On the 5th anniversary of his death, I figured I would post my Sparklehorse tattoos. Needless to say Mark Linkous was and is extremely important to me. March 6th is a difficult day. After all this time I still find it hard to reconcile the fact that such a talented, beautiful soul could fail to see his own value and take his own life. It saddens me deeply, every day, and every time I listen to him. So here are my tributes to the man who could turn mental anguish into icecream.
Well anyway, it wasn’t on purpose that both of these are inspired by Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain. I can’t say I have a favorite Sparklehorse album. I love them all equally, for different reasons. But the first photo, (which is visible in a million pictures of me, but is actually difficult to get a good look at where it looks actually straight and is entirely visible) was created by the tattoo artist (Caleb Quales at Iron Age, St. Louis) and inspired by the line in the song Shade and Honey “Stars are dying in my chest, til I see you again.” I got this shortly after I kinda lost everything, moved away, everything I knew, and everyone I thought was important to me became long distance. It was also a tribute to Mark himself. The stars are half black…as if they’re dying. Caleb hid that little heart in there. I couldn’t really see what he was doing from the position I was lying in. But I trusted him implicitly and I loved it even more for that little addition, which made it all the more special.
The second is the cover art of the single for Don’t Take My Sunshine Away. I lived with a person for a few years- and during that time period we had a print of this hanging on our wall in the living room. That person was who actually introduced me to Sparklehorse. He always swore up and down he was going to get that tattoo. Well, I’m not getting into the story there, but suffice it to say he never did get it. I fucking did. It’s a memento, and a reminder that my sunshine CAN’T be taken away. Not by another person anyway. It is mine to keep. It was done by Jason Stubblefield, formerly of Iron Age, now at Ragtime St. Louis.
I am planning on eventually adding the bird from the cover of Good Morning Spider, and an Apple Bed, if I can ever get an artist who can draw it up the way I have pictured in my mind. So, stay tuned I guess.
I once read a quote from some random person that said “Don’t say RIP. Mark didn’t die. He went to Heaven to teach God to write poetry.” I will agree this is an accurate assessment, and the only plausible reason why such a wonderful soul could leave us so early. He obviously had more important work to do. But the world is just not as bright without him. Too bad he didn’t realize that.
