Whitney Houston is dead!

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

It's essentially cognitive dissonance made real - the dissonance between everyday life and celebrity culture (plus celebrities' actions and our own, plus the time we spend on it versus the value it actually provides) becomes outrageously powerful when a celebrity dies.

That's a perfectly rational explanation. I don't really get the celebrity culture or why anyone accepts it, but they do. There is certainly nothing innately virtuous about it, and as you illustrated, it's pretty irrational.

[Cen1aur 1963]

Originally Posted by Kevin

That's a perfectly rational explanation. I don't really get the celebrity culture or why anyone accepts it, but they do. There is certainly nothing innately virtuous about it, and as you illustrated, it's pretty irrational.

Folks accept it because it's entertainment. Folks like celebrity gossip/entertainment, especially if it's negative (lies or truth).

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by 33girl

That's easy. Her songs (one in particular) were playing at memorable times of my life. They probably added to the memorable-ness of it. It makes me sad that a person who contributed to my life, even in a very peripheral way, even though she didn't know that she did it, is gone.

The fact that you even referenced Steve Jobs apparently means he played some similar part in your life.

If you don't understand that I don't know what else I can tell you.

Yep.

Singers usually provide the soundtracks to folks' lives (ex. I love XYZ because she was on the radio when I had my first kiss). Of course, this is going to cause people to get attached to them.

If (general) YOU don't have a connection to the artists, that's fine, but we can't discount their contributions to entertainment. The Beatles were before my time, so while I wouldn't flip tables and take off of work when McCartney passes away, I'll understand if others are upset.

I was also thinking about something else recently. I'm 27, so MJ and Whitney (among others) have been constants in my life (as long as I can remember, MJ and Whitney have been around). With their deaths, it's making me feel like I'm "closer to death" (if that makes sense), which is a bit of a downer.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

I was also thinking about something else recently. I'm 27, so MJ and Whitney (among others) have been constants in my life (as long as I can remember, MJ and Whitney have been around). With their deaths, it's making me feel like I'm "closer to death" (if that makes sense), which is a bit of a downer.

Ditto. Seeing people who have been "present" my ENTIRE life die trips me out. I remember watching the world premiere of the "Remember the Time" video when I was 7. To think that MJ is no longer living (even though he died younger than most) is a huge reminder of how much of my life has passed and how much older I am. Time is precious and that loss made me more aware of how fast it's going. In that vein, it's also trippy seeing people close to my parents' age or younger die. It makes me more aware that my time with them is limited as well.

When I think of Whitney, I remember watching The Preacher's Wife with my mom, dancing to her music with my friends, etc. So it does feel a little bit like a personal loss because Whitney was "there" in those intimate moments.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

You mean thank you, Dolly Parton.

Originally Posted by christiangirl

Nope. I did the Whitney version so she gets the shout out. Dolly's original sounds different.

Dolly wrote the song.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Yep.

Singers usually provide the soundtracks to folks' lives (ex. I love XYZ because she was on the radio when I had my first kiss). Of course, this is going to cause people to get attached to them.

If (general) YOU don't have a connection to the artists, that's fine, but we can't discount their contributions to entertainment. The Beatles were before my time, so while I wouldn't flip tables and take off of work when McCartney passes away, I'll understand if others are upset.

I understand this on a general level ... but the song still exists, and all that, you know?

I was also thinking about something else recently. I'm 27, so MJ and Whitney (among others) have been constants in my life (as long as I can remember, MJ and Whitney have been around). With their deaths, it's making me feel like I'm "closer to death" (if that makes sense), which is a bit of a downer.

This is a very good point, as it's essentially the dissonance I was talking about - and it's a mechanism we all share. We just have different manners of expression.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

Dolly wrote the song.

But she didn't sing it the way I sang it and it wasn't the words that got the baby to sleep! This is not the Dolly Parton thread!

[Greek_or_Geek?]

Originally Posted by christiangirl

But she didn't sing it the way I sang it and it wasn't the words that got the baby to sleep! This is not the Dolly Parton thread!

But you and Whitney couldn't have sung it at all if Dolly hadn't written it in the first place.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by Greek_or_Geek?

But you and Whitney couldn't have sung it at all if Dolly hadn't written it in the first place.

Fine! Thank you DOLLY for writing the song that Whitney made epic and I remixed into a lullaby full of win. You happy?

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by christiangirl

Fine! Thank you DOLLY for writing the song that Whitney made epic and I remixed into a lullaby full of win. You happy?

No. Dolly made the song epic while Whitney was still a child.

I'm sure, though, the lullaby was full of win.

[Munchkin03]

Jesus effing Christ in a chicken basket, you people.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Jesus effing Christ in a chicken basket, you people.

I swear.

I'm pretty sure christiangirl knew that Dolly Parton wrote and originally sang the song. Dolly Parton is making money from the success of Houston's version regardless.

R.I.P. Whitney Houston. I still can't believe it. She was my motivation behind wanting to be a professional singer. Keep the music going.

[AZTheta]

Well hell, I personally have always adored THIS version:

http://youtu.be/D090T2MSxKY

She sang it in concert at the TCC Music Hall in 1976 or 1977 and I thought every single piece of glass in the building was going to shatter and the ceiling was going to lift up and the angels were going to come and sit on the stage. So much power came out of that tiny package. I held my breath the entire time she was singing.

[LXA SE285]

AzTheta, thanks for that. I had no idea Linda had covered it. Gorgeous.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by LXA SE285

AzTheta, thanks for that. I had no idea Linda had covered it. Gorgeous.

I had to click on the link (even though I'm sick to death of this song) because for a minute I thought you meant Linda McCartney and I was scared.