Beck

Beck
July 8, 1970
Los Angeles, California

When this trail-blazing triple Cancer found his voice, he created a genre that is his alone.

'I think my whole generation's mission is to kill the cliche.'

Beck's Tarot Reading

Born Bek David Campbell to actress Bibbe Hansen of Andy Warhol fame, and conductor/musician David Campbell, Beck is a Grammy winning artist with a style that is unique to his multi-media generation. He won the Grammy for Best Alternative Performance in 1996 for his album, Odelay, and in 1998 for Mutations. After his parents were divorced, he took his mother's maiden name, calling himself Beck Hansen. Early in his career he performed at the Troy, a coffee house belonging to his mother and stepfather, Sean Carrillo. He has collaborated musically with his father on numerous occasions and has also made a point of spending time with both sets of grandparents.

Sun in Cancer endows Beck with strong ties to his roots and all the things that remind him of his childhood. He is devoted to his family and will do whatever it takes to protect them and the bond he shares with them. He is caring and kind toward others, and appreciates feeling needed himself. Steadfast, supportive and highly sympathetic to other people's feelings, he is not particularly concerned with success or his place in society. However, he does require a sense of belonging and acceptance. Home life is far more important to him than anything the world at large has to offer.

Governed by emotion and his own experience instead of logic or academic concepts, it is sometimes hard for him to assess a given set of circumstances objectively. He takes things very personally, and may be inclined to put up barriers to shield himself from pain and rejection. Naturally introverted, he spent a great deal of time alone when he was young, concentrating on his music. He knows from experience the depths and heights of emotional extremes and pours it all into his songs. Among many examples is 'Bottle of Blues' from the album Mutations:

Holdin' hands with an impotent dream
In a brothel of fake energy
Put a nickel in the graveyard machine
I get higher and lower
I get higher and lower
Like a tired soldier
With nothin' to shoot
And nowhere dreams it's a ...
Bottle of blues.

I just found me a bottle of blues
Some strange comfort for a soul to soothe
Ain't it hard, ain't it hard,
To want somebody who doesn't want you ....

With an immense affinity for music, it's very important for him to make time in his life for introspection; time to dream and find inspiration so that he can express his feelings creatively. Compassion, sensitivity and imagination are his strong points. His faults include a tendency to be moody and to feel sorry for himself when he encounters adversity. With Sun conjunct Mercury he can be rather one-sided. He definitely knows what he wants.

Mercury in Cancer reveals that he is interested in deep personal matters and reiterates that his thinking is more likely to be founded on emotion and intuition than reason or logic. He follows the path with heart. He is a sensitive listener who is genuinely interested in someone else's feelings and inner being. While it's clear that he has a flair for art, poetry and music, he may also be interested in education, psychology and mythology. Mercury sextile Saturn gives him the ability to focus on details and an interest in subjects others might find too technical.

Mercury opposition Neptune/N. Node suggests that he tends to expect too much from other people and consequently may feel let down by their actions. This sentiment comes across in the song, 'Cancelled Check.'

I hate to do this
But you're a pain in the neck
I thought you knew this
You're handing me a canceled check
You're so helpless
Your girlfriends think you're a saint
I'll give you a quarter
I'll keep my judgments to myself.

And I get caught up
In the moonlight
Reaching out for a rotten egg
I don't want to beg
It's crystal clear
Your time is nearly gone ....

With Venus in Leo, Beck is demonstrative and giving in love. He wants someone he unconditionally respects and can be proud of. He is tremendously loyal and devoted once he gives his heart to someone. On April 3, 2004, he married Marissa Ribisi. Their first child, Cosimo Henri Hansen, was born in May of 2004. 'I was trying to get the album done before the baby came,' he recalls. 'But he beat me to it. So he spent his first month in the studio with me. He was there a lot.' He and Marissa are expecting their second child in April of 2007.

Venus sextile Jupiter means that he loves to laugh, celebrate and hang out with friends. He is laid-back and amicable and considers just about anyone a friend or potential friend. With good humor and joviality, he sometimes overdoes the festivities, but rarely to the point that he regrets it.

Venus conjunct Sun/Uranus suggests that he is likely to have many romantic or unusual experiences in love -- and write about them in songs like 'Nicotine and Gravy' from his 1999 album Midnite Vultures.

I'll feed you fruit that don't exist
I'll leave graffiti
Where you've never been kissed
I'll do your laundry
Massage your soul
I'll turn you over
To the highway patrol.

I think we're going crazy
Things don't even faze me
Her left eye is lazy
Nicotine and gravy
Miracles amaze me
She looks so Israeli
Love the way she plays me
I think I'm going crazy.

Venus conjunct Mars/Pluto means he has a very erotic nature, while Neptune opposition Venus/N. Node indicates that he is a little shy and tends to have feelings of inferiority in love. He famously put those feelings into his career-breaking anthem, 'Loser:'

'I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me?'

With Pluto conjunct Venus/Jupiter he has what it takes to fascinate many people and to have a great deal of influence. He is very generous and no one who comes to him for help will be turned away. Jupiter in Libra shows an ability to cooperate, a strong sense of fairness, and a willingness to listen to opposing viewpoints. Jupiter conjunct Neptune/Pluto means that he tends to be religious, has a peace-loving nature and a high degree of inner awareness and perception. He is very humane; his love embraces everyone without distinction.

Mars in Cancer indicates that he will steer clear of conflict whenever possible. Aggressiveness doesn't work for him. However, he has a strong protective side and if he ever senses that his loved ones are being threatened he will defend them courageously.

Mars square Jupiter signifies that he is inventive and strongly motivated to do well. Always open to new ideas, he will take risks when he believes that something will be a hit. Never completely satisfied, he always wants to do more. He likes to keep pushing the envelope. 'Anything goes,' he says. 'You always find interesting things that way.' Mars aspects Jupiter and Saturn means that he is capable of self-discipline, patience and sustained effort. Mars sextile Saturn makes him conscientious, responsible and serious about his work and he accomplishes a great deal through his dedication. He follows through and keeps on going in spite of any setbacks. This is often the key to his success.

Mars trine Neptune reveals that he dreams up creative solutions to problems and takes an imaginative, unusual approach to his work. Stating the obvious, the stars tell us that he has an artistic flair and appreciates the colorful, unique or strange. His musical influences range from Bob Dylan to the Beastie Boys; from folk to funk to hip-hop, jazz, blues and country. He freely uses samples, sound effects, drum machines and disembodied poetics to create a style that is all his own. 'Art is the child of Nature,' he says. 'Yes, her darling child, in whom we trace the features of the mother's face, her aspect and her attitude.'