The Listener's Guide to: All Things Music

darling bonzo

thirty seven years.

it's been thirty seven years since john henry bonham left us. no, i wasn't alive, and i'm sure none of you were either... but i guarantee you've heard of him, know what he did, and know just how truly amazing he was.

for the last nine months or so, all i've been able to think about is this man. no, he wasn't the prettiest of the bunch, but he's stolen my heart and soul in every single way and words can't possibly do justice for the feelings i have toward him. i've learned so much about him and his life that i can't help myself from being completely in love with him.

i can't find it in me to get entirely poetic about him... i'll never shut up and more likely than not cry, so i'll spare myself the tears and simply say that i would do anything for just one moment to spend with bonzo and to tell him that everything would be okay.

my heart aches when i think of the void he left this world with, knowing that he never got to properly say goodbye to any of his loved ones. i know he didn't mean to die. i know he didn't do it on purpose, but it was like he knew. toward the end of his life, he deteriorated in every sense of the word and although people noticed, none were brave enough to confront him about it, but i don't blame them. would you tell a 230 pound man that he's doing something wrong? i didn't think so.

i just wish things didn't end the way they did. i wish he would have been happy and content, but rock n' roll killed him. alcohol killed him. sorrow killed him.

i love john bonham to the moon and back and i said i'd cry if i got poetic, but here i am; a tear on my cheek as i write this. i was all over the place with this and none of it was truly beautiful poetry, per se, but i know that i couldn't describe how i felt about him in a flawless way anyhow. i just wish he was around today so i could hug him and thank him for his contributions to the world of music.

keep resting easy, bonzo, my hero. i love you.

- syd