So while he’d been thrown by those bad reviews, maybe that wasn’t quite the reason for his withdrawal. Maybe it was more that he was retreating from the way fame objectifies a person, and the way it brings in noise and a consciousness of others’ opinions that doesn’t sit easily with the purest desire to be creative.
Actually is that what this song is really about? The personal struggle to keep ahead of the clamouring crowd, the loud tide of voices that is the sometimes-loving, sometimes-judging public?
Knowing what I know / and doing what I do / and bluffing if I need to / to stay ahead of you
Acknowledgements
I am very grateful for the grant from Creative New Zealand that gave me time to write.
Much apreciation and thanks to Fergus Barrowman, Jane Parkin, and the VUP team.
Thank you to the lovely people who read earlier drafts and offered feedback along the way: Kirsten McDougall, Marty Smith, Katherine Smyth, Sue Orr, Nic Smith and John Sinclair.
Thanks also to Oskar Roberts; and to Frans de Jong who kindly showed me through his greenhouse.
In the Neighbourhood of Fame Page 24