‘I’m going under and this time I fear there’s no one to save me
This all or nothing really got a way of driving me crazy
I need somebody to heal
Somebody to know’
from ‘Someone You Loved’, by Lewis Capaldi
OK, so I’m 50 something and more likely to be found listening to Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen than a young Scottish singer songwriter crooning about lost love, but before this week I genuinely didn’t know who Lewis Capaldi was. Sure I’d heard the name but, up until now, I had imagined that he was either an actor or a formula one racing driver! It turns out though that he is a talented musician who last weekend performed on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury. And it was there that he reached a whole new audience, one of whom was me.
Not that I was at Worthy Farm in person to see him in person you understand, nor indeed had I tuned in to watch the BBC’s coverage of his performance. No, I came across Lewis Calpaldi as a result of the media attention garnered by his rendition at the world famous music festival of what I gather is his most famous song – ‘Someone You Loved’
For those of you who don’t know, Calpaldi’s rise to fame has been accompanied by his suffering increasing anxiety as a result of the intense pressure on him to perform. Furthermore, in 2022 he revealed he had been diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by motor and vocal tics. And at Glastonbury last weekend his problems became all too apparent, so much so that he struggled to keep on singing.
But what was so lovely to see was how, as Calpaldi stopped singing, the huge crowd recognising his predicament, didn’t – instead they sang the song for him in a very evident display of support. It was genuinely moving to watch.
Oh that we were all so supportive of those who find themselves struggling. But the truth is we’re not.
Evidence suggests that the more remote we are from them, the less we care for those with whom we interact and this, as well as raising important questions as to how lockdowns and our increasingly remote existence will affect us as a society, goes some way to explaining the insensitive comments that are too often made on social media platforms and elsewhere.
Because it’s easy to criticise from a distance.
In stark contrast to the crowds supportive response to Lewis Calpaldi’s less than perfect performance at Glastonbury, it’s a pity that we are so quick to condemn others, even those we consider our heroes, when they fail to deliver in the way that we would like.
Many of us struggle with the pressures of our everyday lives, how much more difficult must it be then for those in the public eye who have their every act scrutinised by a hypercritical audience who all too often seem intent on bringing down those who have risen to the top, those who not infrequently have had to pay a very high price for any rewards that might accompany their success.
Anyone who has seen ‘The Edge’ * a film that chronicles the England cricket team’s climb to the top of the world’s Test rankings will know, not only how hollow the team’s success felt to many members of the squad when it was eventually achieved, but also how costly it was, in terms of the adverse effect on the mental health of a number of the players, when winning became mandatory. Perhaps that’s why Ben Stokes, the current England captain and someone who has himself struggled with anxiety and panic attacks, wants to play the game in such a way that the manner in which it is played is more important than the result itself.
Because intense rivalry needn’t descend into unpleasantness as was so pleasingly demonstrated by the good humoured exchange, characterised as it was with broad smiles, between Stuart Broad and David Warner after the latter scooped the former in the opening overs of the Test currently being played out at Lords.
Life is frequently hard and kindness is absolutely necessary if casualties are to be kept to a minimum. We mustn’t close our eyes to the hurt that others sometimes feel. And we must not add to their pain by our own insensitive comments. Because though cricket is a game, the life of an individual player is not.
How sad if compassion towards those who struggle is withheld until they break – and how tragic if it isn’t shown until someone is dead. Because whilst the likes of Marcus Trescothick and Jonathan Trott, whose struggles with poor mental health are well documented, have come through their difficulties, not all have been so fortunate. The last Test cricketer that I am aware of to commit suicide was David Bairstow, the father of the current England wicket keeper. Some years before him, the former Somerset player, Harold Gimblett, also took his life. And there are far too many others.
And what is true for well known sportsmen and musicians is just as true for ordinary folk like you and me. Because few of us will make it through our lives without sometimes being overwhelmed. The truth is that it really is OK for us to sometimes be needy. After all, if no one was ever needy, how could our genuine need to be needed ever be realised? Furthermore, isn’t it good that our need to be needed can be so easily fulfilled if we simply take the time to notice those who need us to be kind to them today?
Being outward looking isn’t always easy of course – we do, after all, have our own problems with which to contend. But if we manage to look out for others we may find that though, for now, Lewis Calpadi has had to retire hurt, he and others like him may one day be able to return to the crease and continue their innings. And as is always the case when the wounded take up the fight once more, there will be an almighty cheer from those who are looking on when they do so.
So next time someone representing your team, sporting or otherwise, is out for a literal or metaphorical golden duck, when they drop a catch or leak runs to such an extent that the game is lost, rather than adding to their already significant dismay by commenting about your perception of their weakness in ways that, even if true will never be helpful, why not be a little more like that Glastonbury crowd that metaphorically wrapped themselves around Lewis Calpadi and showed him that they cared.
Because why wouldn’t you do that to ‘somebody you loved’.
The Edge’ is currently available to watch on the BBC iPlayer as is Lewis Capaldi full performance at Glastonbury. His rendition of ‘Somebody you loved’ is the final song of his set.
Related blogs:
To read ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’, click here
To read ‘Professor Ian Aird – A Time to Die?’, click here
To read ‘On not remotely caring’, click here
To read ‘Contactless’, click here
To read ‘Online criticism: it’s just not cricket’, click here
To read ‘Eleanor Rigby is not at all fine’, click here
And to read ‘Don’t forget to be ordinary if you want to be happy’, which has a more theological flavour, click here
And below are some more cricket related blogs:
To read ‘Cigarettes, Singles, and Sipping Tea with Ian Botham: Signs of a Well Spent Youth!’, click here
To read ‘Bazball, Bazchess, Bazlife’, click here
To read ‘Cricket: It’s All About Good Timing’, click here
To read ‘A Tale of Two Tons’, click here
To read ‘Breaking News’, click here
To read ‘A Somerset Cricket Players Emporium’, click here
To read ‘A Cricket Taunt’, click here
To read ‘Scooby Doo and the Mystery of the Deseted Cricket Ground’, click here
To read ‘Brian and Stumpy visit The Repair Shop’, click here
To read ‘A Cricketing Christmas Carol’, click here
To read ‘At Season’s End’, click here
To read ‘A Historic Day’, click here
To read ‘On passing a village cricket club at dusk one late November afternoon’ click here
To read ‘Cricket – through thick and thin’, click here
To read ‘A Song for Brian’, click here
To read ‘I’ve got a little CRICKET list’, click here
To read ‘My love is not a red, red rose , click here
To read ‘Stumpy – a legend reborn’, click here
To read ‘A Cricket Tea Kind of a Day’, click here
To read ‘A Day at the Cricket’, click here
To read ‘The Great Cricket Sell Off’, click here
To read ‘How the Grinch stole from county cricket…or at least tried to’. click here
To read ‘How Covid-19 stole the the cricket season’, click here
To read ‘Life in the slow lane’, click here
To read ‘Frodo and the Format of Power’, click here
To read ‘If Only’, click here
To read ‘Eve of the RLODC limericks’ click here
To read ‘It’s coming home…’, click here
To read ‘A Song for Ben Green’, click here
To read ‘Enough Said…’, the last section of which is cricket related, click here
A Jack Leach Trilogy:
To read ‘For when we can’t see why’, click here
To read ‘WWJD – What would Jack Do?’, click here
To read ‘On Playing a Blinder’, click here
To read ‘Coping with Disappointment’, click here
And now a couple of cricket blogs with a theological flavour
To read ‘Somerset CCC – Good for the soul’, click here
To read ‘Longing for the pavilion whilst enjoying a good innings’, click here
Some musings 
Very well put!
You have been top of my prayer list for three reasons:
1. The ongoing stress of a GP’s work added to that ….
2. The stress of the “gentleman’s” Ashes competition
3. The stress of the women’s Ashes competition
Ooooh the pressure Etc etc
Have a good week!
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Thank you! You forgot the stress of supporting Somerset – though to be fair, the team have enjoyed a very successful couple of weeks!
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