You’re Gonna Miss Me

“You’re Gonna Miss Me” is a 2005 documentary about Roky Erickson. Erickson is a guitarist/singer from Texas who had a brief moment of fame in the 1960s as a member of the 13th Floor Elevators, who are thought to have coined the term “psychedelic rock.”
Other things Erickson was: A vocal propnent of the hallucinogenic drug LSD. A paranoid schizophrenic who was subjected to electroshock treatment. An inmate at a mental hospital for the criminally insane. A 1970s solo artist who wrote songs about two-headed dogs and and zombies.
By 1999, where the movie brings us into Erickson’s life, the only thing he is is a babbling, shuffling mess in the care of his mother.
The images in the documentary offer a stark contrast: Erickson is young one minute, singing the semi-famous line from his one hit song (which the movie was named for) and in another, he’s sitting in the corner of his run-down apartment, sunglasses on as he listens to white noise coming from speakers that surround him. There are several other examples.
There’s something almost laughable about Erickson. If anyone else wrote songs with titles like “Two Headed Dog” or “I Walked With A Zombie” I’d probably laugh. But the music isn’t funny. The lyrics seem mostly like ideas scattered here or there, only tied together by Erickson’s own paranoia. It’s creepy, but there’s also something undeniably good and simple about the songs.

SPOILER ALERT HERE

The movie ends on a positive note. Erickson’s brother wins custody over him from his mother, who relies on “New Age” techniques to address her son’s mental state. She refuses to get him regular medical treatment, and it shows.
At one point in the documentary, Roky looks at the cameraman and tells him he doesn’t like where he lives.
“I don’t really like this place. I think I’d like to live somewhere, be somewhere kind of different than this,” he says, and leaves you wondering if it’s a moment of clarity where he’s talking not about his shambly apartment, but his mind instead.
Later, when Erickson gets the mental help he needs, he seems a lot better off, if still a little flaky. The movie closes with him playing a song on an acoustic guitar for his therapist. When he finishes, he looks up at her and says “Well, I need to cut my fingernails, but I guess I’m going to be alright.”

From Youtube:
The 13 Floor Elevators perform “You’re Gonna Miss Me”

Still alive, I promise.

Sorry this thing has been dead for a couple weeks. With election fever wrapping up last week, I took the next few days to catch up on some things I’d had to neglect during the political season.
Then on Thursday night, I left to spend 4 days in Wilmington with my cousin for his wedding. I realize now that when you’re going to disappear for a few days, it’s probably best to post something on your blog before you take off. But I’m still learning about all this, so bear with me.
Just a couple of notes:

1) The wedding was incredible. Best wedding I’ve ever been to. The whole thing had this 1940s Hollywood theme, the food was great, there was never a dull moment, and these little kids passed out wax lips and fake moustaches at the end of the night. It was fun and hilarious, the way a wedding should be. And the best man did an awesome job, I might add.

2) I’ll be posting a couple of reviews this week. I watched a documentary about an amazing but troubled musician named Roky Erickson (you might recognize the song “You’re Gonna Miss Me,” especially if you’ve seen the movie High Fidelity) and I’m also about to finish the first volume in a sci-fi trilogy called The Neanderthal Parallax. I’ve enjoyed both and I’ll write about them when I get the chance.

3) On the “real” news front, some of the things I plan on writing articles about this week are as follows:

*Provisional votes from city and Broadway elections are being totalled as I write. Official totals will be published in Wednesday’s paper.
*Frank Wetzel was convicted of one of the most famous cop-killings in North Carolina. One of the deceased officers, a state trooper, was killed in Sanford. Wetzel was caught 50 years ago this month, and is still alive in prison.
*Latasha Gravely will be sentenced in her drunk-driving case which in 2006 caused the death of a Raeford woman.
*In Pittsboro tomorrow, Legal Aid is unveiling a new poster that’s part of an anti-domestic violence campaign.
*Judicial and prosecutorial resources were wasted in Lee County recently during a trial over the deaths of two dogs – the judge eventually ruled that there was no evidence to indicate that Summer Roberson, who was caring for the dogs, took any criminal action that led to their deaths. I’ll be finding out just how much taxpayer money went into the trial, which in the opinions of many, never should have happened.

That’s about it for now.