As some of you who know me well know, one of my favorite musicians is Neil Finn, a New Zealander who is highly acclaimed for his songwriting; he has been compared to John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Neil was in the band Split Enz and then founded the group Crowded House. Crowded House’s drummer was Paul Hester, who became one of Neil’s closest friends. Crowded House became quite successful in its own right, but the group broke up due to internal pressures within the band. Neil and Paul, however, remained in touch and had a unique bond of friendship that many people would envy.
On March 26, 2005, Paul Hester, gifted musician, father to two girls, a “salt-of-the-earth” man with bipolar disorder, and who was Neil Finn’s best friend, ended his life by hanging himself on a tree in a park in Melbourne, Australia.
Neil Finn, who was far away at the time of Paul’s death, received a phone call telling him that his dear friend had committed suicide. Neil Finn was devastated beyond words, but being a songwriter he was compelled to write the following song about his encounters with people’s reactions to discussing suicide and the stigma of having mental illness. It is a stunningly beautiful song called “Nobody Wants To”. Crowded House re-formed after Paul’s death. They are currently touring all over the world. Here are the words to the song that has been in my head the past year.
“Nobody Wants to”
By Neil Finn/Crowded House
Down on the ocean floor
That’s where I’m heading for
Hold on to a sinking stone
Until the worst is known
Nobody wants to…think about it
Nobody wants to…talk about it
Nobody protects you
They make it go away
Pretending that it’s all okay
Broken pieces on the ground
And everyone’s still turning ’round
Nobody wants to…think about it
Nobody wants to…talk about it
Nobody protects you\
Yeah…
Are we losing something, we used to cry
We used to say why?
For all I know
I might not get home
Well, I found out
If we opened it up
We could work this out
Nobody wants to…think about it
Nobody wants to…talk about it, now
What you suspected all along
Everything told you was wrong
And you can see it if you want
But nobody wants to…
———-
For more information about this remarkably gifted man, check out the following Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Hester
Rest in Peace, Paul. I think about you all time time, and I hope you are up there watching down on your beautiful girls.
