Among musicians, even those who are famous struggle with personal fears and anxieties. This universal truth rings especially true for the Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. It shows us that no matter how famous or successful someone becomes, they still experience fear like everyone else.
In a questionnaire he completed in August 1995, Mason was asked a series of questions about his daily routines, music career, family, and thoughts on other musicians. When the interviewer wanted to learn about his greatest fear, the musician responded by saying:
“Death. I can’t think of anything more alarming than that.”
How Mason Views The Risk Of Failure In His Career
During the later part of the conversation, the drummer also replied to a question asking whether he was afraid of failure. He said the following in his reply:
“Well, I suppose I must be, otherwise one wouldn’t go to such lengths to succeed. One definitely wouldn’t like to be jeered at by one’s peers but you have to risk it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
Pink Floyd’s Exploration Of Fear And Anxiety
These admissions of Mason also mirror the underlying themes often found in Pink Floyd’s music. The band, known for its introspective lyrics, frequently explored themes of fear, anxiety, and the human condition. Speaking to Consequence in a June 2023 chat, the rocker disclosed the band’s ‘most personal’ album and explained how their anxieties influenced its creation, saying:
“Unlike almost any other album that we did, the great thing about ‘Dark Side’ was that we did actually meet and talk about what we thought this album was gonna be about, and there was this sort of idea that we would take the things that we were most anxious about ourselves, which was to do with money and mortality and so on.”
Bruce Springsteen’s Parallel Journey
Just like Nick expressed his fears and aspirations in the context of his music with Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen similarly faced his own set of anxieties that influenced his career. After the success of ‘Born to Run,’ Springsteen experienced some challenges, including a legal battle and fears about how fame might change him.
Despite earlier troubles with the IRS, bankruptcy, and personal setbacks, his greatest concern was the potential loss of his authentic self in the wake of his popularity, as he revealed in a 2010 interview with the Guardian.
