Cultural Embodiment @ The Stoa Is Today at Noon EST ~ Taylor Hawkins Tribute
Cultural Embodiment @ The Stoa Is Today at Noon EST ~ Taylor Hawkins Tribute
Let's "watch him as he goes"...
Join us today at noon EST for another session of Cultural Embodiment @ The Stoa. Today we’ll enjoy an incredible moment in music that happened over the weekend. I will warn you, it could be a tear-jerker.
On Saturday night at Wembley Stadium in London, the rock band, Foo Fighters, put together an epic tribute concert for their deceased drummer, Taylor Hawkins. Hawkins, 50, has been a beloved and admired figure in the music world for decades. In March this year, Taylor was found dead in his hotel room in Colombia while on tour. The cause of death was undetermined (or not released) though he did have many substances in his blood stream including opioids and THC. There was very little scandal, just sadness at the premature loss of a great musician, father, and friend to many.
The show was reviewed here by Pitchfork:
But it was 16-year-old son Shane Hawkins, Taylor’s son, who stole the show performing “My Hero,” and broke viewers around the world. Each drumstick slammed down harder than the last, tiny punches in a fight to let it all out. During the song’s drum solo, Grohl and Hawkins stared into each other’s eyes like they were on another plane, communicating their shared pain and joy of music at once with no guard up. It was the type of transparent healing that could move even the most straight-faced person to tears. In the days that followed, Foo Fighters received an outpouring of support from artists like Trent Reznor and Paramore who marveled at the performance and recounted how deeply they were moved.
We will watch the 6-minute clip of this performance by the young Hawkins. The choice of song was really what got me. A Foo Fighters hit, My Hero, is Grohl’s subtle commentary on the futility of celebrity-worship and is a tribute to ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Some speculate this perspective was driven home for Grohl as the drummer for Nirvana, the legendary band he helped form previous to Foo Fighters. They were catapulted to superstardom in 1991 with the release of Smells Like Teen Spirit and just three years later, the lead singer, Kurt Cobain was dead. Grohl says of that time,
"I was heartbroken. I didn't really know if I ever wanted to play music again, until I realized that music was the one thing that had healed me my entire life."
Today we’ll see a mature and accomplished rock band invite the next generation onto the stage. It’s moving and powerful…a perfect piece of culture to embody.
My Hero lyrics:
Too alarmin' now to talk about
Take your pictures down and shake it out
Truth or consequence, say it aloud
Use that evidence, race it around
There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He's ordinary
Don't the best of them bleed it out
While the rest of them peter out?
Truth or consequence, say it aloud
Use that evidence, race it around
There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He's ordinary
Kudos, my hero
Leavin' all the mess
You know my hero
The one that's on
There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He's ordinary
There goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He's ordinary