Antares in NYC
Senior Member
- Messages
- 582
- Location
- USA
Hi everyone,
Although I have been a big fan of the Scottish indie band Belle & Sebastian (similar in style to The Smiths, Morrissey, Joy Division etc), I did not know that singer Stuart Murdoch struggled with ME/CFS during various points in his life. In his 20s he was bed-ridden for two years, and last time he spent five years recovering from a CFS crash. For those who don't know, Belle & Sebastian is a prominent and influential band in the British indie scene since the 1990s. They have not produced a new record in a while, and their upcoming new album, "Girls in Peacetime Want To Dance", includes "Nobody's Empire", which deals with Stewart's experience with this awful disease.
The song is emotionally heavy and incisive, narrating how his ME/CFS issues started in childhood, how things got worse, and how the world kept moving and evolving around him while he remained ill, alone, forgotten:
The chorus just says what we all feel:
It's refreshing to see references in popular culture starting to reflect the reality of ME/CFS, spreading the word, and contributing to the awareness of this condition. I hope more celebrities have the courage to come out and speak about their experiences with the syndrome.
Although I have been a big fan of the Scottish indie band Belle & Sebastian (similar in style to The Smiths, Morrissey, Joy Division etc), I did not know that singer Stuart Murdoch struggled with ME/CFS during various points in his life. In his 20s he was bed-ridden for two years, and last time he spent five years recovering from a CFS crash. For those who don't know, Belle & Sebastian is a prominent and influential band in the British indie scene since the 1990s. They have not produced a new record in a while, and their upcoming new album, "Girls in Peacetime Want To Dance", includes "Nobody's Empire", which deals with Stewart's experience with this awful disease.
The song is emotionally heavy and incisive, narrating how his ME/CFS issues started in childhood, how things got worse, and how the world kept moving and evolving around him while he remained ill, alone, forgotten:
The chorus just says what we all feel:
We are out of practise we're out of sight
On the edge of nobody’s empire
If we live by books and we live by hope
Does that make us targets for gunfire?
On the edge of nobody’s empire
If we live by books and we live by hope
Does that make us targets for gunfire?
It's refreshing to see references in popular culture starting to reflect the reality of ME/CFS, spreading the word, and contributing to the awareness of this condition. I hope more celebrities have the courage to come out and speak about their experiences with the syndrome.
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