My tribute to Scott Hutchison and Frightened Rabbit

Over the past few weeks since the world lost Scott Hutchison, I have struggled to come to terms with the news and what it meant to me. You feel like a fraud when mourning someone you never knew personally. Unlike a family member or a friend, it's not a physical loss to you. Knowing that it had affected me deeply but unable to articulate to myself why, I just forced it from my mind. Unable to listen to the music I had taken solitude in, almost daily, since my teens.

I tried to deny myself the painful thought that this isn't completely unexpected. His music over the years has been littered with foreshadowing. 'I think I'll save suicide for another day.' are contemplations offered so plainly in the melancholia song, Floating on the Forth. And in light of what has happened, this throws the song into a completely different, solemn perspective.
In a society that forces men to keep their feelings to themselves, he was somehow able to embody what it is to suffer from Depression through music.
As a creator who has also suffered from Depression, I live by the Carrie Fisher quote; 'Take your broken heart, make it into art.' He had done just this by channelling the pain into music. There is not a doubt in my mind that this helped so many going through similar struggles.

The outpouring of love towards Scott, Frightened Rabbit and family, was nothing less than staggering. It became clear that what I was feeling, was universal. Scott's contribution to this world was music filled with a brutally honest understanding of how difficult it is to exist. I think so many sought refuge in those lyrics because they articulated the existential dread we are too scared to face ourselves. Yet somehow, their music doesn't fall into pure doom and gloom. There is feelings of hope, and optimism alongside the realism of the words that convey; 'It's awful, but we're all still here, so let's make the most of it.'

Only months ago, I saw them perform live in their 10 year anniversary tour of the album that kicked off their success, Midnight Organ Fight. I remember looking at the crowd and feeling the love for Frightened Rabbit that filled the room. Halfway through the show, Scott performed the sad love song, Poke, a solo performance filled with raw passion that soaked into the completely silent, attentive audience. The second Scott hit the last note of the song, the room erupted. He looked visibly moved by such a show of love. It is something I'll never forget.

Moving on from here, we should remember the song Heads Roll Off, there is the lyric that goes 'While I'm alive, I'll make tiny changes to Earth.' This sentiment is something we should all be living by. I take hope in the fact that he did just this, and so much more.