See You Around: Musician Vic Chesnutt Dead at 45

In another example of how the best things in life are throwing in the towel and silently receding into oblivion, the New York Times has reported that singer-Songwriter Vic Chesnutt has died in a hospital in Athens, Georgia following an overdose of muscle relaxants and lapsing into a coma. (Click here to listen to Fresh Air's Terry Gross as she interviews Chesnutt just weeks before his death and the resulting memorial program that aired on January 7th, 2010.)

Published reports suggest that it may have been suicide as he had made similar attempts in the past. He is said to have suffered from depression throughout his life and had been a paraplegic since suffering a broken neck in a car accident when he was 18. Several reports have also indicated that at the time of his death, Vic was $50,000.00 in debt due to constant health issues. 


It would be ridiculous of me to sit here listening to his music, drumming my fingers on my desk and attempting to compose a half-assed summary of his creative efforts. There's just no sense in trying to elaborate on what has been said or written by the people who knew him by means beyond his music (Kristin Hersh, Michael Stipe, Jeff Mangum, Patti Smith). What I can say is that I'm saddened by the news and totally outraged that he too, a well-known, well-regarded artist and musician, was a victim of the fractured health care system. Despite 15 albums, a brooding, reflective body of work that is the artistic envy of so many more commercially successful musicians, Chesnutt apparently died depressed and in debt. Granted, it wasn't the healthcare system that killed Vic Chesnutt. He himself was apparently quite open about his struggles with depression. Still, an inability to afford proper healthcare is a serious concern and can't possibly help the chances of an emotionally fragile person that had a past reputation of flying too close to the ground. What a wretched, wretched shame.


I would suggest to anyone unfamiliar with his work to start from the beginning by locating a copy of his 1990 debut, Little, produced by R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe and originally released on the Texas Hotel label. Click here to listen to Chesnutt's "See You Around", the final cut from his 1996 release About To Choke on Capitol/PLR Records.