The Good Ones Die Young

I stepped into Tops, a used media and trading card store in Benton Harbor, to look through the Cd's. The wife was going to trade a CD in and get another one from they're extensive(cheap) catalog. I knew I had to find another gold nugget, this is where i found Futersex/Lovesounds. And of course there it was. My inner-thug came out when I saw 2pac, All Eyes On ME. In my opinion his greatest CD. California Love, Ambitionz as a Ridah, How Do You Want It, Wonder Why They Call You...(you get the picture). He was a one of a kind rapper/lyricist. He spoke of the real problems on the street, corruption of the government, and even his own death. Then it got me thinking of how many of the "best" have died young. 

It comes at us at all different angles. Music, movies, sports, nobody is spared from the death of a young star. The Day the Music Died is a song about the death of Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper. None of them saw the age of 30. Valens didn't see the age of 20. Heath Ledger, accidental overdose, didn't see the age of 30 either. And just recently up and coming Angel's pitcher Nich Adenhart killed by a drunk driver, just hours after a phenomenal game. Adenhart was 22.

I was surrounded by it this week. I picked up a British magazine that had Green Day on the cover just so I can see the pictures of old men dressing like they're still in they're mid 20's(grow up green day, you're played out) when I came across an article on Kurt Cobain. I liked Nirvana for a 10 minute phase in my life. I knew Nirvana minus Kurt minus awkward tall bassist equals Foo Fighters. What I never really knew was the story of Kurt Cobain's last days(get over it Courtney didn't kill him). What I read was a reporter's point of view on the last lonely and drug filled days(according to accounts from the people that saw him last) of a troubled human. I used to think that Cobain was an over rated musician that helped launch a music scene that was doomed from the start. After reading the article, he was human again. What I read made me see a man in need of help.(This led to a 15 minute conversation with my wife on why I think Cobain needed Dr. Drew and some Geodon)

Quick List Time:

• James Dean, 24
• Hank WIlliams, 29
• River Phoenix, 23
• Selena, 23
• Janis Joplin, 27
• Jim Morrison, 27
• Jimi Hendrix, 27
• Cliff Burton, 25
• Ian Curtis, 23
• Brandon Lee, 28
• Jim Belushi, 33
• Chris Farley, 33

Neil Young once sang, "It's better to burn out than to fade away," a lesson taken to heart.