WHALE
NATION - HEATHCOTE WILLIAMS
When Heathcote Williams passed away recently I was slightly perturbed
at the scant recognition it received in the media. How could the
death of one of England's greatest modern-day visionaries pass
without some kind of national response? Should not all the clocks
have been stopped? Dogs given bones to stop them barking? Pianos
silenced? Should not planes have circled overhead, scribbling on the
sky the message 'He is dead'?
Maybe it's just me, I thought? Maybe I'm just not in the loop or that
I'm just not moving in the right circles? Maybe there was wide-spread
mourning and an avalanche of accolades on TV, radio and social media
and I just missed it all?
Heathcote's passing caused me to look back again at some of his works
and it led to a confirmation that he was indeed a very great man. His
was a true vision of Albion and the spirit of Englishness. Not the
spirit of conservative politics or of myopia but of freedom, empathy,
passion and - importantly - anarchy and Utopia.
It's not often I urge anyone to read a certain book or to listen to
some specific music. I might proffer an opinion as in whether I think
something is brilliant, mediocre or rubbish but I never (hardly) say
something must be read or heard. For Heathcote Williams, however, I
make an exception.
I would urge anyone to seek out his works and devour them because I
guarantee that if approached without preconception or prejudice there
will be a reward at the end. You will come away with something
positive, life-affirming and precious.
Take Whale Nation, as an example. Published in 1988 it is an
epic poem, a paean, a brilliantly rendered hymn to the glory of the
whale countered by the miserable and pathetic attitude of man toward
this most beautiful and astonishing of creatures.
'From space,' it begins 'the planet is blue. From space,
the planet is the territory not of humans but of the whale. Blue seas
cover seven tenths of the Earth's surface and are the domain of the
largest brain ever created, with a fifteen million year-old smile.'
There are no words to convey how brilliant the whole piece is. I
certainly don't have the words so won't even try. All that can be
done is to read (or hear) it yourself. All I would say is that if it
fails to move you then there is no more conversation to be had. If
after reading it you show only indifference then so be it - but there
is no further hope for you. If it fails to move you then - I'm sorry
but - you're already dead.
As for Heathcote Williams, he may now have passed away but his
spirit lives on. Bathing us all in its light like a heavenly star in
the firmament, or rather, like one of Van Gogh's glowing and swirling
stars, Heathcote's spirit shines on.
Heathcote may now have passed away but his spirit and yes, his vision, remains undimmed and in all the works and all the art that he has left us, shines on as bright, as proud, as beautiful and as defiant as ever.
Heathcote may now have passed away but his spirit and yes, his vision, remains undimmed and in all the works and all the art that he has left us, shines on as bright, as proud, as beautiful and as defiant as ever.
Thank you, Heathcote. RIP.
John Serpico
