News of Phil Spector’s death has been all over the news. You can read his obituary in The Times (paywall). I was particularly struck by a comment that Spector made to his biographer:
People want to be like me but I tell them, trust me, you don’t want my life. I’ve been a very tortured soul.
To read the obituary, there can be little doubt that is true. Entirely apart from the murder for which he was convicted and imprisoned, his behaviour was hardly that of a level-headed, content man.
But that comment came from a man who had wealth, adulation and was considered by many (rightly or wrongly) to be some sort of genius. He had everything he could want or need. Yet still, he warned people away from being like him. It turns out fame, fortune and adulation won’t resolve the inner turmoil of a troubled soul.
Though a considerable less ‘tortured soul’ the comedian and actor Jim Carey famously said something similar:
I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.
He (to my knowledge) has not been so troubled as to become obsessed with guns nor to have been arrested and incarcerated. But he nonetheless affirms the sentiment from a different angle. Money, fame and adulation isn’t the answer. It won’t ultimately satisfy in the end.
If only somebody did have an answer for them. Might anything (or anyone) be the answer? I wonder who might be able to help?