SWEET HOME ALABAMA
In which we learn about:
-- "Monumentally Stupid" childhood actions
-- Taylor's first public performance of "My Country Tis of Thee"
-- That Taylor was a "consistently mediocre" student
-- A counterfeit report card
-- Taylor's favorite English teacher, who gave him a book and was "sensitive enough to understand that there was something hopeful in that story that would speak to my own sometimes lonely journey".
These days, we hear about how Taylor is "scary smart". Do you think he was bored with school? Distracted by problems at home? Maybe we don't have enough information to answer the question?
Taylor was fairly popular in school "though a bit of a wild child who was located somewhere between the jocks and the freaks. I suppose I was both a jock and a troublemaker."
I knew a few kids like this, didn't you? Some of them were the most interesting...
On American Idol, just like high school, "it's important at times to know how to be all things to all people."
He talks about "The First Time". Not a lot of details, however. Do you think Taylor's brief recounting of this encounter is:
-- more than you wanted to know?
-- should have had more of a story to it?
-- just what he should have said, no more no less?
Taylor also won his high school talent show, singing "Sweet Home Alabama".
Would his life be different if he had not won?
From what I have read,I honestly believe that Taylor may have been distracted by the problems at home,but more so by what he says was a calling to entertainment.He said that when it came time to hunt down old R&B records that he really wanted or making a layup baket ball he had tremendous interest which wilted when it came to school work.I think he was bored by the things that held no interst for him.This is why I believe that a person is born with a special talent,even at a young age he just knew what it was he was meant to be doing.I commend his teacher for seeing that Taylor was something special and for helping him to realize his potential,she saw the same thing that we all see today.Taylor said that he would describe himself as a" jock and a troublemaker," I think he was just trying to find his way in a world where college is portrayed as your only ticket to success,to think outside of that realm was not permitted.
I found the story about Angie to be so touching,he was passionate even at that tender age and that same passion is a huge part of his appeal today.I admire Taylor's ability to talk about such deep feelings so freely,rejection is not easy to deal with at any age.
Thanks Margaux for these great disscussions,I was so looking forward to your post !
Taylor listened to his father and went the college route; determining , only then, that music and entertaining was what he really wanted as his life's work. This shows, for me, that he was not truly a rebellious young man; rather one who knew that his passion was not something that had a high percentage of success.... so rather than forge ahead pre college, he took the college route . It proved beneficial by introducing him to different people that broaden his social environment, it introduced him to a musical culture from which he learned , it introduced him to business/journalistic information from which he could profit and it cemented the fact that he truly wanted to be a performing musician.
Many people have passions.... some are not financially feasible and should be pursued as avocations rather than as vocations. Some people have a passion about something but no true talent........ You have to be mature enough to know whether you really have talent or just love doing something.
I believe that had Taylor not gone to American Idol, he would have in a year or two decided to finish his college credits and get his degree; he would have entered the "real" world; he would have continued to play gigs on weekends .............. would he have been a happy man.?.. who knows... but he would have gone the way of most people. Whatever he ended up doing, he would have been able to find solace in his music, but on the same level that many people do..............
He would have written music and continued to submit things to people for their approval. Maybe something would have clicked, maybe not ............but he would have survived.
I would not have been as happy as I am now, because I would not have a Taylor Hicks to listen to..........
mouser, great post !
I agree that Taylor seems less a rebel than someone who knows what he wants/needs and has the guts and tenacity to put himself on the line to achieve it - - and agree that he was watching the clock tick and seeing everyone around him getting on with their lives and that eventually he would have done as you suggest - - - and suspect Taylor knows how to find some happiness in whatever life deals him so he would have been OK - - - but am so very grateful he didn't have to make that decision - - - -
I would not have been as happy as I am now, because I would not have a Taylor Hicks to listen to..........
Amen to that ! ! ! or added music back into my life and rediscovered / discovered so many other artists as well
It's hard to answer these questions with certainty since Taylor skims the surface of many things but we don't really know him. No doubt he was/is very smart and he writes about poor grades and never cracking a book his senior year but somehow was accepted to Auburn....do they have low standards or were his grades and perhaps teacher recommendations really good....I'd like to know his SAT scores!
As far as his sexual and romantic history...to be honest I was left wanting a few more "stories", not details. It was cool to learn when his first time was and that he thoroughly enjoyed it but we don't need all the details. Other than Angie and Brooke, he mentions no past girlfriends by name. I know through my KOPS friends who contact Suzanne about Kid One (even though she no longer works there) on a fairly regular basis, that she and Taylor remain very close....it was very mature and respectful of him not to mention her name or their long relationship and it makes me wonder if she asked him not to.
Taylor cleaned up his act at one point after seeing what his lifestyle/habits were doing to his appearance but if American Idol did not happen and if he did go back to school and find a regular 9 to 5 job, I believe he would have been miserable. Remember the nursing home job....he was miserable...and even if he had a white collar job it wouldn't come close to bringing him job satisfaction like being up on stage whomping out does. If his dream remained unfulfilled he may have slipped back into "medicating" himself and because I am very anti-drug....just the thought scares me.
Despite Taylor's darker days there is a glimmer of hope and positive outlook that runs through the book and I really admire his character.
Seger,
agree that we don't "know" Taylor, but we have been given an amazing amount of opportunities observe the way he relates to the world and to draw some " educated guesses" from that information - - -
seems to me it is the same thing that we do with politicians we are thinking of voting for - - usually we don't "know" them either so we accumulate anecdotal information to determine how we think they may perform in office - - -
only with Taylor the information isn't filtered and spun within an inch of it's life first
respectfully disagree that Taylor would have returned to the "college circuit days" lifestyle - - he realized what he had done to himself on his own and well before the Idol opportunity came his way - that makes a big difference - - happen to know a couple of folks whose musical dreams didn't pan out and do exactly as mouser mentioned - - they play when and where they can and take great pleasure in keeping making music as part of their lives - - were they as driven as Taylor ? - probably not - - but it sounded as though, as part of his realizing he needed to get his life back on track, he developed a very practical approach to both his music and his life - - suspect he has "been there - done that " and has too much respect for himself to ever let it happen again
as usual just mho - - -
ETA: not sure you can equate being the one who does the dirty work in a nursing home to the type of career oriented jobs that Taylor with his smarts and personality would find available to him - - just sayin'
Seger Hicks writes: Taylor cleaned up his act at one point after seeing what his lifestyle/habits were doing to his appearance but if American Idol did not happen and if he did go back to school and find a regular 9 to 5 job, I believe he would have been miserable. Remember the nursing home job....he was miserable...and even if he had a white collar job it wouldn't come close to bringing him job satisfaction like being up on stage whomping out does. If his dream remained unfulfilled he may have slipped back into "medicating" himself and because I am very anti-drug....just the thought scares me.
Oh golly Seger Hicks, I would hope not. I give Taylor more credit than that. I think his innate intelligence and his basic common sense and his need to have security would have risen to the fore and prompted him to "join the real world" and utilize his talents as a musician as part of "who he was as a person " but not necessary all he was. Taylor has more facets than just being a musical performer and I would hope that those talents would have carried him through life with some degree of happiness.
Hippie,
I did make a distinction between the nursing home job of stripping floors and a "white collar" profession. He said in the book that he slacked off at the nursing home and was surprised he didn't get fired. We all know he has an amazing work ethic with his music but and I stand by my opinion that he may very well have been miserable at any "real" job. He was born to perform....not just during an occassional weekend gig .
mouser,
I too realize that Taylor is very smart and does have self respect...he said in the book that is what kept him from destroying himself.
I do not understand WHY alcoholism (or any addiction) can be inherited just as diabetes and heart disease can be. I have an alcoholic parent and seeing how ugly some behaviors of the drinker can be, why would anyone choose that for themselves as an adult? Perhaps they don't choose to drink...perhaps there is validity to the "alcoholic gene".
I have never felt the need to medicate myself but at some point in time Taylor did. I stated that I admire his character...I think he is a strong person...I don't think any less of him for having had numerous hangovers and trying various drugs.