Anthony Bourdain‘s ex-girlfriend is using music to cope withhis suicide.
On Wednesday, five days after Bourdain’s death,Asia Argentoshared photos and videos of Judee Sill’s 1971 breakup song “Jesus Was a Cross Maker” on her Instagram Story during a get-together with actress and close friend,Rose McGowan.
Though she did not mention Bourdain in her Story, Argento’s song choice does draw parallels to theAnthony Bourdain: Parts Unknownhost, who wascrematedin France on Wednesday.
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In 1979, Sill, a troubled alt-singer/songwriter, died of suicide at age 35.
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Her song “Jesus Was a Cross Maker” was written about her failed relationship with J.D. Souther, another well-known songwriter.
“I was having a really unhappy romance with this guy: he was a bandit and a heartbreaker. So one morning I woke up and realized that ‘he’s a bandit and a heartbreaker’ rhymes with ‘but Jesus was a crossmaker.’ And I knew that even that wretched bastard was not beyond redemption. It’s true, it’s true; I swear. It saved me, this song. It was writing this song or suicide, y’know?” Sill said in 1971 about themeaning of the song’s lyrics.
Asia Argento/Instagram
“I wanted to write a song about this principle: the lower down you go to gain your momentum from, the higher up it will propel ya, but I couldn’t think of a way to say that poetically,” she explained.
“I happened to stumble across this real obscure theological fact, and that is that Jesus was a cross maker. That really got in my head, and I knew I had to write a song about it,” Sill added.
Argento, an Italian actress prominent in the #metoo movement, and Bourdain had been dating for more than a year. The pair met during the filming ofParts Unknownin 2016 and began dating a year later. Argento collaborated with Bourdain on his show, and recently directed an upcoming episode set in Hong Kong.
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“Like a teenage boy just absolutely lovestruck,” the friend said of Bourdain’s feelings for Argento, adding, “He would have done anything for her, and that was a little red flag for some of his friends.”
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “help” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go tosuicidepreventionlifeline.org.
source: people.com
