it all reeks of just how dysfunctional this band is and has been for a very long time. I know people get funky about Carol Ann's book, but she pulled back the curtain on a fair bit of this kind of crap going on back in the 70s and 80s. If not these specific activities, other ego-driven, competitive, in-fighting sorts of stuff. Which has always made the onstage faux love so nauseating. I've always felt bad for fans who believed it. I believed it until about the Tusk tour. He's obsessed with competing with her and she's obsessed with showing him how she doesn't need him (until she does, even on her solo work, and sends him demos asking him to bail her out).
It's sad, it's grossly codependent, it speaks to how limited and insulated their world really is. Even though he may get out in the 'real' world more than her because of his kids and all that, within the world of FM it's all reality-distortion. That's how they can all carry on in the band without him-- all the rest of the bubble is still intact. I figure Mike is used to it because Tom's world was pretty wacky, but Neil seems more down to earth, as Kiwis and Australians are, they're very quick to take the mickey and knock anyone who gets too into themselves. The world of FM must be a bit of Alice through the Looking Glass at times for him.
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