The Natal Chart of Gene Clark — An American Troubadour
It is always amazing to me how the Natal Chart can prefigure so much of what is about to unfold in a person’s life. In this blog, I’m taking a look at the Natal Chart of Gene Clark, to see how much of his remarkable career the astrology could predict would happen.
Harold Eugene Clark, born November 17, 1944, and better known as Gene Clark, knew what it took to fly. Clark was the principal song-writer, and one of the lead singers of the Byrds. At their peak, from 1965–66, the American band — which pioneered folk rock — were heralded as the US’s answer to the Beatles and enjoyed considerable commercial success and critical acclaim from their peers. Following Clark’s abrupt departure from the band in 1966, his fame declined, and further commercial success eluded him. But throughout his solo career, his song-writing and musical output matured and grew ever more creative, ever more dazzling. His best songs from the late 1960s and 1970s match those of the greatest musical performers of his era: “Polly”, “Sister Moon”, “One In a Hundred”, “In A Misty Morning”, “Fair Tender Ladies”, “Full Circle Song” not to mention the entire No Other album…. And he ranks — alongside Gram Parsons — as one of the founders of country rock. Clark continued to write and perform music as a solo artist until his premature death in 1991. In recent years there has been a growing reappraisal of the importance of the musical contribution by this American troubadour.
Clark combined an ear for melody with a rare ability to write lyrics that pierce the heart. He was also blessed with a distinctive voice — tender, expressive, soulful — and a knack for skilful musical phrasing.
So what does his Natal Chart show?
For musical talent the two most important planets are Venus and Neptune. And the Zodiac Signs linked to singing are, not surprisingly, those ruled by these planets, Taurus and Pisces.
In Clark’s chart, Venus and Neptune are prominent. Venus gave his personality and appearance a certain aura. It also rules his House of Creative Expression (5th) indicating he would be a very skillful artist. The Neptune in his Career House (10th) of Libra, (also ruled by Venus) says that he could make a living from singing.
The Third House governs the Voice, Communication, Recording Studios. This is in Pisces, one of the most artistic and mystical of the Zodiac signs, so that is where the timbre and artistic phrasing came from.
He owed his song-writing abilities, his lyricism, to his unusual access to his Subconscious Mind. That’s the Moon Conjunct Mercury. The Moon Sextile Neptune, reveals how he could expand his imagination into the transcendental and touch his audience.
Clark’s songs are often about being emotionally confused or deceived or abandoned — or in a relationship with someone who feels that way. In Sister Moon he sings: “Hey Sister Moon you shine and shine / You say you need my loving but you want to be free”. In Some Misunderstanding, he sings: “There’s been some misunderstanding / And I’d like to make it right”. “Don’t you come down / Don’t you feel bad” / Even though your dreams are of / The Things you’ve never had” he sings in One In a Hundred.
He sung about what he knew, and these feelings flowed out of the emotional confusion lodged in his chart. Neptune, the great deceiver who can blind the intuition and blind logic, forms an incredibly difficult angle to his Ascendant. This is the mark of those who feel confused, cannot relate, and retreat into their own dreamworlds.
And the fame? Well, possible fame is hinted at in his Natal Chart with his Venus-Neptune-Saturn T-Square and his Scorpio Sun tightly conjunct Mars (= Ambition, the desire to be in the limelight). Other astrological indicators outside the Natal Chart provide even more confirmation that at critical points in his career, if that was what he wanted, he would very likely experience fame.
Clark reputedly had his fair share of relationship difficulties. But don’t most people? Saturn in the Seventh House of Relationships and Partners doesn’t always mean someone will struggle with a relationship. It can be a sign of an enduring marriage. But if it is not well aspected, it is a red-flag. Clark’s Saturn is placed in the Seventh House opposite Venus and opposite his personality. If I had seen his chart before he became famous, I would have said that there would be a lot of emotional frustrations in many of his relationships, especially in his younger years, at the root of which would most likely be an unresponsiveness or coldness either on his part of that of his partners.
And then of course there were the alcohol and drug addictions which he suffered with his whole life. They were cause of his early death, aged just 46. Neptune is usually identified as the culprit (Neptune rules medications and illness). But there are many indicators of addiction, many of which link back to the Moon, which is our emotions. And addiction comes out of deep and unmet emotional needs. Clark has his Moon in the 12th House, indicating that a lot of his more turbulent emotions carried over from past lives. He also has Neptune in his Career House — a sign that he could be vulnerable to the pressures of fame and the false friends and hangers-on that came with his profession.
So there you have it, a quick look at the fascinating Natal Chart of a fascinating talent. One Youtuber wrote “The Church of Gene Clark may be small, but forever devoted”. if you haven’t heard of Clark or his music before, maybe this Post will lead you to becoming one of the devoted!
If this Post interests you in finding out more about the secrets of your own Natal Chart, or you want to know more about what astrology can do for you, do reach out. You can get me at jamie@jamiercarroll.com or visit www.jamiercarroll.com
