An Ode To Henry

I cried at least 3 times during Henry Rollins show, I’m not sure if my peeps on either side of me noticed but I did. I choked up and let the tears roll out for many reasons throughout the 2 and a half hours of listening to this man speak. Marching out on stage at 8 o’clock on the dot and assaulting us with his words from start to finish, without a breath, without a sip of water, the man was a little punk rock machine, a little firecracker of light and bitter truth about the world we live in.

I cried when he spoke of Constance McMillen the little girl banned from her Prom just because she wanted to take her girlfriend. He spoke words of confusion that this abomination was still going on in the world. His anger at the ignorance of the ‘adults’ in this situation mirrored mine to the point where I truly wanted to stand up and scream “I fucking love you Henry!!!” but I refrained and let the man speak. His genuine plea for us to be the generation of change touched me as it became obvious that due to his age he already knows his rebellion and protest wouldn’t necessarily make any difference now. It was clear that deep down he knows he would run the risk of coming across as merely a grumpy old man in the golden age of Facebook and Twitter. Rollins is smarter than this though, he wasn’t talking into the darkness, nor was he preaching he was using his anecdotes to plead with us for change, he was telling us to get our heads out of cyberspace and open our fucking eyes to reality. He was very aware of what he was doing and of course he made us laugh but he also intended to make us think, think really fucking hard.

I had tears when he spoke about his fondness for Ru Paul and what she does. His tenderness and sincerity about her and everything she stands for was wonderful and truly heart warming. A tad jarring to be confronted with an angry punk rocker who is besties with a drag queen but absolutely delightful all the same. He can laugh at himself being weirdly attracted to these men dressed in drag and poke fun at how uncomfortable it made him. With this though, I couldn’t help but think it was a slight taunt at heterosexuality, a little sneer at homophobes and the real reasons why they feel they way they feel. Henry also had a dig at the Catholic Church; me being Catholic would suggest I wouldn’t agree with him. On the contrary, it was another moment I had to concentrate on keeping my bum in the seat and keeping my joyous chants of ‘Henry Henry Henry!’ under control. He highlighted their contradictions and pointed out just how glaringly obvious their hypocrisy is and how ridiculous it is that people still think of it as a sacred institution. Each to their own yes, but when you are just doing something downright dumb you deserve to be pointed and laughed at, Amen.

I had to write this, I had to spill out how I felt about Henry and what he did for my mental well-being on Monday night. Being surrounded by wonderful, beautiful, intelligent, genuine people 90% of the time sometimes doesn’t cancel out the fact that the other 10% of the time I am faced with bumbling fucking idiots who don’t deserve to be where they are. Sometimes it is because they’ve never travelled, never watched a good film, never read a great book, never tried to learn about a different culture but most of all it is because they have never taken a risk. Anything out of the norm is too fucking scary for them so they sit around patting each other on the backs because they were so clever to stay where they always were. I’m full of vitriol for these people because I feel helpless in trying to educate them to look beyond the surface of their shallow lives. I fucking despise ignorance and Henry only added fuel to my fire. In saying that though he also made me realise I can do something about it, I can make a difference, I can stand for change. I can read beyond the morning papers, I can travel and see other cultures; I can speak to people of different sexual orientation, religion and beliefs and educate myself to understand this world a little bit better. Furthermore, I know that my children will be encouraged to be curious of the bigger picture. They will hopefully want to lead enriched and cultured lives through my influence. I know that I will accept them unconditionally no matter what their preferences may be and the choices they make. Maybe this is all I can do? Maybe it won’t really matter? I will do it anyway, I am not willing to let Henry down even if I was the only one to see it or god forbid I interpreted his intentions wrong, I will stand up for change.

Finally, I think the really funny part about how I felt after it was over was that I found myself missing Mr Rollins. Like, really missing him, as if I had uncorked a bottle of wine and sat talking with him until the sun came up and then he took off. It was like a good friend of mine had come to see me, we spent time together talking out the problems in the world and then they disappeared and I didn’t know when I would see them again. Maybe it is because ever since I left my home country I have had to deal with that particular situation more times than I would have liked. When travelling you can connect with others in no time whatsoever, you can be best mates with someone within minutes but the next day they are gone, off on their next adventure. Yet, they leave a little part of them with you and you in turn pass this on to the next person you meet. I kind of felt like this when Henry walked off stage, he was gone, and I had changed.

So, I’m telling you. I’m spreading Henry’s word and passing on the change that shifted in me. Hopefully, somehow, I can create that shift in someone else and we can all work towards making the world just a wee bit better for all of us.

I love you Henry x