Is It Better to Burn Out or Fade Away?

by Wilf Brown

Nicola Sturgeon

Is it better to burn out or fade away (as asked by Neil Young or Kurgan from Highlander)?

The recent news headlines regarding two prominent female politicians’ decision to arguably prematurely leave their office has led me to question whether it is better to burn out or fade away. 

More specifically, Jacinda Arden, the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand, who led the country through the covid-19 pandemic and terrorist attacks on a mosque, announced her resignation as Prime Minister on the 19th of January 2023. Her reason for doing so was that she “no longer had enough in the tank” to continue in her prominent position. This act of self-awareness has recently been replicated by the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, who said “in my head and in my heart” this was the right time for her to leave her position on the 15th of February. 

These, to me, represent perfect examples of those who decide to ‘burn out’, giving all their energy to their job in the short term, and are capable of realising when it is time to step down. 

The antithesis of this is shown by Boris Johnson, the former British Prime Minister, who doggedly held on to power, even after his party seemed to lose confidence in him. In addition, his successor Liz Truss showed a similar state of mind, refusing to admit defeat despite her disastrous “Mini Budget”. 

In the sporting world, Arsene Wenger, former manager of the football club Arsenal, can also be arguably known as an individual who doggedly clung on to his role rather than leaving when his grasp on the North London club started to slip. Instead, he kept going and watched his supporters slowly disappear. 

In the music industry, in my opinion, many continue to sing past their prime, for example, Beatles lead singer, Paul McCartney, who never quite managed to recreate the amazing music he wrote and performed with the Beatles. Whilst in comparison, some of the brightest musical stars of the 20th and 21st century died at a young age, for example, Marc Bolan, the lead singer of T-rex, and Buddy Holly who tragically died in a plane crash at the age of 22 years old with an admirable back catalogue already created. 

So to conclude, I hope we are entering an age where people in the public eye read the public’s response to them and decide whether or not they should continue in their trade or whether public sentiment is no longer in their favour and it is therefore time to hang up their boots/mic or suit and retire and pursue other ambitions and careers.