Hayes album a dark story
By LUCY CARNE
29aug04
FORMER Savage Garden star Darren Hayes has revealed he spent his childhood dealing with domestic violence and alcoholism.
The multi-millionaire singer who grew up "poor" in the Brisbane suburb of Woodridge with an older brother and sister, has spoken to the Sunday Herald Sun about his painful past.
"My father was an alcoholic and we experienced domestic violence," Hayes said.
"It's a very difficult decision to admit this and talk about this, out of respect for my family, but I only talk about it because we are survivors.
"It's really hard to say that, because I love my Dad. He is my hero and he hasn't had a drink in 20 years . . . he is an amazing man now."
Hayes, 32, who now lives alone in San Francisco, said he tried to escape his pain by becoming a performer.
"My life, up until the age of about 12, was filled with turbulence and violence. It was definitely the reason I became a performer. I wanted to reinvent myself, I wanted to escape.
"I've been searching for the love of my father all of my life, that's why I became a performer."
Hayes formed Savage Garden with fellow Brisbane boy Daniel Jones.
Their two albums have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. They topped the charts with songs like Truly Madly Deeply, I Want You and To the Moon.
But at the height of Savage Garden's success in 2001 the duo split.
Jones stayed in Brisbane while Hayes moved to the US to pursue a solo career.
On his new autobiographical album The Tension and The Spark, which will be launched in Australia on September 13, Hayes deals with the effects of his troubled childhood and his struggle to reveal his past.
"As an adult, when you get to a point where I was, where I had sold 23 million records, had No. 1s in America, I was supposed to be happy, right? Well I wasn't.
"I'm not going to lie to you, it's heavy, but it's a beautiful feeling to really truly say I forgive and I am proud of my dad.
"I don't have to lie about who I was as a child. I don't have to get everyone's approval.
"Now I can move forward and I feel so much more honest about who I am today."
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/com...5E2902,00.html
Janie xx
It is very sad to read that apparently Darren like so many others have had this childhood experience.
I sincerely hope that the members of his family (who have not made the choice to go public) who live here are not hounded by the media in light of his revelations.
Due to past experience too I wait to hear these things from his own mouth rather than rely totally on what I read (hope that makes sense)
Personally, I find it very uncomfortable when I see things like this. It'd be different if the relationship with his father was still unresolved but the fact that he cites him as his "hero" and that the man "hasn't had a drink in 20 years"......well, to me I find it pretty unpalatable for him to be washing his dirty laundry in public. I just hope that his family are ok with this...... [img]confused.gif[/img]
*edited for typos*
<font color="#9966FF" size="1">[ August 29, 2004 08:32 AM: Message edited by: Twizzle ]</font>
I guess he would of gotten his familys approval before he actually spoke out about it. He would of written it into the songs but then made sure it was okay to actually say the words to the media.
But I mean maybe its a good thing to speak out so people know that families go through these things.
Kat
^^ As I said up there, just as long as his family are ok with this. If they've given their go-ahead for him to reveal all, so to speak, then I suppose it's ok.
Me, I always find this sort of revelatory stuff uncomfortable though - whomever it involves......
<font size="3" face="Tempus sans ITC, Papyrus,Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">oh yeah I agree Terry. I always get fidgety around those kind of revelations. Its prolly why I never go about telling about my life.. I just dont like to deal in it.Originally posted by Twizzle:
^^ As I said up there, just as long as his family are ok with this. If they've given their go-ahead for him to reveal all, so to speak, then I suppose it's ok.
Me, I always find this sort of revelatory stuff uncomfortable though - whomever it involves......
Kat
Me either Kat, not that I've got any <u>real</u> skeletons in my closet. [img]wink.gif[/img]
That's probably why I don't buy gossip mags (unless there's a specific piccie or article that I'm/was interested in). I dunno if it's b/c I find the general content uncomfortable to read or if it's b/c I'm just not interested enough in celebs and their lifestyles. [img]confused.gif[/img]
LOL Terry, theres heaps in mine. Im the same as you Im not into celebrity woeful stories. I mean we all empathise with Darren and I do too esp with the latest issues, but its like you know the unknown and dont need it written in black and white.
In saying that its the media and who knows if its taken out of context.
Kat
<font size="3" face="Tempus sans ITC, Papyrus,Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That's very true Kat. I just can't bring myself to believe that someone like DH, who's well known for being very private and protective in regards his family, would say these things outright. It just doesn't sit well with me. I mean to say, we pretty much all knew who was being referred to when he initially said that there had been a form alcoholic abuse in his family in the past but for him to come out and name names just doesn't ring true to me. It's like the press have put 2 and 2 together and made (and named) the correct total. [img]frown.gif[/img]Originally posted by Kattitude:
In saying that its the media and who knows if its taken out of context.
Kat
I dunno....
[img]confused.gif[/img]
It does make uncomfortable reading, He must have his family's endorsment,(I really hope so) otherwise it would be a betrayal of trust.Even so it must be hard for his family to read and deal with the publicity that it is going to create. I am not sure I agree with using family troubles as a means of album promotion, when pink used it on her Mizunderstood album her mother was quoted as saying she didn't realise Pink felt so bad about it all still and found it disturbing. Sometimes lyrics should just be left to stand alone without any explanation (like poetry) too much background can alter perception, somethings should be left for the listener to interpret in their own way.
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