Meat, you bring such joy and excitement to so many every time you step on stage. You have talked about how Rock and Roll has its roots in the gospel the slaves sang when their lives were wretched to take them to a better place, and the total concentration and effort you bring to your craft has given this gift to so many. In similar vein your presence here has brought excitement and pleasure to so many of us. Whatever you choose to do now cannot take away one precious moment of that.
I've said before that it's the depth of emotion you feel as a human being which is the wellspring that enables you to bring such emotion into your performances. No-one comes near you in conveying passion, joy, despair through song. What we see on stage is real which is why it blows us away. You open your heart and soul, the core of your emotion, every night and put this on the line for us before you leave, bleeding and exhausted.
No doubt some will suggest you were planning to leave anyway, or make comments about having to pay to be part of your new site. Some will hop on and ask for more concerts or different songs. This kind of failure to understand the precious gift you brought here is what has driven you away.
You brought yourself to this forum. And because you are who you are, you did not come as a "star" (something you hate and eschew) but as a human being with all the hopes, fears, fun, enthusiasm and emotion that comes with it. You did not come here for critical analysis but to share something of yourself, and most of us have felt privileged that you did.
When you set foot on stage there is true magic. Right now I am reminded of the child who will pull the wings off a butterfly out of misguided curiosity, because picking apart the magnificent and magical whole that is you and the gift you bring is to do just that. And now some will stand back and, like the robot Number 5 who crushed the butterfly and couldn't understand why it could not be reassembled, no doubt be puzzled at your reaction. Sadly I'm not. We've seen your hurt, but still some have insisted on their divine right, duty even, to pick you and the magic apart. What we sow we reap. You have bled once too often. A true family understands, cares for, respects and protects the feelings of its members out of love. You came to us here as family, and brought your inner child with all its honest openness and eager innocent excitement as well as its creativity. Shame on our family today for those who persisted in bruising and abusing it, but mostly for being blind to what they were doing.
Like many today I weep for losing you, but thank you so much for the precious gift of sharing yourself with us for the time you did. Would that I could put my arms around you and hug the hurt away. Would that I could change your mind. We had something rare and precious, and now it's gone.
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