Thursday 27 January 2011

Henin Heartbreak

I couldn't believe it when, as I started to read a report on Justine Henin's emotional "End of Career" address on her website, the record that began playing on my radio was Johnny Cash's version of Hurt. This stunning track is often featured on TV soundtracks when reflecting highly charged sports moments, where you presume the original themes of Trent Reznor's song - self-harm and addiction - aren't meant to be taken too literally.
I love Johnny Cash, particularly his later work. Coldplay, on the other hand, I like and respect but am not a passionate fan (similar to my feelings regarding Pete Sampras, I suppose). Yet a few years ago, a friend of mine, who was a Taekwondo champion before suffering a horrendous injury, told me what the song The Hardest Part meant to her: it reminded her of not being able to participate in the sport she loved. I wondered why, until I realised that, like a lot of songs, it was one I'd heard for years, but hadn't paid much attention to until I'd been heavily directed towards it. When I heard the lyrics, "And the hardest part/ Was letting go/ Not taking part", I understood.
What song could be more appropriate to such a situation as Justine Henin being forced out of tennis with an elbow injury? So you can probably guess what song was played, on BBC Radio 2, just a couple of hours after the Johnny Cash moment - at the end of a very bad day, not just for Henin fans like me but, I believe, the women's game, tennis, and sport as a whole? It's one of Coldplay's lesser-played records. I doubt its relevance to the day was recognised by the radio programmers here in the UK, where Henin's retirement heralded a mention in the sports bulletins, and zero attention in the general news. Synchronicity? As Melbourne's "housewife superstar" Dame Edna Everage might say: "Spoooky!"