Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Choo, Choo: The Soul Train Derailed



Don Cornerlius September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012
RIP Amazing Fro
It's all over Yahoo, like people care and anyone even remembers, but the dude that used to host The Soul Train, Don Cornelius, has committed suicide. I could understand taking a bullet to the brain in Soul Trains prime, when disco reigned supreme, because that shit would drive anyone to put a bullet in their brain, but the man was 75 and the worst we have out there today is rappy hip hop, country and that Mexican stuff that sounds like clown music. But Soul Train's been stalled on it's tracks for a while, so I don't think we can pin crappy music and terrible dancing for driving this man to kill himself. Word on the street, and by street I mean a comment from Shannie when I mentioned he offed himself, is that he could have been terminally ill and decided to end his suffering before it could get worse. Very likely. No one wants to live in pain and maybe this was his best option, but taking a shot to the gray matter seems extreme. Maybe quick and painless, but pretty messy. So until they come out with new information on this case, we're left to speculate as to why conductor of the Jivin'-est Train on the Funkiest Tracks decided to take his own life.
Soul Train tricked me many a morning into thinking it was cartoons.
 I've long held the opinion that suicide is selfish, and I still believe that is the truth in some cases, but I also believe some people are truly just so miserable they can't go on living, whether it be from physical pain, mental anguish or emotional instability. Even in those cases though, I have to feel bad for the loved ones they leave behind, because in the end it ends up hurting the ones that loved them just as much as they we're hurting. They're left with questions and second guesses and what if's, thinking "What could I have done?" It leaves them guilty and hurt and that's completely understandable. The closest I've come to losing someone to suicide is a kid I was kinda sorta friends with in elementary school that went on to kill himself in middle school. It wasn't a horrible blow, but it was sad because this was a kid I used to talk to and joke about and with that was just one day gone with almost no explanation. I think later the rumor was he was bullied, but by middle school, me and this kid were in two different groups that didn't associate so I never knew about it. I remember in 5th grade I called him Alien because he would get this haircut that accentuated the Mother Alien shape of his head, but I think me and him were the only ones that got the reference.
The Neverending Story ended for Brandis when he took his life at age 27
 I've never had any other experience with suicide, though I did get pretty bummed when I found out like 4 years after it happened, that Jonathan Brandis had committed suicide by hanging. The story was that he was disappointed with his career and upset that his scenes in Hart's War had been heavily edited out. He was hoping that role would be his comeback. I had the biggest crush on that guy when I was a kid, so finding out he killed himself was such a huge downer. So, shit talkin' enthusiasts, have you ever lost someone you cared about to suicide? Or has the suicide of a stranger ever affected you? What are your thoughts on suicide? I want to know what you guys think and just to lighten up the mood and give a little homage to the man who's now boogyin' down in the after life, here's a little blast from funkadelic past...


I swear I saw a pair of platformed Converse somewhere in there.

2 comments:

  1. I love being the word on the street, but now with that kind of pressure I have to know more shit...or stop making stuff up.

    Yeah Brandis' suicide sucked. I've had people say they were gonna off themselves and basically just threaten it for bullshit sympathy and attention. But the closest was an attempt by sister that was unexpected.

    I kinda really do think that at Cornelius' age, he must have fucked up money wise or was diagnosed with some horrible shit that he knew would be worst than a bullet. What would have been insane?... Don C laying down on the tracks and getting hit by a real train.
    Soooouuuul Train...now THAT would have made some news.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My sister has tried a few times. I would say overall I was annoyed by her (after being worried and concerned). If you're going to do it, do it. Don't make half baked attempts at it for attention. I have seriously contemplated it myself when I was at a pretty depressing point in my life but I could never go through with it because I worried about upsetting my loved ones. That and I'm convinced I'd be one of those assholes that jumped off a bridge only to be cripple.

    I imagine that this dude was in pain. I read on TMZ how when he went through a divorce with his ex not that long ago he stated that he was very sick and close to death. I once had a friend whose father was terminally ill and was in a great deal of pain so he went into the woods in the back yard and shot himself. Sad.

    ReplyDelete