“For my own part I never had the least thought or inclination of turning poet till I got once heartily in Love, and then Rhyme and Song were, in a manner, the spontaneous language of my heart.” — Robert Burns
Robert Burns was born on this day in the middle of the 18th century. His family was very poor, they were farmers, he had a lot of brothers and sisters. Yet his father decided that Robert, the eldest, should have an education. Just a bit, mind you. A tutor was hired, and Robert, in between farm chores, learned how to read and write. A world opened up to him through language. Writing came naturally to him. He started writing poems and songs almost immediately. Burns was wild, he loved pleasure, fun, women. As is often the case with people like this, he suffered from depression. He had many illegitimate children.
When I was in Scotland in 2024, I was tied to the Frankenstein shoot, which meant I saw Dundee, Arbroath, Edinburgh, and the landscape out the car window in between Arbroath and Edinburgh as Alex drove me back and forth. And that was it. I had a day off here, an afternoon off there, and I ventured out to explore. One afternoon in Edinburgh, I set out to find a bookstore my friend Ted told me about: Elvis Shakespeare. I found it!. I bought a couple of things: an Elvis 45, a Scottish edition of Frankenstein and – because it only seemed right – the complete work of Robert Burns.
It’s an odd thing: Burns was a farmer’s kid with just a little bit of book larnin’. Where did his writing bug come from?
, which gives a good sense of the revolution of his career. Moving from gospel, where he made his name with the Soul Stirrers, into secular music, where he had a tremendous gift for writing memorable catchy tunes (understatement). The number of classic songs he wrote is extraordinary (especially since he died at so young an age.) He was also a pioneer in the realm of producing. He did not want to be an employee of anyone. Very early on, he made his moves towards financial independence. He created a studio and set himself up, producing others’ music took up even more of his time and devotion than his own stunning career. He created a space for fellow black artists to do things on their own terms. What a loss. He died just as the civil rights movement was heating up. His life was cut short (through his own reckless behavior, it’s got to be said), but the loss to the culture is incalculable. However: he made very very good use of his time while he was here. 
