04 Apr, 2010 Applause
Many newspapers were recently carrying a story and taking delight in the fact that a new movie – featuring a famous actress – had performed abysmally on it’s first day at the box office. Almost beside themselves with glee, they cackled in unison over the despairing first day figures.
The irony of it hit me square between the eyes however, particularly when considering that should a newspaper want to go looking for profit failings as such, then almost without doubt it need not look further than it’s own building where they’d be almost certain to find that their title is losing money hand over fist.
Some have said that it’s a particular British thing to gloat, but that cannot be true when for example the Germans as we know even have a word (Schadenfreude) that describes the relish available to those who want to luxuriate in the perceived poor results of anyone but ourselves. Of course when a proven bully or a bighead finally gets toppled, it is always difficult not to feel that justice has been done, or that some kind of rightful karma has sprung into action, but that is not quite the same thing.
I recall clearly in primary school the humiliation that was also brought to those who struggled badly with exams. The results were read out aloud by the (ignorant) teacher and loud giggles would ensue as the “dunces” were identified.
I may have been at a very young age but I do remember feeling uncomfortable that classmates had to endure this humiliation. Little red faces and shrunken shoulders told me all I needed to know about how they felt. Incidentally my own results were never spectacularly good or bad.
We all move at different paces and all of us are born with different skill sets that can develop or not depending on various factors. This we know. Likewise we all go through successes and failures, and if wise, we see them both as parts of any process. It is by far and above all how much we are encouraged (or not) that deters so much of what we might make of ourselves.
For example I am asked all the times to name my favorite SM gig? What show gave me the most pleasure etc, and which concert in my career was the most meaningful, the one I am most proud? I know that the questioner is fully waiting for me to say either Live Aid or the prestigious Mandela Freedom Concerts for example. But that is not the case.
The concerts in many ways that meant the most to me were those very early shows in our career, the ones that happened way before we had any reputation or the abundant record and ticket sales that would eventually come our way. I am referring to the gigs that we did in pubs, clubs and universities, invariably in front the most sparse audiences imaginable – perhaps a dozen or so people -maybe around forty or fifty only on a good night.
This was a period when onlookers could justifiably suggest that the band was going nowhere and that we would in a matter of time be returning to the dole queue. That of course did not happen, and there was one thing in particular that played a huge part in us at that time finding the strength within ourselves to defy the odds and go on. It is called applause, and it was the singular most wonderful thing to have come our way back then.
In fact just getting a positive reaction alone, no matter how small the crowd, was the oxygen we needed to keep the band alive. Without it there would have been no lengthy career to speak of.
These days we get deafened by applause, it welcomes us as the lights go down and as we make our way on stage. Inevitably it overwhelms like a huge wave that is somehow carrying us throughout our set and the entire night. It even makes us feel high still some hours later when everyone has gone home and we are back in the hotel. Above all it makes us want to give our utmost each and every show.
In my heart I wish that everybody knew what it felt like to be rewarded with applause. Or to have people turn around and say to them on a daily basis “ you are really good and I like what you do.” I know that collectively a heck of a lot more would be achieved as a result of a booming confidence that comes through being appreciated. Without doubt it would give the same lift to individuals that it gave to us. The effect of driving us onwards, convincing ourselves that what we were doing was special and worth enduring the knocks and the setbacks that are all part of anything genuinely worthwhile doing.
Jim Kerr