During the 1970s, three of the most important albums in South Africa were Abbey Road, Bridge Over Troubled Water, and Cold Fact. Fans researched Rodriguez and found that he'd killed himself onstage. Some heard he'd set himself on fire. Others heard he shot himself in the head with a revolver. That strengthened the myth and the metaphor. His death gave the songs added power and meaning. Rodriguez sacrificed himself for them.
A South African journalist couldn't solve the puzzle and wrote that Rodriguez was dead. One of the singer's daughters found the article and, 15 years ago, posted on a South African Rodriguez message board. She had news.
Her father was alive, working construction in Detroit, living in the same house, still as invisible and unknown as the people and places his songs were about. She typed something strange:
"Sometimes the fantasy is better left alive."
They packed an arena, and when he walked onstage, they cheered so loudly, for so long, that the band stopped playing and let the applause roll up to the stage, 25 years building, these parents who'd used their youth and his songs to change a country. For 10 minutes, the crowd clapped and whistled. Some of them cried. Rodriguez said, "Thanks for keeping me alive."
Hopefully he's not as much of an idiot as the Cruisers et al.
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