Jason Molina died on Saturday in his home in Indianapolis as a result of alcohol abuse-related organ failure. He was 39 years old. The news of Jason Molina’s death came early Monday morning in an emotional March 18, 2013, post by Chunklet.
“On Saturday night, March 16, 2013, Jason Molina, the songwriting force behind Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Company died from a body that had been drowned in alcohol for years on end.”
Or could it say depression for years?
Jason Molina was born in Oberlin, Ohio, grew up in Lorain, Ohio, and attended Oberlin College. After Jason Molina played bass guitar in several heavy metal bands in the Cleveland area, he decided to become a solo artist. Jason Molina recruited several other musicians for his projects and made several home recordings under various names. Jason Molina released more than 12 albums under the name “Songs: Ohia” and the band Magnolia Electric Co., which he started in 2003.
In 2009, Jason Molina’s Indiana-based Secretly Canadian record label said that the alternative singer-songwriter stopped touring in order to deal with severe alcoholism.
In 2011, Secretly Canadian wrote in response to fans’ concerns about Jason Molina’s whereabouts and well-being that “Over the last two years Jason has been in and out of rehab facilities and hospitals in England, Chicago, Indianapolis, and New Orleans. It has been a very trying time for Jason, his friends, and his family. Although no one can be sure what the future holds, we feel very encouraged by the recent steps Jason has taken on the road towards becoming healthy and productive once again.”
Since Jason Molina did not have health insurance, Secretly Canadian’s post in 2011 provided a way for fans to contribute to Jason Molina’s increasing medical bills.
According to the post, Jason Molina was “currently working on a farm in West Virginia raising goats and chickens for the next year or so, and is looking forward to making great music again.”
On his Music Emissions Jason Molina Profile Page, Jason Molina wrote about his work, his songs, his music, his life, and his depression.
With the last few words on his profile page, Jason Molina summarized it all.
“All of this is an attempt to put a serious price on lyrics that are honest not witty, shy but not weak, weary if they are and sad without apology, depression without a fight and depression with a fight.
-Jason Molina”
Jason Molina describes how his working method was to go into the garage ((aka The Projects Studio) in the mornings and write songs and then record them. “I wanted badly to revisit the type of songs I did on my more experimental albums The Pyramid, The Ghost, and Protection Spells.”
Jason Molina also described the atmosphere of his working place which was a garage-studio that was without windows and pitch-black all the time.
“There was a small lamp rigged inside a vintage kickdrum and that eerie thing burning above my head along with sparse candles was the extent of the lighting...with the occasional silent movie projected on the wall. The place screamed doom as far as atmosphere goes and I put myself to the task of writing about what is human about that particular feeling; the concrete and tactile nature of depression and actually writing or working yourself out of that.”
When describing his lyrics, Jason Molina said that,
“So in a way, these are meditations on depression, waiting, dislocation, separation, doubt, fear, loneliness...the usual from me...but here, if I did not see redemption or even a glimmer of hope, and thought I could put that into lyrics and a simple melody, I allowed that to be the driving force of the song.”
While there is a lot of information written about Jason Molina’s problems with alcohol, and his death is being attributed to alcohol-related organ failure, there appears to be very little information available about Jason Molina’s depression; -- except Jason Molina’s own words.
Was Jason Molina only treated for alcoholism and not depression? Did Jason Molina take medication for depression or learn other forms of how to deal with a depression?
With so many questions and “could haves,” and very little information in regard to Jason Molina’s “depression without a fight and depression with a fight,” it is probably best to use, once again, Jason Molina’s own words with which he titled the 2006 released Secretly Canadian album.
“Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go”
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