“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” ― William Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar” Julius Caesar – megalomania; Corialanus – pride; Othello – jealousy; Macbeth – ambition (and a nagging wife); King Lear – self-delusion; Cleopatra – tart; Richard III: nasty piece of work…are a bit more difficult…In Shakespeare and much other drama before and since, the plot is driven by both circumstance and a (literally) fatal flaw in the character of the main protagonist. Generally, Shakespeares tragic characters are oblivious to their innate failings, but even knowing your flaws is not enough to deflect you from your destiny, trust me. I don’t intend to reopen a discussion into what extent character is fate, but just to offer an example, and there are many, of a predisposition and events combining to create fortune. In 1958, at the age of seven, a somewhat bewildered Joan Armatrading was sent by her grandmother to join the rest of her family in the UK. They had settled Brookfields, then a slum district of Birmingham, attracted by the work avialable in what was once the heart of British manufacturing. If you drove a crap British rust bucket in the early seventies, chances are that it was made in the West Midlands. Shortly after arriving, her mother bought an upright piano for the family ‘front room’ as a piece of furniture. Precociously, Joan began to make music on it almost immediately. For various reasons, Joan never really belonged, and took comfort and found an identity in music. Her mother was later to pawn two prams to buy her daughter a guitar for the princely sum of £3. Despite being cripplingly shy, which should never be confused with a lack courage or resolve, Joan played her first concert at the age of 16; performing largely self-penned material. She went onto have a critically lauded, but only moderately successful career, until she released, “Love in Affection”, in 1976. I was cool enough not to be swayed by what was considered cool and, along with several million other people, bought the record. Mind, I wasn’t cool enough to risk my coolness by letting any of the cool kids know I liked it. I was listening to recent an interview by Joan Armatrading. She remains slightly awkward and shy, but seems to be secure in her identity and has found a sense of self-worth and through it happiness. Though she doesn’t talk about, naturally, being able to be open about being in a long-term relationship with her girlfriend, Maggie – they entered a civil partnership in 2011, is probably part of that. She’s playing in New Zealand in December. Despite, being overplayed and the naff seventies sax solo aside, Love and Affection still sounds good. Not sure I can say the same about those period special effects though.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 18:13:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015