Colleen Captain of None (2015)
A 50-year-old family man buys a sports car and runs away with a woman half his age: the classic image of a midlife crisis from back in the day. (We’re being ironic here, though this scenario might have played itself out now and then.)
Those days are long gone. Today, one in ten Millennials reports having experienced a midlife crisis by the age of 34. Furthermore, another four out of these ten Millennials expect to face a midlife crisis in the future (around the age of 44 according to their own predictions).
While the stereotypical midlife crisis features a male protagonist, such crises certainly aren’t a male-only phenomenon. In fact, the gender difference is minimal (at least in this study), with 15.5% of men and 13.3% of women reporting they have gone through a midlife crisis.
One woman who experienced a midlife crisis at a relatively young age is French multi-instrumentalist Cécile Schott, also known as Colleen. On her website, the artist states that she went through a midlife crisis while recording her 2014 album Captain of None. At 38, Schott reflected on her struggles with self-understanding and control on the haunting yet beautiful title track. The alt-pop piece, which features heavily processed recordings of a viola da gamba and Schott’s ethereal voice, is today’s song.
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