The musician Johnny Marr compared to Sylvia Plath
In Sylvia Plath’s short life, she created enough incredible work to become one of the most celebrated poets of all time, although she unfortunately only got to witness a small glimpse of her immense popularity.
Plath released one collection of poetry, The Colossus and Other Poems, before committing suicide in 1963 at age 30. Although her only novel, The Bell Jar, was released while she was alive, it was published under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas, with Plath dying just a month later. Evidently, Plath would never get to witness just how impactful her work would become for future artists, from authors to poets and musicians.
Concerned with confessional writing, exploring themes such as motherhood, identity, womanhood, family and mental illness, Plath’s work is bracingly honest and often hard to read. From the striking ‘Daddy’, in which Plath declares, “At twenty I tried to die/ And get back, back, back to you”, to ‘Lady Lazarus’, where she asserts, “Dying/ Is an art, like everything else/ I do it exceptionally well,” her writing was unforgettable.
It’s unsurprising that many modern musicians have looked to Plath’s words for inspiration, perhaps due to the resonance of her vulnerability. For example, Lana Del Rey immortalised her love for the poet in the song ‘Hope is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me To Have — But I Have It,” in which she sings: “I’ve been tearing around in my fucking nightgown/ 24/7 Sylvia Plath.” This subtly alludes to the lines “One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral/ In my Victorian nightgown” from ‘Morning Song’.
However, the poet has also been championed by Johnny Marr of The Smiths, who has honed a successful solo career since the band’s split in the 1980s. He has released four solo studio albums, most recently sharing Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 in 2022. The record, which peaked at number four on the UK Album Chart, includes a song that was directly inspired by Plath, as well as Pink Floyd’s late Syd Barrett, whom Marr states reminds him of the American poet.
The song, ‘Ariel’, is the fourth song on the album, directly lifting its name from one of Plath’s most famous poems (also the name of her posthumous collection). Talking to NME, Marr revealed that the song is a tribute to the spirit of empathy and connection. He said: “The first thing that I thought of was about someone I wanted to make feel better, so I thought of Sylvia Plath and that’s where I got the title ‘Ariel’ from.”
He added: “My feelings on Sylvia Plath and her tragedy are similar to my feelings on Syd Barrett. It’s a story of tortured genius. They’re amongst my pantheon of heroes and people I care about.” Indeed, the duo’s struggles and art are inseparable. Ultimately, this ensures work of the utmost sincerity, filagreed with a true sense of singularity.
Listen to the song below.
