Well, well. It seems I almost forgot to post today. In fact, I think, technically, I did. It is now tomorrow. (i'll let you work out that math...) But, as promised, even if late, here is my next post...
As the 1960’s became the 1970’s, the rock music scene was changing faster than supermodels at a fashion show. The music was becoming harder and darker. A number of bands were popping up all at the same time that were revolutionizing and impacting the direction that hard rock and heavy metal would take for decades to come.
One of the bands at the forefront of this was a young English band known as Black Sabbath. Tony Iommi was changing the way metal was played on guitar with his single string guitar riffs, and Ozzy Osbourne was becoming a voice of metal so distinctive that it would be recognized with enthusiasm and awe by almost 40 years worth of heavy metal fans.
Of course, Ozzy’s onstage antics didn’t hurt his fame and infamy. You try biting the head off of a bat on stage in front of thousands of people and see if you get remembered.
I bet you will.
Throughout the 70’s, Ozzy and Black Sabbath were one of the standards by which all metal was judged.
Then, as the 70’s were coming to a close, Ozzy decided it was time to go out on his own and make a name for himself. This left a void in Black Sabbath that needed to be filled if they wanted to continue being a force in the world of heavy metal.
In came a man by the name of Ronald Padavona. Or as the world knew him, Ronnie James Dio. It is said he changed his stage name to “Dio” after mafia member Johnny Dio. Prior to his stint with Black Sabbath, Dio was modestly to little known. Most people do not know that Dio had been a force in rock-n-roll since the late 50’s.
I for one had been oblivious to that fact.
But once he became the front man for Black Sabbath, he was immediately shoved to the front of the line. Fronting for Sabbath was possibility one of the greatest honors in the metal world at the time.
And he did a great job. His first album was a huge success. The second album was also well received, even if not quite as successful.
Now, let me ask you.
How many of you can tell me off the top of your heads a single song Dio did with Black Sabbath?
Probably some of you can. They were good. But most people can’t. When people think of Black Sabbath, they always think of Ozzy Osbourne. They think of Iron man. War Pigs. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. And half a dozen other hugely successful Ozzy-era Black Sabbath songs.
In the end, it didn’t matter how good Dio was, he wasn’t Ozzy.
And as long as he tried to fill the shoes of Ozzy, it was always going to be that way.
I won’t say this is why Dio left Black Sabbath in 1982. I have no idea why he did. But I will say this. The moment he stopped trying to fill Ozzy’s shoes and Ronnie James Dio decided to be Ronnie James Dio, he became one of the biggest legends in heavy metal history.
When a person thinks of Ronnie James Dio, they think of songs like Holy Diver, and Rainbow in the Dark. Songs done by Dio when he left Sabbath and ventured out with his own band known simply as “Dio.”
What people don’t think of are songs like Heaven and Hell, which was the title track from his first album as front man for Black Sabbath. Even though that album was one of the best selling albums Black Sabbath had ever released until that time.
It was a success, but it’s not where his fame lies.
Dio became a success and an icon when he stopped being Ozzy, and started being Dio.
Of course, in his case, it was simply a career and business move, and the opportunity of a life time to take over for Ozzy. To turn that down would have been insanity for someone in his position.
But as a metaphor, it’s an interesting thing.
The harder we strive to be someone else, the farther away we go from who we need to be.
And that can be dangerous.
Do you know what Super-oos are? If you don’t, let me tell you what you missed.
Super-oos were Under-oos, except they were super-hero themed.
Wait, you don’t know what Under-oos are either?
*sigh*
Ok, they were a brand/type of under-wear. Super-oos came with a pair of under-wear, thermal pants and long sleeve thermal shirt that were all super-hero themed.
I had a pair of Superman ones. The pants were blue, the shirt was blue with the red and yellow “S” on the front, and the underwear were red with the yellow waist band. However, instead of wearing the underwear like underwear, I’d put them on the OUTSIDE of the pants, just like Superman. Then I’d tie a red blanket around my neck and run around that way.
Hmm. I didn’t clarify. This was when I was a little kid. This was not last week.
You can’t prove otherwise.
…
So, I would run around with my Super-oos and my red blanket cape because I wanted to be Superman. I would then proceed to jump off the stairs at our house in an attempt to fly. Because, hey, I had a cool red cape and Super-oos, I should be able to fly.
It seems our carpet was apparently made of Kryptonite. My parents said it was green shag carpet. But I knew different. I knew it was the reason why every time I would jump off the stairs I’d come down crashing at the bottom. And I knew that our Kryptonite shag carpet was the reason why it hurt every time.
Actually, I knew that the reason I couldn’t fly was because I wasn’t actually Superman. Not that I thought he was real. But you know… kids…
The problem was that I wasn’t Superman. And pretending to be Superman wasn’t going to make me fly any better or crash any softer. Eventually, trying to be Superman was going to end in disaster. To avoid that, it became apparent that I needed to stop trying to be Superman and start trying to be me.
Well, that’s not true. I think there was a Spiderman phase immediately there after…
As long as I try to be like someone else, I will never reach the potential of who I can be or who I am suppose to be. I will forever stunt my growth by exploiting the weaknesses in who I am and ignoring the strengths of who I am. I will never explore my talents, my own joys, the things that bring me fulfillment because I will be too busy trying to be Superman, or Spiderman, or Ozzy.
I will never discover who I am. Mostly, because I won’t be looking. I will run around in my life with a giant hole where my identity should be and never be the true triumph of a person that I could be. I will never develop as a person. I will never be comfortable as a person. I will always be looking outside for fulfillment. And as we have already discussed, that’s a pretty dangerous endeavor.
Ultimately, I will never be whole. I can’t try to be Superman because I am not Superman.
And neither are you.
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