The place where The Specials singer Terry Hall was happiest
The tragic news came in late last year that the frontman of ska and 2 tone legends The Specials, Terry Hall, died at the age of 63 after a short illness. Hall was known for his witty sense of humour and his unique approach to writing music.
Hall was also prone to bouts of profound depression. In 2019, he claimed that he had “made reference to it” on every album he’d ever made, and revealed that 11 years prior, he had been “manic depression and schizophrenia”. While the diagnosis may have come as a shock, he also noted that it made “a big difference” his life as he could begin taking the proper medication.
Hall added: “The change in me, to be able to function… I couldn’t have done this 12 years ago. People used to say to me, ‘Why don’t you try yoga? Or St John’s wort?’ But there’s a massive difference when you’re in a deep depression and feeling shitty with the world, and the stage that I got to, where you want to give yourself a lobotomy, it’s that bad.”
However, there were always ways in which Hall could help himself come out of serious phases of the affliction. He claimed that he was “probably happiest when watching football”. The Manchester United fan added: “Even through all the shitty times, five minutes before kick-off, you think: ‘This is great.’”
Interestingly, Hall noted an anecdote in which he found true happiness. He said: “In our bathroom, on the floor there’s mosaic tiles and one was lost. It’s white so I tried putting Polyfilla in, but I couldn’t get the grouting to look good. Then I thought: ‘Well, why don’t I look in the vac bag?’ So I got the bag out and put my hand in and I found the tile. Honestly, that made me really happy. A great moment.”
It’s often that we are looking for happiness in all the wrong places: careers, relationships, etc. While these things do admittedly bring purpose to our lives, it is often the case that simple moments in life can bring us the most profound joy. For Hall, it was finally finding that elusive tile: a fitting example of putting all the pieces together.
Hall’s bandmate Lynvall Golding expressed that his happiness is often derived from playing music with his friends. Ahead of the release of The Specials’ 2019 album Encore, Golding noted: “With me, [it was] when we made the album, to get up and get on a train and go to work every day, come to the studio. We had so much fun doing this record. We’d take it in turns to sleep on the couch. Wake up, ‘Oh, that’s nice, yes,’ and go back to sleep.”
