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You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone — dvd movie review — early!

by Kris ⋅ July 6, 2007 ⋅ Comment now ⋅ Subscribe RSS

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dreamlogic.net's MOVIE REVIEW . You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone Hunched over like he has a hernia and strumming his guitar, Texas native Roger “Roky” Erickson interjects the melody with screeching wails inspired by Little Richard and James Brown and surprisingly “Oh Holy Night” from his churchy childhood. During opening interviews with him and his exes in the documentary You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone, Godspeak hints are dropped, making you wonder if the Holy Spirit obviously in their hearts allowed his genius to arise, why did it take it away?

Roky gained notoriety singing in an equal opportunity leaderless band called the 13th Floor Elevators in the mid 60s. It’s a statement in itself to name your band the 13th Floor Elevators, after something that people willfully write out of existence, but to have a jug player (Tommy Hall) tootling away in the background is pretty ballsy. Despite the jug, the Elevators were considered young pioneers of “psychedelic rock”, their blend of odd wild chords heavily influencing the San Francisco music scene. It was jug-head Tommy who introduced a buffet of psychedelic drugs to Roky whose experimental side showed no signs of self-control. In 1966 Roky was in prime form, releasing the epitomic ditty “You’re Gonna Miss Me”. In 1968 he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, escaped from a mental institution, hitchhiked to California and did more hardcore drugs. Guess what happens when you do a lot of drugs with strangers? When Roky returned to Austin, he brought serum hepatitis he contracted from a shared heroin needle. What also happens when you do a lot of drugs publicly? The popo start following you.

Charged with marijuana possession, Roky faced a 10-year jail sentence. When he plead insanity (some say he only pretended to have visions) he was oddly sent to Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane (infamous for patients’ violent riots) with rapists and murderers, enduring brutal electroshock therapy and Thorazine injections. Uncharacteristically tight-lipped but seemingly unbroken with music on the mind, he played in a band with rapists and murderers.

Interviews with Elevator’s members and old friends reveal Roky was incessantly trippy even before he took his first acid hit. After his return from Rusk, however, his mental health declined rapidly. Roky even revoked life as a human when he typed up a document professionally professing that he was not a human, he was an alien.

So how does an alien live? Roky rented a trailer trash one-story; in the video footage you can just smell the musty dryrot and the ground in stained carpet and memories of burnt grilled cheese sandwiches. When he’s not grooving to white noise (basically everything plugged in turned to static), he’s dissecting tv sitcoms, playing with Mr. Potato Head, obsessing over junk mail, writing a lot of junk mail — one letter to “Alfred Hitchcock”’s address in New Jersey. Sadly, this once effortless rocker gave up music entirely.

You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone also briefly deftly documents Roky’s four younger brothers and their battle with their mother for Roky’s welfare, in particular, his youngest sibling Sumner’s efforts to override her legal guardianship. Because no one can be sure what Roky really wants or needs, and Sumner doesn’t even speak to his mother (even after enduring many many years of tough therapy), you realize that this battle goes far beyond Roky’s wellbeing.

Even though I wasn’t aware of Roky Erickson’s talent before watching this DVD and to tell you the truth I felt lukewarm about it, I soon found it heartbreaking to realize his deterioration, wondering if there was any possible route to rehabilitation. Director Keven McAlester only allows his subject to utter a few spacey statements, but it is enough to allow us to either question or accept his contentment, much like how Roky’s mother and brother differed in their perception. You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone also allows us to wonder if our own happiness is measured and monitored and only materializes according to outsiders’ motives.

You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone will be available on July 10th.

END NOTE (*SPOILER*): Roky Erickson has been attending therapy sessions with Sumner’s therapist/mentor, who gradually coaxed him back into music. He recently performed at the Coachella concert this past April.