[Closed] RIP: Mark Linkous sparklehorse

Dunno much about the guy, love Dark Night of the Soul though.

He certainly liked to hit the bottle at times. I saw Sparklehorse once in Bristol. Mark came on stage with a third empty bottle of Jack in his pocket which he worked through right through the gig. At one point he forgot one of his own songs, and even the rest of the band showing him how it went couldn't help him so he scrubbed it and played something else. A roadie had to catch him when he fell off the end of the stage. Played a bunch of enchor's, though, even though he could barely stand up. Magnificent and shambolic, I'll miss him. RIP, Mark. Whatever troubled you, you're free from it now.

🙁

That's bad sh1t.

Crikey! Shame.
I'm down again
And I don't know how to tell you
But maybe this time I can't come back
Because I might be too far down

I wish for real
That I could turn it on and off
Like hot and cold and up and down
Because I'm down again

I'm too far down
I couldn't begin to smile
Because I can't even laugh or cry
Because I just can't do it

If it was so easy to be happy
Why am I so down?
All I can do is sit and wonder if it's going to end
Or if I should just go away forever

When I sit and think
I wish that I just could die
Or let someone else be happy
By setting my own self free

And you don't want the emotion
Because the taste it leaves is for real
But nothing's ever real until it's gone
And I might be too far down

And is this just another thrown away
Or is this the end of the whole stupid road
But you wouldn't want to know how I feel anyway
Because the darkest hole is at the end of the road

I'm down again
And I guess I'm not the only one who dreams
That there's not any way to tell you
Because I might be too far down
😥

Who?

I saw sparklehorse at Sheffield leadmill around the time of the first album and it remains my favourite ever gig, brilliant. he'll be sorely missed

M6TTF, Mark Linkous was the man behind the band Sparklehorse. They were a great band, but never achieved much commercial success or mainstream recognition. Mark Linkous did work with a lot of better-known people, though. He produced and played on Nina (The Cardigans) Perrson's first A Camp record, collaborated with Dangermouse, PJ Harvey, Tom Waits, Thom Yorke and others.

CountZero, that sounds like the Fleece and Firkin gig in '98. That was the first time I saw Sparklehorse and the first time I went to an unseated gig. I saw them a lot in the following years and it is very sad to think that I won't see them again.

I remember that in the interviews he gave when the last Sparklehorse album came out he talked about his struggles with drink, drugs and depression. It is a great shame that they finally got the better of him.

Damm shame, he wrote some great songs and produced some great music.

poor ****er, sad for his family too.

sad news.

if you listen to some of his lyrics , i guess it doesn't come as a complete surprise, wasn't he thought to have died years ago when he passed out on drugs and nearly lost both legs through his circulation being cut off ?

I saw him live after the "legs" incident. He performed the gig in a wheelchair.

toxicsoks - nice Husker Du reference, sums it up nicely

another great talent taken far too soon

Just found this out. So sad. But what a great band they were.

M6TTF - Member

Who?

Was on one of the Dirt/Earthed vids-few DH guys doing whips over a bridge on a course somewhere;

ChrisL, that was indeed the Fleece gig. Mark did say how embarrased he was about it in a later interview. Absolutely unforgettable. Saw John Martyn once when he was shitfaced, and that was a disaster, but Sparklehorse were brilliant.

In early 1996, after a Sparklehorse concert in London, Linkous nearly died when he passed out after mixing Valium with prescription antidepressants. He spent 14 hours unconscious on his hotel's bathroom floor, his legs pinned under the rest of his body, and the prolonged loss of blood circulation nearly left him crippled

vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot

The title of the CD says it all, really.

Well thats gone and stuffed my day.

Very sad.......had a blast of 'Good Morning Spider' yesterday

As they say, guy must have been very troubled.....but he made some great music

rip

Very sad and ultimately a waste of life and talent, my feelings go out to his family and friends.