Art imitates life...or is it vice versa?

I want to loosely tie together 3 seemingly unrelatable things, that when listed together may seem even more improbable.

1. "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows
2. Owen Wilson's recent suicide attempt
3. "Home" by Chris Daughtry

Though in my mind these two songs and the above current event from the celebrity world fit together seamlessly, picking apart the sciffywoo of my brain to adequately express it in a controlled manner is not the easiest task, but I will hit you with my best shot...and fire away.

Let's dissect...one at a time.

I love the Counting Crows. They are the first band I fell madly in love with and it was mostly because I had never heard music with a truly literary element. The depth of Adam Duritz's poetry, and the way that it is both deep and relevant to everyday life, still amazes me. Anyway, I am sure all of you have heard "Mr. Jones", but have you ever heard the live version off of their vh1 album "Across the Wire"? If you haven't, do yourself a favor and itunes it people! The two versions, the studio version and the live version, take on completely different tones. The differences are subtle, but most definitely there. The studio version was their first major hit. It's all about the dream of becoming a rock star...of a life where everything is handed to you on a plate. A life of glamour and fame, free from loneliness. The live version is this very life realized...the jadedness, the pressure, and the forthcoming depression when you realize that maybe there's no real substance behind achieving a dream driven by the desire for the bigger and better in a purely materialistic sense. If you listen to the slight changes he makes to the lyrics on the live version, you can hear the pain and the let down of something he once wanted (back to the studio version) more than anything. Together, Mr. Jones and Adam would "tell each other fairytales" and "look into the future" to a time where they were going to be "big stars," but after time passes and the fairytales turned into reality, they "don't see each other much anymore." They never sit and dream and soak in the simplicities of life. Finding joy in the little things, conversations with Mr. Jones over a few beers, has been overshadowed by what he thought he wanted. Compare the differences in tone for yourself:

Studio version:

When everybody loves you, you can never be lonely.
When everybody loves me, I will never be lonely.
I will never be lonely.
I will never be lonely.
I want to be a lion.
Everybody wants to pass as cats.
We all want to be big, big stars, but we all got different reasons for that.
When everybody loves you, that's just about as funky as you can be.
Mr. Jones and me staring at the video.
When I look at the televisionI want to see me staring right back at me.
We all want to be big stars, but we don't know why
and we don't know how.
But when everybody loves me, I'm going to be just about as happy as I can be.
Mr. Jones and me, we're gonna be big stars.

Live version:

So you wanna be a rock n' roll star?
Well listen now to what I say.
Just get an electric guitar and learn how to play,
just learn how to play.
Everybody wants to pass as cats.
We, we all wanna be big, big, big, big, big stars,
but then we get second thoughts about that.
Well man, when everybody loves you, that can be about as
f****d up as you can be.
Well can't you hear me 'cause I'm screamin'?
And I did not go outside yesterday.
Don't wake me, cause I was dreamin',
and I might just stay inside again today.
Cause Mr. Jones and me, we don't see each other much anymore.

This week it was announced that Owen Wilson, actor and screenwriter, was found in his home and taken to the hospital after a suicide attempt. I learned this via radio on my way to the post office. The person covering this headline followed the news by saying, "Why would someone like Owen Wilson want to commit suicide? I mean, really...what's the hardest thing he faces? Choosing which parties to go to and which girls to sleep with?" I found this comment both sad and true. Sad because we will never have any idea what he is really faced with. What kind of demons he fights off day after day. But, on the other hand, I find it true because this is a guy who seemingly has it all: money, fame, upcoming projects, family, friends, etc. It truly looks like, from the outside, this guy has it all and has it all together. Obviously, this is not the case. The radio guy went on to say, "If this guy can't find the will to live, with practically everything he could ever want, where do we find the motivation?" I understand his point, but I also think it's in the attitude in which everything is perceived. We may find motivation and passion in what we do on a day to day basis, who we meet along the way, who we come home to, etc. We may find our drive in the real, palpable things that affect us. Just like Adam Duritz believed that fame would open every door...I am sure that fame has opened many doors for Owen Wilson, but maybe he finally got to a point where he wanted more. Maybe he wanted to be affected instead of just going along for the ride. Fame and fortune are worldly abstractions and distractions. If, in life, you get to a point where you have all you thought you wanted but you have nothing satisfying, nothing of substance, I cannot imagine anything more frightening. I think this is the point Adam Duritz was making. I know there is no way of knowing, but when people only see what Owen Wilson or other countless celebrities have, maybe no one stops to think about what they don't have...what their seemingly full lives may possibly be missing.

I recently heard Chris Daughtry speak about his song "Home," and it made me appreciate him both as a musician and as an individual. This is the final item on this list of comparisons because it seems to me that this is what the other two people, both Owen Wilson and Adam Duritz, may be searching for quite unsuccessfully. When Daughtry spoke about his newfound fame he said it has been difficult, just as we see Adam Duritz relaying, but he referred to his wife (who he speaks to directly in the song: “The miles are getting longer it seems, the closer I get to you. I've not always been the best man or friend for you, but your love remains true and I don't know why. You always seem to give me another try.”) as his rock and his hero, and his children (a step-daughter and adopted son) as his life. He talked about being out on the road and finally living the dream that he has been chasing for so long, but that the shiny coin of fame definitely has another side: "Be careful what you wish for,'cause you just might get it all. You just might get it all, and then some you don't want." He is away from what is most important to him...his family. They keep him grounded and they greet him with love and open arms. He made it clear that he doesn't regret the path his life has taken, but the day to day mingling of strangers and other musicians, etc. cannot equal the unconditional love and familiarity he has at home, stating, “These places and these faces are getting old, so I'm going home…to the place where love and feeling good don't ever cost a thing.” Daughtry seems to have his priorities straight, saying his heart is always firmly planted at home, “the place where I belong, where your love has always been enough for me,” even though he may be a continent away. He says he has quickly learned about the cost of achieving your dreams and that sometimes things you care about get lost or left behind along the way. Daughtry closed by saying that with a fast onset of fame, you have to cling to everything you want to survive in the end and you must have your priorities straight, because if you don't...good luck.

I agree with that, and I feel like Adam Durtiz and Owen Wilson would agree as well. You have to live a life of meaning. You have to realize value, both within yourself and in the people that love you/you love. You have to work to protect and preserve what is important to you. And mostly, in life, you have to wrap up everything you treasure, hold it close, and run like hell through a crowd of people that want things from you, that ask you to spread yourself too thin, that shoot flaming arrows, and that have rigged land mines beneath your feet all in an effort to slow you down or take you down...and you just have to pray to God that when you get to the other side everything you love is still with you.