Linkous RIP

Below is a video for the Sparklehorse song “It’s a Wonderful Life”, which is the first Sparklehorse song I ever heard.  Mark Linkous, the songwriter and driving creative force behind Sparklehorse, killed himself this weekend by shooting himself in the heart.  Even if you don’t know any of the details of Linkous’ life you probably wouldn’t be surprised that he would commit suicide after hearing a sampling of his music.  I’m not the biggest Sparklehorse fan, but I’m certainly sorry that he’s dead, and it’s a real fucking tragedy when someone who’s obviously talented and consistently puts out interesting work gets so overwhelmed by the troubles in their life that they are incapable of seeing how stupid killing yourself is, how much cooler the world is with them alive.  If this is your first Sparklehorse song, my advice is you go out and listen to more Sparklehorse.  And keep the guns away from your talented friends.