A beautiful homage song about Ren's very close, childhood friend Joe, who committed suicide by jumping off from a bridge. Sadly, they never found his body.
@Michael Mardling Maybe now Joe will show up and want royalties for this song and Ren will have to hire Vinny to take him out. 😂 Then Ren would have closure at least.
This one broke me. Because I had that friend in high school. He was 15. Fifteen. And he was a friend. Showed me how to be a friend. Showed me what friendship means. I didn't see it coming. He was so happy-go-lucky, empathetic and kind. No one saw his struggle until it was too late. He never knew how much he mattered. He never knew how many people cared. 23 years later, I think of him still. With regret that I didn't see it coming. I should've seen it coming. Goddamnit.
Ren said he sat on this song for well over a year and he was actually dreading releasing this song because it felt so incomplete and "meh" to him compared to the rest of the album. Then he did the interview with Knox Hill about a month ago and he finally opened up about Joe's suicide and he said he finally felt there was a way to finish this song, so he added the last 2 minutes to this song just within the last month. He said it wasn't rehearsed and wasn't even fully edited. He said he sat at his Keyboard just playing and crying and whenever he thought of a new line he ran into his vocal booth and recorded it, whether he was crying or not. He said the entire thing took him less than 2 hours to fully write AND record.
Nice background information. Yeah I'm by no means on the level of Ren when it comes to artistic talent (I draw I don't play music), but sometimes it just flows and you can do so much in a very very short amount of time. Crazy respect for the guy for sharing his trauma so that others might know they are not alone and perhaps if not helping them heal (such wounds don't really heal - you learn to live with them) then at least help them come to terms with and process their feelings.
I have been this way for about 12yrs. Every day is a struggle. The only thing that stops me is I see the faces of my children getting the news. It would devastate them to hear of my death but entirely different if I did so myself especially as their mother sees suicide as cowardly. I have a genuine fear I will grow to resent my children for impeding my exit
My youngest memory of wanting to end my life and thinking about was at age 6 or 7. I was on medication at 16, quit the meds 6 months later, developed a heart condition as poetic as it sounds gave me a reason to finally fight. I’m 39 years old now, still struggling with the suicidal thoughts but if I can find beauty through my pain so can you. Depression doesn’t mean you’re weak, it just means you suppressed so much crap that your mind is screaming at you to talk about it and let it out. I love you all.
I joined Rens twitch earlier today. Wasn't sure what to expect. OMG...he turned it into the most beautiful celebration of life. I'm so glad I was able to see that side of him. ❤ Ren... love you all. You are not alone.
You're right, the song starts out about Ren, he said this himself, but then he said that for some reason it felt incomplete. He started with the piano and the first line of that final sequence and said that the rest just kinda poured out of him. The emotion you hear, his tears, the breaking in his voice .... it's all genuine and real. That comes across vividly. Once again, Ren uses the power of his personal experiences and his musical talent to draw an emotional response from the listener. I'll never stop saying this- Ren is Special.
This song crushed me. I've lost three friends to suicide. I have no will to live after my wife died at 42 of an ugly cancer, but I don't know how someone takes their own life. 😢 Thanks for this reaction and your talk after Aileen. ❤
My wife died 10 years ago, and it broke me. I spent most of that decade in unbearable pain, desperate for it all to end and unable to ask for help. Please don't suffer alone. I have a life worth living now, and people who care about me. Don't make my mistake - reach out for help.
Ive lost two close friends and a 2 cousin's to suicide, they were clever, intelligent, funny, empathetic, handsome. The fight is real ,the struggle is real, the epidemic is real. RIP mark , stef, wiggy Robert. Much love from Scotland 🏴 💚.
as i have said on another video, Ren is the master of silence and tears. almost every reaction ive seen leave everyone either speachless or broken. first words are either um or a choked wow. hes an artist, a bard and someone very very special
I lost my niece on the 20th of May (she was 12) 11 days away from her birthday; she passed away from Osteosarcoma that moved to her lungs. This song speaks volumes for those that are dealing with heartbreak as well as clinical depression... thank you for your reaction and I wish you all the best AileenSenpai.
Many people who have no idea of what it means to be living with mental illness often claim that suicide is a selfish act. But most of the time it isn't. That one time they did it, was the first time they did something for themselves. People who live under that weight live every day for the sake of others, carrying it to stay alive for their sake. And often still get attacked, told they need to get themselves together and do better. How can you be selfish if you live your entire life in pain just for the sake and wish of others, who do not even understand you, or listen to you. Being selfish is those on the other side, who look at someone who have lived in pain for most of their life for the sake of others, and never cared about it, until the moment they did one thing for themselves. That is selfish. But all that does not mean its less painful for those left behind, or can be at least. Even more so if they are filled with guilt of their own selfish acts the years and years leading up such a thing. And you can speak about this with one answer. For every time it happens, it has its own reasons. And many times there was no need for it to happen. But sometimes there is. Chronical mental illness is always terminal. Even if it does not end by ones own hand. The weight of living with it take years of your life. The medicine. Isolation and stress. A terminal illness is a illness that shorten your life. And that is what chronical mental illness does. And in those cases, people who choose to be in control about how and when, then its not a act that could be stopped. Its the illness running it's cause. Same way people die from cancer. Mental illness will eat you up from the inside, to a point you can no longer sustain yourself and you die. And in those cases its not a choice someone make. Its the illness finishing what its been working on for years.
This song killed me when i first heard it. I went and hid myself away and bawled for at leqst 30 or 40 minutes. I lost my best friend (who would have been better classed as my real brother, we both came from really abusive homes and from the age of 5 we were eachothers rocks and support system through it all) to a suicide i could have stopped if i hadn't drank and drugged myself unconscious and missed the 19 calls he made to me and the 12 messages he left me in my begging me to answer and begging me for help. The last message simply said "you are the best friend i never dared to hope for. Thank you for giving me the love no on else ever did. Goodbye my friend" and then he took the shot gun his family owned and shot himself in the head mere moments after Calling me for the last time and leaving that message. I can explain further if anyone wants, but this is just the basics and why this song is so impactful for me. Rest in peace eric, you're the best guy i've ever known.
Ren hit me hard,I lost my son 2 year ago,he commit suicide we broke so try so hard to help him, is his twin sister..now we must stay strong for her..don,t want to loose her..thank you for your warm reaction..it comfort me..
Her name was Jen. I tried. Thank you for the reaction. Something in me died long ago, but I get to feel things by watching others react. I love that Ren has brought mental illness to the front of society's thoughts.
His name was Adam, his name was Jonnny, his name was Toby, his name was Jon Boy. Although a part of us dies, we get the scar because we knew them, and although the scars are painful, and never heal, they are beautiful because we knew them, we felt them, we loved them. Carry the weight of that scar with pride Horizon, much love to you.
I have been on both sides of suicide. At 16 I attempted suicide, I'm lucky my family found me in time. Fast forward 20+ yrs and lost my cousin to suicide and a good friend. This song hurts on so many levels, for what I put my family through and what my family experiences now every birthday and holiday watching my cousins children grow up without him. I'm with you, no one should feel alone....thanks for sharing your story too. It provides an open door for others to speak abt our experiences...
I've also been on both sides, ended up losing my first girlfriend. My mind still goes in the direction of suicide whenever I feel like there's no way out but now I know I'd never do it because I know how that affects the ones that love you. I wouldn't wanna leave anyone with that guilt. So I totally feel for you and yeah, the song really hits pretty deep.
You can tell that out of all the other reactors that you feel the most out of his lyrics. You definitely appreciate the true value of vulnerability. Vulnerability is not a weakness, it’s a strength. Thank you for this reaction
Aileen, such a beautiful reaction, so honest, raw, genuine…. Can’t think any further tonight I’m crying to much. Thank you for sharing REN, thank you for being you. Take care Daz Berrima, NSW, Australia
Lovely sensitive piece, Aileen. Ren broaches topics that are real and many of us can relate to. He is so open and unique, apart from talent in spades. I can't help thinking Ren is the brilliant person he is because of how he grew up and particularly for the evident kinship and love he has for Joe. Both when he was alive and since his passing.
9:25 "It's ok to not be ok." My 6yo son is fighting kidney cancer. Going through radiation, chemo, hair loss, the whole schtick. Thank you for putting this into such succint, perfect words. I'm not ok, and that's ok.
For those not aware of the events behind this song @RenMakesMusic And here's (part of) the writeup that Ren shared before the premiere and sent to his email list: I first met Joe when I was 8 years old, my friend Josh said I had to meet this guy, so we both walked over to his, it took about 10 minutes from my house. I was greeted by this kid covered head to toe in freckles, he grinned at us, climbed onto the back of his sofa and screamed “Swanton Bomb!” then front flipped off the top and landed right onto his back on a stone floor. He lay still for a moment, twitched a few times, then got up, grinned at us, brushed himself off, and did it again. This was Joe. He’d do anything to make people laugh. He ended up becoming one of my best friends. He was there when we stole our first cigarettes out of his mums pack, way too young. He was there when I had my first kiss, with a girl twice my size on the back of the 42 bus. He was there when I first got so drunk I threw up in the woods after drinking as much white lightning Cider as we could. I was there when he did his first backflip on skates, and saw him do a 720 off of the pier cave, that moment became legendary. Joe was the funny one in our friend group, he’d make us laugh till it hurt. No one had a bad word to say about him. It was impossible not to like him. Usually we put celebrities, athletes and actors on pedestals, turn them into role models and admire them from a far. The person I admired was Joe. Him and Sagar knew every word to the songs id write, we’d get drunk at parties and they’d be singing along as loud as they could. It gave me a lot of confidence back then. On Christmas Eve 2010 I was sitting in a pub with Joe, he’d been feeling low after a couple of consecutive break ups. He tried to check himself into a mental health outpatient facility a few weeks earlier but they turned him away because he didn’t have an appointment. He turned to me and said that sometimes he wished he could just walk into the sea and keep walking. He said it in a kind of half joking throw away comment type of way, then took a sip of his drink, walked over to the juke box and put Dig by Incubus on. If I knew that was the last time I’d see Joe id have hugged him, told him how much I loved him, how much I looked up to him, how much we all loved him, and I wouldn’t have left that pub. I didn’t know that, so I finished my drink, said happy Christmas and left. Two nights after Christmas I got woken up by a phone call at 3am, it was my friend Ella. She told me Joe was on the Menai Bridge, a large suspension bridge connecting the main land to the isle of Anglesey where we lived. He’d been on the phone to her in tears saying goodbye. He told her to tell everyone he loved them. I pulled on my clothes as fast as I could and started running toward the bridge. It was up a hill. I lived about a ten minute walk away, I could run it in five. As I ran I started dialling then redialing his number. The line was busy, which was a good sign, it meant he was still on the phone to someone. As I got about halfway, the busy tone changed. It told me the line was out of service. I got a sinking feeling and picked up my speed. I arrived to the bridge minutes after I left my house. It was deafeningly quiet. I was the first person to arrive. I got there probably about 2 minutes too late. Joe’s body was never found. Initially we refused to believe he was gone. The coastguard came out that night, with boats, and helicopters. Me and my friends spent the next 10 days putting up missing posters everywhere we could, walking up and down beaches with flashlights, getting about 3 hours sleep a night. When you’re walking up and down a beach with a torch when its dark everything looks like a body. We still haven’t found Joe. As his birthday came around, I wrote a song, freckled angels, a song I dedicated to Joe which I sang in front of his friends and family. A charity football match was put on for him, raising money for the RNLI where I won two bottles of wine in a raffle, I drank them both as quickly as I could, naturally, turned to my friend and probably slurred something along the lines of “This is the last time I ever drink” That was 12 years ago, I haven’t touched a drop of alcohol since
Thank you so much for this. I was aware of how much Joe meant to Ren from Freckled Angels - a beautiful song, this adds so much to what was clearly a special relationship. I lost a friend, sudden heart attack, a few years ago, like Ren, I have many great memories of our times together, so many laughs. I feel to a certain extent what Ren continues to go through.
I have never had artist affect me so profoundly. Watching all the reactions videos and seeing everyone become vulnerable through his work. I have shed tears on every single time I watch. This is such an important piece of art. Thank you for your raw reaction to it ❤
Great reaction! This one has been hard for me. I have dealt with depression for most of my life and much of what has kept me here is the realization of how it would hurt those I love. The second half of this song is brutal but it is also a good reminder of how it hurts those left behind. Musically, it's another masterpiece. The video is so beautiful. Louis Mardlin is the video editor for Ren's animated type videos and he did a fantastic job with this one.
Aileen, thank you for the authenticity today. I think these reactions play an important role in helping to normalize emotions and expression for your viewers. You may not feel like it but like Ren you're doing powerful work out here in your channels and it means a lot to the people that watch you. Also, to make sure YOU remember as well, you're loved and cherished. You're appreciated and people are greatful to still have you here. Stay amazing.
I know the pain he feels, I've lost friends to suicide, I've seen the devastation this causes. If I didn't have 2 people in my life that would feel that pain then I wouldn't have to wake up tomorrow but they are so I will
I've struggled with suicidal ideation for years. These days, it is more like not wanting to wake up tomorrow rather than taking an active role in ending myself. Loneliness was my biggest trigger when I was young. These days, it's more about experiencing rampant transphobia and not being able to do anything about it. It just gets so heavy a weight to carry, you know? I guess the trick is to distract myself until old age takes me.
Hang in there, for you never know what the gods have planned for you. Maybe your suffering is just the test you have to fight through before better times will come.. But these are just shallow words from an old vet who has looked death in the eyes too often.
Hang in there. I am an old redneck and have gradually changed my outlook on gender over the last decade or so. I think lots of people are adjusting. I hope you will get to experience a very noticeable betterment in people long before you experience old age.
Please don't hurt yourself because others don't agree with transexuality. I can tell you personally that I do not agree and I do not think children should have it pushed on them; but I also don't think (or want) anyone to hurt themselves over people having different opinions and beliefs. That's part of life.
Love your reactions. This has to be one of the most powerful pieces of music I've ever experienced. As you're asking for recommendations, I can't remember if I've pushed these on to you before or not but 'How to be Me (Live)' is probably my favourite Ren track and is very much on the same topic of his friend Joe. Other blindingly good songs are 'Ocean', 'Humble', 'Dominoes', 'Money Game II', 'Losing It', 'Hold On', the list is seemingly endless but those will give you a really good variety with some nice upbeat stuff in there too (if you need an antidote!). x
He actually loves to write songs for his friend. Freckled angel and forgot how to be me are both songs dealing with joe and loss. And this song was a mix of how he has felt over the years being sick and wanting to just give up but joes suicide hit him so hard he couldnt allow himself to
Many have survival regret. I, also lost a few friends to suicide. It's hard to get moving after experiencing the loss, and it can drag you way down at times. The way I get passed that feeling is living for them and doing things that we all talked about doing as kids. Out of 7 of us, there is only my brother and one other person left.
Feel your pain and sadness as many are all doing at this moment in time. Ren is the master of making us aware of life issues in such a wonderful deep way. Love your reactions.
A wonderful reaction from an awesome person. Thank you for your incredible reaction. This is such an important song for everyone. This hit very close to home for me and helped more than I would ever have imagined.
In a weird way I was looking forward to this reaction from the moment it dropped. Like Ren I feel your quite genuine and you'd resonate with what he his brining. Thank you for your reaction, it's in a way therapeutic
I love Ren to death. His friend Joe , you can tell it still haunts him to this day. "Freckled Angels" was his first song dedicated to him , and "How to be me" is a song about him too that they recorded on the bridge he jumped from.
He is the only one really addressing this, in a way people can share and feel empathetically. Its an important video and song. A real embodiment of the power of music cross culturally. Its immense.
In a world of disposable, candy-sweet media, music and technology.... Ren is the humanity that shines once in a generation. I've shed so many tears over this songs and watching people react. I almost watch these songs and videos to feel something .... anything .... most of my life i feel i'm barely a spectator and feel so little happiness or joy in daily life, haven't for years .... but at least feeling pain with these songs means i can feel something
I’ve had thoughts of this every single day and every single time something goes wrong and honestly it gets exhausting. So hard to explain to people who don’t understand. Finding REN was awesome for me. It’s helped me so much. I’m fighting everyday and if you hurting keep fighting as well.
When you look at the water and ready to jump ...You are looking at the breaks in clouds reflecting on water ...THUS "Falling through the cracks of the night sky . Ty ren ty.
It's a punch in the stomach that resonates in the soul of each one of us. I feel blessed to be a contemporary of such an Artist with a capital A, and such a genuine person. Good reaction.
The amount of time that you spend making your eyes so beautiful is truly appreciated by tens of thousands of people you will never know. Someone will write really terrific poetry about you one day, poetry that will bring tears to those astonishing eyes you've been blessed with
Made Mr cry like a baby, lost a few fine folks that were well more than capable that contrabuting. Ren is one in a million million that is for sure. Life means a gift. For all those that sacrificed...
I am suffering myself from double depression, chronical depersonalization, anxiety disorder and a chronic pain disorder. In 2020 I lost a brother in mind and heart by suicide. I never had anyone I could have so much fun with and do stupid / crazy things. That's something I never do but with him it was possible. And we shared our dark side, told us about our demons. It still hurts as hell and just thinking about that one movement and what came next (he killed himself with a rope) makes me feel miserable and sad and empty. I can feel so much with what describes here. This hit so hard. This hit so deep! So honest. So true. So brutal. So painful: Emotionally and even physically.
Thank you for this. Every time I watch Ren he draws my emotions out of me. I can't really explain it but I am so happy for him. Number1 on the UK charts is a huge validation of who Ren is and what he feels.x
Ren, please don't stop!! I have never cried so much from just pure emotion taking over when I listen to your works. @AileenSenpai you always bring great music to us that is life helping/changing. Thank you!!
First time someone thought about the people who watch this because of the song and not because they know you, so very nice from you that you try to help thouse people who are not in the right place, that deserves a sub from me, looking forward to see more reactions or other stuff from you
Thank you, Aileen, for your heartfelt reaction and review! It is difficult for me to find the words that describe the mixed feelings I have after watching this and other Music Videos by Ren Gill. It is obvious to me that "Ren's" work comes from someone who has experienced, first hand, the subject of his writings. Knowing that makes Ren special, and makes Ren's message special. I commend Ren for delving into the difficulty of hearing and confronting human condition and experiences!
Dear Aileen, as someone who feels REN’s songs like you do. I come back to soak up your reactions to them. I just wanted to point you towards some of REN’s work that also brings me great joy… and that is his busking videos with Sam Tompkins. They are so worth a watch to see him singing and expressing himself in such a different way. 😊
You are so wonderful, thank you so much, just you talking about this means so much. Ren is so great, but your input means so much. you are a wonderful person.
I'm new here. For me the most powerful part is that Ren is so respected... An it's ok for a guy to cry. I love him for that. It's so hard to open up and admit you are hurting.
It hurts so much more because they never found his body.... Knoxhill's interview with Ren covers this... his comment under his song covers more too... Ren is truly a beautiful pure talent human being. .
I have listened to the song itself many times, and also many reactions. There is no question that this man is an ARTIST in the strictest sense of the word. I have never heard such a wonderful eulogy before!!! But I think it's also part of the healing process for him, because now he's coming to terms with the fact that his friend is really gone, even though his body was never found. This man is a miracle! I think this song (like all of them) will bring a lot of healing. I hope he can heal with his art for a long time and I wish him nothing but the best. It's sure to leave a mark, no matter how it turns out!
Aileen, You've gotta check out "How to be Me (live) - Ren X Chinchilla". I think this song actually helps give context to that one. Both are hauntingly beautiful.
Young lady, I can tell by your reaction that you are as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside. A rare find for sure. Thank you for sharing this video, your story and for giving people a place to support each other. All it takes is one voice of understanding to save a life.
I love you baby, this is the only response to this video and Hi Ren. There hasn’t been anything so repairing as his last two songs. His music isn’t destructive, it’s restorative.
This one really got me. I lost a close friend to suicide and didn’t get to him on time. Never got over it and years later tried and failed to take my own life by rope. My life is good now but my head is still in the past. REN is hard to watch but it’s vital we do.
Poclets full of pain Fire Castles made of sand(my fav ren song) For joe (live) The entire freackled angels album is powerful I found my sister after hersuicide. So i relate to this entirely too much. Rens music saved my inner child saved. Hes my hero.
This was a song that was hard to deal with on the onset, but at the same time, it helped me relate. Unfortunately we have friends that have greeted a similar bitter end. To learn it's healthy to truly cry sometimes again
im a 50 year old australian male. i have severe mental health issues, and suicidal ideation daily since i was 12. Ren is my newfound hero, between this and Hi Ren his music is brilliant but cried through the end of this song like a baby. i love your vids Aileen
What you say about a group therapy is exactly right. We have been fed pills, told we need to pull ourselves together, shamed, and pushed to the point that we have a mental health crisis... But songs like this are written in such a way thst we can all relate, then we start to realise that we are not alone... This is what social media should have been about... Real connection
A beautiful homage song about Ren's very close, childhood friend Joe, who committed suicide by jumping off from a bridge. Sadly, they never found his body.
@@michaelmardling3152 Who the fuck cares bro he did for his fam and for his friends
@Michael Mardling Maybe now Joe will show up and want royalties for this song and Ren will have to hire Vinny to take him out. 😂 Then Ren would have closure at least.
@@shaundisch2020 kind of odd his body was NEVER found, if he did jump in the water, bodies do eventually float back to the surface.
@Michael Mardling Fish get hungry, I've seen Jaws.
@@michaelmardling3152 I don't know if you know, but RIVERS have currents and flow away towards the ocean.
The Internet cried last night, for Ren, for Joe, for everyone that's sad 😢😢😢
This one broke me. Because I had that friend in high school. He was 15.
Fifteen.
And he was a friend. Showed me how to be a friend. Showed me what friendship means. I didn't see it coming. He was so happy-go-lucky, empathetic and kind. No one saw his struggle until it was too late.
He never knew how much he mattered. He never knew how many people cared.
23 years later, I think of him still. With regret that I didn't see it coming. I should've seen it coming. Goddamnit.
REN keeps making people cry…
Ren said he sat on this song for well over a year and he was actually dreading releasing this song because it felt so incomplete and "meh" to him compared to the rest of the album. Then he did the interview with Knox Hill about a month ago and he finally opened up about Joe's suicide and he said he finally felt there was a way to finish this song, so he added the last 2 minutes to this song just within the last month. He said it wasn't rehearsed and wasn't even fully edited. He said he sat at his Keyboard just playing and crying and whenever he thought of a new line he ran into his vocal booth and recorded it, whether he was crying or not. He said the entire thing took him less than 2 hours to fully write AND record.
Nice background information. Yeah I'm by no means on the level of Ren when it comes to artistic talent (I draw I don't play music), but sometimes it just flows and you can do so much in a very very short amount of time. Crazy respect for the guy for sharing his trauma so that others might know they are not alone and perhaps if not helping them heal (such wounds don't really heal - you learn to live with them) then at least help them come to terms with and process their feelings.
I have been this way for about 12yrs. Every day is a struggle. The only thing that stops me is I see the faces of my children getting the news. It would devastate them to hear of my death but entirely different if I did so myself especially as their mother sees suicide as cowardly. I have a genuine fear I will grow to resent my children for impeding my exit
My youngest memory of wanting to end my life and thinking about was at age 6 or 7. I was on medication at 16, quit the meds 6 months later, developed a heart condition as poetic as it sounds gave me a reason to finally fight. I’m 39 years old now, still struggling with the suicidal thoughts but if I can find beauty through my pain so can you.
Depression doesn’t mean you’re weak, it just means you suppressed so much crap that your mind is screaming at you to talk about it and let it out.
I love you all.
I joined Rens twitch earlier today. Wasn't sure what to expect. OMG...he turned it into the most beautiful celebration of life. I'm so glad I was able to see that side of him. ❤ Ren... love you all. You are not alone.
❤
Definitely going to have to follow him on Twitch! :)
Ren - making it ok to be human again.
Thank you.
You're right, the song starts out about Ren, he said this himself, but then he said that for some reason it felt incomplete. He started with the piano and the first line of that final sequence and said that the rest just kinda poured out of him. The emotion you hear, his tears, the breaking in his voice .... it's all genuine and real. That comes across vividly. Once again, Ren uses the power of his personal experiences and his musical talent to draw an emotional response from the listener. I'll never stop saying this- Ren is Special.
Fun fact, he did a interview with KnoxHill on UA-cam. He said the interview inspired him to write the last verse
“and holding you my brother and telling you that it’s fine” and “i was late like a jerk” got me 😭😭🥺 as a suicide survivor it hit me so much harder
This song crushed me. I've lost three friends to suicide. I have no will to live after my wife died at 42 of an ugly cancer, but I don't know how someone takes their own life. 😢 Thanks for this reaction and your talk after Aileen. ❤
Life can be dark bro but stick with it, you don't know what your future holds. Hang in there man.
My wife died 10 years ago, and it broke me. I spent most of that decade in unbearable pain, desperate for it all to end and unable to ask for help. Please don't suffer alone. I have a life worth living now, and people who care about me. Don't make my mistake - reach out for help.
Turn to God for understanding and healing. I pray it gets better brother. Keep your chin up and take it one step at a time.
@deanhuffaker4518 im sorry for your loss
You still have a world of possibilities out there. Of those, peace and happiness are still out there to be rediscovered.
Ive lost two close friends and a 2 cousin's to suicide, they were clever, intelligent, funny, empathetic, handsome. The fight is real ,the struggle is real, the epidemic is real. RIP mark , stef, wiggy Robert. Much love from Scotland 🏴 💚.
as i have said on another video, Ren is the master of silence and tears. almost every reaction ive seen leave everyone either speachless or broken. first words are either um or a choked wow. hes an artist, a bard and someone very very special
I lost my niece on the 20th of May (she was 12) 11 days away from her birthday; she passed away from Osteosarcoma that moved to her lungs. This song speaks volumes for those that are dealing with heartbreak as well as clinical depression... thank you for your reaction and I wish you all the best AileenSenpai.
Many people who have no idea of what it means to be living with mental illness often claim that suicide is a selfish act.
But most of the time it isn't. That one time they did it, was the first time they did something for themselves.
People who live under that weight live every day for the sake of others, carrying it to stay alive for their sake. And often still get attacked, told they need to get themselves together and do better.
How can you be selfish if you live your entire life in pain just for the sake and wish of others, who do not even understand you, or listen to you.
Being selfish is those on the other side, who look at someone who have lived in pain for most of their life for the sake of others, and never cared about it, until the moment they did one thing for themselves.
That is selfish.
But all that does not mean its less painful for those left behind, or can be at least.
Even more so if they are filled with guilt of their own selfish acts the years and years leading up such a thing.
And you can speak about this with one answer. For every time it happens, it has its own reasons. And many times there was no need for it to happen.
But sometimes there is. Chronical mental illness is always terminal. Even if it does not end by ones own hand. The weight of living with it take years of your life.
The medicine. Isolation and stress. A terminal illness is a illness that shorten your life. And that is what chronical mental illness does.
And in those cases, people who choose to be in control about how and when, then its not a act that could be stopped. Its the illness running it's cause.
Same way people die from cancer. Mental illness will eat you up from the inside, to a point you can no longer sustain yourself and you die.
And in those cases its not a choice someone make. Its the illness finishing what its been working on for years.
Well said.
Matti, thank you for expressing my thoughts and experience so eloquently
This song killed me when i first heard it. I went and hid myself away and bawled for at leqst 30 or 40 minutes. I lost my best friend (who would have been better classed as my real brother, we both came from really abusive homes and from the age of 5 we were eachothers rocks and support system through it all) to a suicide i could have stopped if i hadn't drank and drugged myself unconscious and missed the 19 calls he made to me and the 12 messages he left me in my begging me to answer and begging me for help. The last message simply said "you are the best friend i never dared to hope for. Thank you for giving me the love no on else ever did. Goodbye my friend" and then he took the shot gun his family owned and shot himself in the head mere moments after Calling me for the last time and leaving that message. I can explain further if anyone wants, but this is just the basics and why this song is so impactful for me.
Rest in peace eric, you're the best guy i've ever known.
Ren hit me hard,I lost my son 2 year ago,he commit suicide we broke so try so hard to help him, is his twin sister..now we must stay strong for her..don,t want to loose her..thank you for your warm reaction..it comfort me..
Her name was Jen. I tried.
Thank you for the reaction. Something in me died long ago, but I get to feel things by watching others react. I love that Ren has brought mental illness to the front of society's thoughts.
I am deeply sorry for your loss. Stay strong!
His name was Adam, his name was Jonnny, his name was Toby, his name was Jon Boy. Although a part of us dies, we get the scar because we knew them, and although the scars are painful, and never heal, they are beautiful because we knew them, we felt them, we loved them. Carry the weight of that scar with pride Horizon, much love to you.
We know you did.
I'm sorry.
Imagine being seconds away from being able to save your best friend... and failing!?!?
Ren Is Music, is Emotions, is Amazing!!!
I have been on both sides of suicide. At 16 I attempted suicide, I'm lucky my family found me in time. Fast forward 20+ yrs and lost my cousin to suicide and a good friend. This song hurts on so many levels, for what I put my family through and what my family experiences now every birthday and holiday watching my cousins children grow up without him. I'm with you, no one should feel alone....thanks for sharing your story too. It provides an open door for others to speak abt our experiences...
Thank you for sharing, I'm glad you are a survivor.
I've also been on both sides, ended up losing my first girlfriend. My mind still goes in the direction of suicide whenever I feel like there's no way out but now I know I'd never do it because I know how that affects the ones that love you. I wouldn't wanna leave anyone with that guilt. So I totally feel for you and yeah, the song really hits pretty deep.
You can tell that out of all the other reactors that you feel the most out of his lyrics. You definitely appreciate the true value of vulnerability. Vulnerability is not a weakness, it’s a strength. Thank you for this reaction
Aileen, such a beautiful reaction, so honest, raw, genuine…. Can’t think any further tonight I’m crying to much. Thank you for sharing REN, thank you for being you.
Take care
Daz
Berrima, NSW, Australia
R.I.P. Joe. You were definitely loved.
Thank you for that reaction
Lovely sensitive piece, Aileen. Ren broaches topics that are real and many of us can relate to. He is so open and unique, apart from talent in spades. I can't help thinking Ren is the brilliant person he is because of how he grew up and particularly for the evident kinship and love he has for Joe. Both when he was alive and since his passing.
9:25 "It's ok to not be ok."
My 6yo son is fighting kidney cancer. Going through radiation, chemo, hair loss, the whole schtick.
Thank you for putting this into such succint, perfect words.
I'm not ok, and that's ok.
For those not aware of the events behind this song
@RenMakesMusic
And here's (part of) the writeup that Ren shared before the premiere and sent to his email list:
I first met Joe when I was 8 years old, my friend Josh said I had to meet this guy, so we both walked over to his, it took about 10 minutes from my house. I was greeted by this kid covered head to toe in freckles, he grinned at us, climbed onto the back of his sofa and screamed “Swanton Bomb!” then front flipped off the top and landed right onto his back on a stone floor. He lay still for a moment, twitched a few times, then got up, grinned at us, brushed himself off, and did it again.
This was Joe. He’d do anything to make people laugh. He ended up becoming one of my best friends. He was there when we stole our first cigarettes out of his mums pack, way too young. He was there when I had my first kiss, with a girl twice my size on the back of the 42 bus. He was there when I first got so drunk I threw up in the woods after drinking as much white lightning Cider as we could. I was there when he did his first backflip on skates, and saw him do a 720 off of the pier cave, that moment became legendary.
Joe was the funny one in our friend group, he’d make us laugh till it hurt. No one had a bad word to say about him. It was impossible not to like him. Usually we put celebrities, athletes and actors on pedestals, turn them into role models and admire them from a far. The person I admired was Joe.
Him and Sagar knew every word to the songs id write, we’d get drunk at parties and they’d be singing along as loud as they could. It gave me a lot of confidence back then.
On Christmas Eve 2010 I was sitting in a pub with Joe, he’d been feeling low after a couple of consecutive break ups. He tried to check himself into a mental health outpatient facility a few weeks earlier but they turned him away because he didn’t have an appointment. He turned to me and said that sometimes he wished he could just walk into the sea and keep walking. He said it in a kind of half joking throw away comment type of way, then took a sip of his drink, walked over to the juke box and put Dig by Incubus on. If I knew that was the last time I’d see Joe id have hugged him, told him how much I loved him, how much I looked up to him, how much we all loved him, and I wouldn’t have left that pub. I didn’t know that, so I finished my drink, said happy Christmas and left.
Two nights after Christmas I got woken up by a phone call at 3am, it was my friend Ella. She told me Joe was on the Menai Bridge, a large suspension bridge connecting the main land to the isle of Anglesey where we lived. He’d been on the phone to her in tears saying goodbye. He told her to tell everyone he loved them. I pulled on my clothes as fast as I could and started running toward the bridge. It was up a hill. I lived about a ten minute walk away, I could run it in five. As I ran I started dialling then redialing his number. The line was busy, which was a good sign, it meant he was still on the phone to someone. As I got about halfway, the busy tone changed. It told me the line was out of service. I got a sinking feeling and picked up my speed. I arrived to the bridge minutes after I left my house. It was deafeningly quiet. I was the first person to arrive. I got there probably about 2 minutes too late.
Joe’s body was never found.
Initially we refused to believe he was gone. The coastguard came out that night, with boats, and helicopters. Me and my friends spent the next 10 days putting up missing posters everywhere we could, walking up and down beaches with flashlights, getting about 3 hours sleep a night. When you’re walking up and down a beach with a torch when its dark everything looks like a body. We still haven’t found Joe.
As his birthday came around, I wrote a song, freckled angels, a song I dedicated to Joe which I sang in front of his friends and family. A charity football match was put on for him, raising money for the RNLI where I won two bottles of wine in a raffle, I drank them both as quickly as I could, naturally, turned to my friend and probably slurred something along the lines of “This is the last time I ever drink” That was 12 years ago, I haven’t touched a drop of alcohol since
Thank you so much for this. I was aware of how much Joe meant to Ren from Freckled Angels - a beautiful song, this adds so much to what was clearly a special relationship. I lost a friend, sudden heart attack, a few years ago, like Ren, I have many great memories of our times together, so many laughs. I feel to a certain extent what Ren continues to go through.
Damn.....
Thanks for this.
I have never had artist affect me so profoundly. Watching all the reactions videos and seeing everyone become vulnerable through his work. I have shed tears on every single time I watch. This is such an important piece of art. Thank you for your raw reaction to it ❤
the last part was inspired by his interview with Knox Hill
Great reaction! This one has been hard for me. I have dealt with depression for most of my life and much of what has kept me here is the realization of how it would hurt those I love. The second half of this song is brutal but it is also a good reminder of how it hurts those left behind.
Musically, it's another masterpiece. The video is so beautiful. Louis Mardlin is the video editor for Ren's animated type videos and he did a fantastic job with this one.
Aileen, thank you for the authenticity today. I think these reactions play an important role in helping to normalize emotions and expression for your viewers. You may not feel like it but like Ren you're doing powerful work out here in your channels and it means a lot to the people that watch you. Also, to make sure YOU remember as well, you're loved and cherished. You're appreciated and people are greatful to still have you here. Stay amazing.
This is a very true statement -^
great reaction by you thank you so much for sharing this video with us Aileen.👍
I know the pain he feels, I've lost friends to suicide, I've seen the devastation this causes.
If I didn't have 2 people in my life that would feel that pain then I wouldn't have to wake up tomorrow but they are so I will
I've cried more times to that last part in the last 24 hrs that I can count. It's just an emotionally vulnerable song. I love it.
I feel what he is talking about. I luckily got got help a few years ago. ❤️
I've struggled with suicidal ideation for years. These days, it is more like not wanting to wake up tomorrow rather than taking an active role in ending myself. Loneliness was my biggest trigger when I was young. These days, it's more about experiencing rampant transphobia and not being able to do anything about it. It just gets so heavy a weight to carry, you know? I guess the trick is to distract myself until old age takes me.
Hang in there, for you never know what the gods have planned for you. Maybe your suffering is just the test you have to fight through before better times will come..
But these are just shallow words from an old vet who has looked death in the eyes too often.
Stay strong 🙏.
Hang in there. I am an old redneck and have gradually changed my outlook on gender over the last decade or so. I think lots of people are adjusting. I hope you will get to experience a very noticeable betterment in people long before you experience old age.
we got you! we are a community of winners and victory!
Please don't hurt yourself because others don't agree with transexuality. I can tell you personally that I do not agree and I do not think children should have it pushed on them; but I also don't think (or want) anyone to hurt themselves over people having different opinions and beliefs. That's part of life.
I am so incredibly grateful to still be alive at the same time as creators like you and Ren. Thank you for everything you do Senpai
Gonna be a heavy one
How to be me live with chinchilla. That's another gut punch about his friend. But it's a must listen for sure. R.I.P Joe Hughes
Love your reactions. This has to be one of the most powerful pieces of music I've ever experienced. As you're asking for recommendations, I can't remember if I've pushed these on to you before or not but 'How to be Me (Live)' is probably my favourite Ren track and is very much on the same topic of his friend Joe. Other blindingly good songs are 'Ocean', 'Humble', 'Dominoes', 'Money Game II', 'Losing It', 'Hold On', the list is seemingly endless but those will give you a really good variety with some nice upbeat stuff in there too (if you need an antidote!). x
I know i have already said this. Aileen you have such a wonderful heart and your a speacial soul. Thank you for keeping it real!!!!!!!!!!!
He actually loves to write songs for his friend. Freckled angel and forgot how to be me are both songs dealing with joe and loss. And this song was a mix of how he has felt over the years being sick and wanting to just give up but joes suicide hit him so hard he couldnt allow himself to
Many have survival regret. I, also lost a few friends to suicide. It's hard to get moving after experiencing the loss, and it can drag you way down at times. The way I get passed that feeling is living for them and doing things that we all talked about doing as kids. Out of 7 of us, there is only my brother and one other person left.
Tears were streaming down my face also what a beautifully vulnerable song about a subject that needs to be talked about.❤🩹
thank you for reacting to this sending all my love to you and your family, Ren is starting a movement of love ❤❤❤❤
Thanks again for this incredible heartfelt reaction Aileen.
Feel your pain and sadness as many are all doing at this moment in time. Ren is the master of making us aware of life issues in such a wonderful deep way. Love your reactions.
A wonderful reaction from an awesome person. Thank you for your incredible reaction. This is such an important song for everyone.
This hit very close to home for me and helped more than I would ever have imagined.
In a weird way I was looking forward to this reaction from the moment it dropped. Like Ren I feel your quite genuine and you'd resonate with what he his brining. Thank you for your reaction, it's in a way therapeutic
I love Ren to death. His friend Joe , you can tell it still haunts him to this day. "Freckled Angels" was his first song dedicated to him , and "How to be me" is a song about him too that they recorded on the bridge he jumped from.
He is the only one really addressing this, in a way people can share and feel empathetically. Its an important video and song. A real embodiment of the power of music cross culturally. Its immense.
Great reaction. Everything you said was very well said.
In a world of disposable, candy-sweet media, music and technology.... Ren is the humanity that shines once in a generation. I've shed so many tears over this songs and watching people react. I almost watch these songs and videos to feel something .... anything .... most of my life i feel i'm barely a spectator and feel so little happiness or joy in daily life, haven't for years .... but at least feeling pain with these songs means i can feel something
Thank you so much for sharing your emotions with us, Aileen. You're a beautiful soul, you seem so caring and thoughtful 🤍 hope you're doing well
Incredible, as always!!
Ren is therapy for so many from one song he helps so many people open up in ways therapists struggle to do in person.
I’ve had thoughts of this every single day and every single time something goes wrong and honestly it gets exhausting. So hard to explain to people who don’t understand. Finding REN was awesome for me. It’s helped me so much. I’m fighting everyday and if you hurting keep fighting as well.
When you look at the water and ready to jump ...You are looking at the breaks in clouds reflecting on water ...THUS "Falling through the cracks of the night sky . Ty ren ty.
It's a punch in the stomach that resonates in the soul of each one of us.
I feel blessed to be a contemporary of such an Artist with a capital A, and such a genuine person.
Good reaction.
Beautiful reaction Aileen. All the very best from the UK
It's a beautiful thing, the compassion you display for those who are struggling. You have a good heart.
The amount of time that you spend making your eyes so beautiful is truly appreciated by tens of thousands of people you will never know. Someone will write really terrific poetry about you one day, poetry that will bring tears to those astonishing eyes you've been blessed with
You have so much empathy, it's a refreshing change to the way the world seems
Made Mr cry like a baby, lost a few fine folks that were well more than capable that contrabuting.
Ren is one in a million million that is for sure.
Life means a gift.
For all those that sacrificed...
I am suffering myself from double depression, chronical depersonalization, anxiety disorder and a chronic pain disorder. In 2020 I lost a brother in mind and heart by suicide.
I never had anyone I could have so much fun with and do stupid / crazy things. That's something I never do but with him it was possible.
And we shared our dark side, told us about our demons.
It still hurts as hell and just thinking about that one movement and what came next (he killed himself with a rope) makes me feel miserable and sad and empty. I can feel so much with what describes here.
This hit so hard. This hit so deep!
So honest. So true. So brutal. So painful: Emotionally and even physically.
Thank you for this. Every time I watch Ren he draws my emotions out of me. I can't really explain it but I am so happy for him. Number1 on the UK charts is a huge validation of who Ren is and what he feels.x
Suicide is something that needs to be talked about. We are not alone and you show us that. Thanks for doing what you do.
A beautiful and heartfelt reaction, to a beautifully poetic and heartbreakingly emotional song.
Ren is definitely next level - by any means. What a beautiful human being.
I can't say enough just how talented and important Ren is
Ren, please don't stop!! I have never cried so much from just pure emotion taking over when I listen to your works. @AileenSenpai you always bring great music to us that is life helping/changing. Thank you!!
Such a powerful song I cry every single time! Ren is so special and to share this with us wow I have no words.
First time someone thought about the people who watch this because of the song and not because they know you, so very nice from you that you try to help thouse people who are not in the right place, that deserves a sub from me, looking forward to see more reactions or other stuff from you
Thank you, Aileen, for your heartfelt reaction and review! It is difficult for me to find the words that describe the mixed feelings I have after watching this and other Music Videos by Ren Gill. It is obvious to me that "Ren's" work comes from someone who has experienced, first hand, the subject of his writings. Knowing that makes Ren special, and makes Ren's message special. I commend Ren for delving into the difficulty of hearing and confronting human condition and experiences!
I love your reactions - so true and fragile. Greetings from Poland!
Dear Aileen, as someone who feels REN’s songs like you do. I come back to soak up your reactions to them.
I just wanted to point you towards some of REN’s work that also brings me great joy… and that is his busking videos with Sam Tompkins. They are so worth a watch to see him singing and expressing himself in such a different way. 😊
When I see you cry Aileen it makes me feel like my daughter is crying and I just want to give you a hug.
You, my dear, is so painfully human I can't quit watching your reactions, even tho it often hurts me watching you feel. Thank you. 🖤
Ren is a poet. And your reactions are amazing.
You are so wonderful, thank you so much, just you talking about this means so much. Ren is so great, but your input means so much. you are a wonderful person.
Wow .. didn’t see that coming! Powerful … very rare performer!!!
While I would love to take everyone’s pain away, it’s what makes us who we are, and for what it’s worth I’m sorry….
I'm new here. For me the most powerful part is that Ren is so respected... An it's ok for a guy to cry. I love him for that. It's so hard to open up and admit you are hurting.
It hurts so much more because they never found his body.... Knoxhill's interview with Ren covers this... his comment under his song covers more too... Ren is truly a beautiful pure talent human being. .
I needed a good cry. I've had seriously suicidal thoughts and still struggle. It helps to know im not alone. ❤
Thank you for being you and for letting me seeing someone else who feels the things I do. It helps.
I have listened to the song itself many times, and also many reactions. There is no question that this man is an ARTIST in the strictest sense of the word. I have never heard such a wonderful eulogy before!!! But I think it's also part of the healing process for him, because now he's coming to terms with the fact that his friend is really gone, even though his body was never found. This man is a miracle! I think this song (like all of them) will bring a lot of healing. I hope he can heal with his art for a long time and I wish him nothing but the best. It's sure to leave a mark, no matter how it turns out!
Aileen, You've gotta check out "How to be Me (live) - Ren X Chinchilla". I think this song actually helps give context to that one. Both are hauntingly beautiful.
Young lady, I can tell by your reaction that you are as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside. A rare find for sure. Thank you for sharing this video, your story and for giving people a place to support each other. All it takes is one voice of understanding to save a life.
I love you baby, this is the only response to this video and Hi Ren. There hasn’t been anything so repairing as his last two songs. His music isn’t destructive, it’s restorative.
I feel sorry for you Aileen , I know what’s coming😭
DAMN!!!!!!! REN ALWAYS FINDS A WAY FOR MY EYE TO JUST START RAINING....
This one really got me. I lost a close friend to suicide and didn’t get to him on time. Never got over it and years later tried and failed to take my own life by rope. My life is good now but my head is still in the past. REN is hard to watch but it’s vital we do.
Ty for your ❤ felt words and supporting REN
Poclets full of pain
Fire
Castles made of sand(my fav ren song)
For joe (live)
The entire freackled angels album is powerful
I found my sister after hersuicide. So i relate to this entirely too much. Rens music saved my inner child saved. Hes my hero.
This was a song that was hard to deal with on the onset, but at the same time, it helped me relate. Unfortunately we have friends that have greeted a similar bitter end. To learn it's healthy to truly cry sometimes again
Another fabulous reaction! Thank you for just being you and sharing your journey with all of us. 🖤
im a 50 year old australian male. i have severe mental health issues, and suicidal ideation daily since i was 12. Ren is my newfound hero, between this and Hi Ren his music is brilliant but cried through the end of this song like a baby. i love your vids Aileen
Stay strong brother x
What you say about a group therapy is exactly right. We have been fed pills, told we need to pull ourselves together, shamed, and pushed to the point that we have a mental health crisis...
But songs like this are written in such a way thst we can all relate, then we start to realise that we are not alone... This is what social media should have been about... Real connection