I’ve been working on writing a poem in tribute to Alex Chilton, one of my personal heroes who died last month. And it’s been hard. It’s the first proper poem I’ve attempted to write since Primary School and it’s tough work. I’m happy with the end result even though it’s very shaky in parts — but only given that it’s the work of an absolute novice.
Alex Chilton
A sad farewell to Alex Chilton
Your music meant so much to me.
It got me through some dismal times.
You always sang with honesty.
Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee,
You tuned into that Soulful current;
Making it big with the Box Tops,
Put into Big Star all you’d learned.
You wrote such songs of ardent joy,
with melodies of sweetest sugar,
and sang about being thirteen,
of youthful joys and youthful hunger.
Even so your songs were haunted,
I heard real sadness in your voice.
By sister lovers your despair
Blacked out the rest — you had no choice.
Sinking into an opiate haze
Cruising the streets in your Big Black Car.
A vacant zombie at the wheel,
You sank too deep, you drove too far.
Those wasted years your holocaust,
Your melodies still sweet as sugar.
You went off course and lost your way,
Got written off as one more loser.
And recognition had to wait
The world was not yet ready.
Your name lived on among a few,
Your voice it grew unsteady.
The ‘mats paid homage with a rousing
anthem, the fannies never hid
their debt to you. Soon all the hipsters
Knew who you were and how you’d slid.
Then every other band would name drop
Big Star and cite you as a major
Influence. So that you were,
No longer seen as such a stranger.
Last month you passed, leaving behind
A staggering body of work.
You take your place among the greats,
You transcended the gloom and the murk.
