We are some students in an elementary school, from 12 and 13 years. We have studied with our teacher about the death in your music. We’ve got some questions about your songs. How do you represent death through your songs? And have you some guilty about your tragic evenements in your life about the death? We found you sometimes weirdos, strange and dark in your differents songs, but we like it! So how do you see yourself in your songs? Are you happy sometimes?

Dear Children from the College of Corsica,

Thank you for your letter. I liked it a great deal. Your questions are so open, honest, curious and, well, weirdos! I’m impressed that your teacher is opening up this type of discussion.

Death, or rather the consequences of death – that sense of loss – runs through many of my songs. Perhaps this serves as my enduring theme. I suspect this is because I have always felt a certain yearning or longing, a sense that something is missing. I frequently perceive the world as dark, strange and unstable, and even at your age I found these darker themes compelling. In my earlier songs, these emotions were often represented through violent acts. However, I was not so much concerned with the violent acts themselves but with the void these acts left behind.

As you know, one of my children died in a terrible accident. Arthur was not much older than you. Some years later, another son, Jethro, passed away. This sense I’d always had of something missing became a painful reality. Even though I didn’t particularly want to write about these events, the feelings of loss and, yes, guilt ran through everything. I made a record called Ghosteen, and it felt as if all the songs were built around the shape of an invisible, absent boy, with every word and note pleading for forgiveness. Loss ceased to be merely my theme and transformed into a way of life.

As for being ‘weirdos, strange and dark’ – this is not only an accurate reflection of my songs but also describes me, or at least how I often feel. Yet, amidst the weirdness, the strangeness, and deep within the darkness, I am mostly happy. I am mostly happy because beautiful things keep happening to me, such as receiving your letter.

I’m glad you like the music, weirdos kids of Corsica. Stay strange, stay weird, stay dark, be happy, and above all, stay safe. We parents – we adults – love and need you and value you above all else, even though this love may sometimes feel imperfect. You are the best of us. You keep the sky from falling.

Love, Nick

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