Henry Rollins takes it all back.
After writing a controversial column in L.A. Weekly last week (title: "F--- Suicide") in the wake of Robin Williams' death, the former Black Flag singer decided that he was in the wrong.
"That I hurt anyone by what I said, and I did hurt many, disgusts me," he wrote in a note on his official website. "It was not at all my intent but it most certainly was the result. I have had a life of depression. Some days are excruciating. Knowing what I know and having been through what I have, I should have known better but I obviously did not. I get so mad when I hear that someone has died this way. Not mad at them, mad at whatever got them there and that no one magically appeared to somehow save them.
"I am deeply sorry. Down to my marrow. I can't think that means anything to you, but I am."
Compare those words with the ones he wrote in a lengthy column on Thursday:
I simply cannot understand how any parent could kill themselves.
How in the hell could you possibly do that to your children? I don't care how well adjusted your kid might be - choosing to kill yourself, rather than to be there for that child, is every shade of awful, traumatic and confusing. I think as soon as you have children, you waive your right to take your own life. No matter what mistakes you make in life, it should be your utmost goal not to traumatize your kids. So, you don't kill yourself.
I have many records, books and films featuring people who have taken their own lives, and I regard them all with a bit of disdain. When someone commits this act, he or she is out of my analog world. I know they existed, yet they have nullified their existence because they willfully removed themselves from life. They were real but now they are not.
I no longer take this person seriously. I may be able to appreciate what he or she did artistically but it's impossible to feel bad for them. Their life wasn't cut short - it was purposely abandoned. It's hard to feel bad when the person did what they wanted to.
Rollins plans to write a follow-up for L.A. Weekly to be published Monday, according to Rolling Stone.
