All The Young Dudes Carry The Muse

In 2006, the rock band Muse released a song called Starlight. It was a great commercial success and helped to propel them from being well-known to being very well-known.

By this time, I was already ‘mature’ and assumed my own journey into rock music was over. I had long-established allegiances to artists like Mott The Hoople, T.Rex and The Cars and had even managed to get excited in the 80s and 90s about INXS, Extreme and Radiohead. I was more than happy to pretend I was half my age when The Killers introduced Mr. Brightside to the World in 2004, so when I heard Starlight on the radio last week, I was shocked at how quickly and deeply the song affected me.

The first thing about the track that resonated was the lyrics. The narrative almost continues Queen’s 39 and Bowie’s Space Oddity and has a ‘Lost in Space’ feeling from the start; Far away, this ship is taking me far away…from the memories of the people who care if I live or die…

Melancholia with a classic twist

When I reheard the track a few days ago, I realised – some 19 years after the party – that the power of the lyrics lies in the nostalgia it evokes. I’ve written about nostalgia before, and regular readers will know it’s one of my weaknesses, or more to the point, vulnerabilities, so this is nothing new.

Marcel Proust brought nostalgia to public consciousness in 1913 when he published A la recherche du temps perdu, and F. Scott Fitzgerald spread the feeling further 12 years later when he published The Great Gatsby. You will no doubt be able to think of melancholic longings of your own and will hopefully be able to contemplate them without getting too sad.

Muse of The World

This is the first blog I’ve written in four months. Having previously produced over 120 of them in the last 13 years, rudimentary mathematics shows that I have averaged about ten blogs a year. Not bad.

However, this current 4-month gap (that is happily now over with this very piece), has not been the first time I’ve had a break from casting words into the ether and the only reason I’ve maintained a respectable total is that there have been several periods in which I’ve written one or more blogs per week. 

In short, I’m an inconsistent writer, and this is problematic. It’s problematic because I still have a day job, so when an opportunity to write something substantial comes along, I will not only need to plan what I’m writing, but must also meticulously plan the time in which to do it.

The Freedom (and burden) of Choice

Currently I have an even more onerous task in front of me; I’ve got to make a decision!

I’m in what some would call an enviable position, as I’ve got the option of pursuing four potential writing projects. Flattering as this is, I don’t like having to choose because all four projects interest me.

Deciding which one to go with involves evaluating different things:

Which one can produce the best income?

Which one is easiest to do?

Which one is the most useful for my reputation?

Ultimately, I’m going to run with the one where my Muse is most present. I cannot do this alone. 

I almost think I’m close to making the decision about which option to take, but I’m not there yet.

You’ll be among the first to know when I’m there.