mistakes, even grave ones. We do dumb shit, harmful shit. But that doesn’t define us.
We get a second chance, because we get to decide.
You can change your life (you must). You have tendencies and biases and weaknesses and strengths, but you are a (semi) rational being. You’re born with a personality archetype that make you more introverted or extroverted, anxious or confident, reflective or active.
But these fall along a spectrum. None of these traits are immutable.
I reject biological determinism and materialism. I believe in free will. I believe there is an immortal soul in every human, bound to our houses of flesh but also something apart, malleable, full of potential (for good or ill).
Life is not fixed. And that is a miracle.
Where’s my proof?
Ozzy.
How unique was this dude? There will never be another like him. No AI, no algorithm, can replicate his contradictions—his wild acts and occasional descents into darkness, juxtaposed with his jubilant, caring spirit.
We all must wear masks and adopt personas. Ozzy wore one for the stage. But you could see the real person underneath.
Go back and read Butler’s remembrance, but in particular this bit:
People always thought Ozzy was a feral wild man, but he had a heart of pure gold. Most of his infamous antics — the bat saga, biting the head off a dove, pissing on the Alamo, snorting lines of ants, and the rest — came in his solo years, away from the restraints of the Sabbath crew. But if you were a friend in need, Ozzy was always there for you. When my son was born with a heart defect, Ozzy called me every day to see how I was coping, even though we hadn’t spoken for a year.
His wife Sharon forgave his transgressions. We can forgive too.
His friends loved him because he was full of humor and hope. He came from nowhere Birmingham and changed the world.
Not a bad legacy for a Prince of Darkness.
2 comments:
It actually seems that image of a celebratory is often the different from the reality. The "scary" rock stars like Ozzy and Alice Cooper seem to be decent people. Mr. Peace and Love John Lennon on the other hand was a nasty drunk. Of course, Ozzy and Cooper undoubtedly had there faults (both had huge problems with substance abuse for example) and Lennon his virtues (he at least seemed bothered by his faults.)
Agreed... a lot of metal bands incorporated demonic imagery for shock value and to explore dark themes ... but that didn't make them evil or satanic (any more than Stephen King writing about horrors real and imagined doesn't make him a madman or monster). Meanwhile Ozzy has passed from Prince of Darkness to celebrity buffoon to mentor and now into myth.
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