Genius and Lost Potential

I've ruminated quite a bit recently on the idea of genius and lost potential and how it can affect things like art. I don't really know how to put all these thoughts I have into words, but the idea came to me as I was listening to Buddy Holly, weirdly enough.

When I listen to Buddy Holly, I hear all kinds of wild things going on in his head that aren't laid to tape. Like these weird melodies and instrumentations that, in my opinion, were omitted due to the both the era in which they were recorded and Holly's own financial limitations. I can't help but wonder what his talent would have evolved into had he lived. I doubt he would have continued in the old style rock music that he had begun with. I imagine him as an elder statesmen of lush pop tunes or something. Or perhaps he would have evolved into fusion jazz or something incomprehensible to most humans. Like a bodybuilder or soldier, whose physique evolves and grows into into the most incredible shapes, some geniuses abilities probably never stop growing or they will consume them.

Like a weird X-Men spin off, I imagine two scenarios: One, John Lennon is a genius. I think it became apparent after "Help" Everything he did after Help was him trying to keep up with his own mind. Like a painter who can't get his psychology on the canvas fast enough, the complex melodies, arrangements, and lyrics all advanced incredibly fast. In fact, John went from pop to avant garde so fast, he eventually came up with "I am the Walrus" one of the most fascinating pieces of music and lyrics ever conceived. I think at that point (in my own hypothetical scenario) he realized that he had to abandon what he was capable of in favor of what he could produce and retain his sanity. Which is why nearly everything he did after "I am the Walrus" is boring. Genius, but still mostly boring.

On the flip side. I imagine Brian Wilson. In a similar predicament, he advanced from "Surfin USA" to "God Only Knows" so quickly that he became consumed with his own mind and trying achieve what was happening in his head, he actually lost his mind.

I don't know, this isn't a fully programmed out idea I have here, I would like to flesh this out a bit more and similarly try to type out this weird concept I have.

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