Let me be clear here, I’ve got no problem with Corinne Bailey Rae making music about her deceased husband, it’s the marketing I object to.

Is nothing sacred, is nothing private?

Or to quote Don Henley:

I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something, something I can use

And in this case, the marketers were complicit with the media, they gave them an angle, a hook.  Which was used to get people to pay attention.  Is this how low we’ve sunk?  Or do you believe in a Facebook world where all information is fair game, and no restraint should be exercised.

I know I don’t want to share the details of my divorce with someone I don’t know, who’s calling me up to write some article about me that he probably won’t get right anyway (yes, it’s true…the press gets it wrong again and again, it’s frightening.)  I might tell my closest friends, I might even write about it, but it’s too intimate to get into detail with with unknowns.

Some things are off limits.  And if you don’t know this, you’ve never interviewed anybody, never had access.  Because if you cross the line, people will never talk to you again.  If only I could tell you what I hear on the phone, at dinner…but I can’t.  I respect people’s privacy.

Then again, on CNN and Fox they’ll reveal anything for ratings, sacrifice anybody’s reputation.

Now, now, now…I’m not lobbying against the First Amendment.  I’m just saying people have choice.

And to spill your guts to these unknowns and have so little of a payday…  Can’t the music stand on its own?  Can’t people listen to it and derive their own interpretations?  Does Bob Dylan explain his work?  No.  So why do hacks with one tenth the talent need to delineate their lame lyrics for everyone involved?

As I stated in my piece, I feel sorry for Corinne Bailey Rae.

But the hype in the media led with the death of her spouse.  That oveshadowed the music.

Then again, they only write about someone when there’s something to sell.  It truly is hype.  And that’s what I’m commenting on here, the hype.  We know no limits.

Perez Hilton knows no limits.

But he’s not gonna last.

Unfortunately, most new musical acts are not gonna last either.  Because being an artist is knowing when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em, and to paraphrase Carl Reiner, sometimes you’ve got to leave the best stuff out, to make the whole piece work.

Subtletly, mystery…sure, the media wants to tease out all the dirty facts, but do you have to help them do it?

It’s interesting when people die
Give us dirty laundry