What Else Should I Be, All Apologies

The fabulous Travis posed a great question on the comments for this weeks Thursday Thirteen. Coming as it does on the anniversary of the death of Elvis, I really feel I must share it on a post and throw open the door to your thoughts.

Travis commented, "I love this 13. And it sparks a question that has been asked and debated many times.

Is an artist obligated to care for and nurture his talent, and to share it, and to care for himself so that the talent is not lost before it can be fully explored and perfected?

Jimi's quote suggests that he considered the talent his own to do with as he chose.

Thoughts?"

My take? We eat our idols alive.

We demand what we want from them with little or no regard to the fact that they are sharing a gift with us that we have no right to demand. We deny our idols, be they musicians or actors or artists, the right to have and express opinions outside their chosen medium, and God forbid they try something new.

To a certain degree, with Janis, Billie, Jimi, Kurt, Lennon, Morrison, Elvis and so many others, we - their adoring fans and vicious detractors alike - may not have pulled the trigger...but we helped buy the bullets.