. . . then we take Berlin.'

Ahhhhhh. Leonard Cohen. Poking his pen into my life all over the place suddenly. Hmmmmm. And I'd nearly forgotten he'd existed. Until I finally caught up with that exquisite OC episode I missed at the end of the first season.

I didn't even know who he was first heard that manhattan/berlin line in 1991. (Don't tell anyone.) That line was all it took.

That and the weird kinda inklings I had heard about the guy, and the lineup of great bands on the tribute album, I'm Your Fan.

Bought it immediately. Wow.

Of ccourse, in my standard style, I chickened out of ever buying an actual one of his discs. Would it ever live up? God. I hate myself sometimes.

Suddenly, he's all over me, though. Lloyd Cole brought him my way, this time. Man. Forgot just why I adored that song. Or Suzanne.

The shocker at the time was that my favorite was not The Pixies, though I've since come to learn that their covers nearly always disappoint me, their glorious take on "Head On" notwithstanding. 

Uh oh. I digressing. Point: I like their cover. But . . .

Click on this site to hear snippets of all the songs. Brace yourself. They all brought me to the edge of tears again.

Hallelujah, way past.

OK. Guess it's time to torture myself with that final sequence from the first season of The OC again. (Lyrics here.) Can't bring myself to clear it off the Tivo. But had to make myself stop replaying it for awhile. (And nothing close to matching it in the second season. Why did it start to unravel toward the end there?)

Still haven't bought the Jeff Buckley disc with it on there. Need to do that. Along with Smile. But I need to see Ryan's stepmom agonizing again; not quite collapsing into Peter Gallagher's arms, kinda dissolving into them.

Hmmmmm. Don't quite want to leave it there. Parting thoughts?

"I forgot to pray for the angels / And then the angels forgot to pray for me."

"You told me again you preferred handsome men / But for me you would make an exception."

And of course:

Don't go home with your hardon /  It will only drive you insane / You can't shake it (or break it) with your Motown / You can't melt it down in the rain

No you can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain
You can't melt it down in the rain