Tuesday, November 30, 2010

My four favorite love songs


(Four is just a random number, by the way. I love love songs, but I'm just too lazy to figure out my top five -- or top ten, or top forty.)

"Evening up the Odds" by Lorrie Morgan. I guess I should start with this one, since it's our song, Kim's and mine. This was not a hit, and is not even available on I-Tunes, part of a long out of print album from Ms. Morgan. Why is it our song? Maybe because it acknowledges the difficulties of creating a love that lasts, at least as much as it does the joys of doing so.
Maybe I just think we deserve to pat ourselves on the back occasionally.

"And the odds are we're all gonna get our hearts broken someday
And the odds are some of our dreams will get left along the way
And every time you hold me close, it's the light against the dark
And here we are, evening up the odds, evening up the odds."

"Austin" by Blake Shelton. Yeah, I know, it's corny, it's overdramatic, it's over the top, it doesn't even make much sense. But add to that -- it emotionally overwhelms me every time I hear it. Half the time when it pops up on my iPod I skip it because I don't have time to pull off to to the side of the road and try to compose myself. (I'm not going to quote any lyrics so I can get through this post emotionally intact.)

"Brownsville Girl" by Bob Dylan. I might be stretching the definition of love songs to include this one, but I don't think so. Despite the inescapable presence of Gregory Peck, this song seems to me to be about a love that transcends time. Every time I hear it, there's another great line that stands out (the last time I listened to it it was this one -- "And you know there was somethin’ about you baby that I liked that was always too good for this world / Just like you always said there was somethin’ about me you liked / that I left behind in the French Quarter") and the last line is consistently devastating.

"So What If We're Out of Tune With the Rest of the World" by Marah. Add to the long long list of things I don't understand -- Why is Marah not the biggest, most popular band in the world? These guys and gals can do everything from hard rock to ballads to irresistible jump rope rhymes. I love this song cuz I do sometimes think that Kim and I are out of touch with the rest of the world, and belong in a world where people stay married and happy together.

"A tenner between us
And nothing to lose
By leaving everyone behind us
Silent and confused

‘Cause oooh lover
I only sing for you
So what if we’re outta tune
With the rest of the world"

Sunday, November 28, 2010

The only comic strip I ever saved

So, you know I love the comic medium, the combination of words and pictures seems to me the best way to tell a story. I've been pruning my comic book collection, putting a lot of stuff up on eBay, and in doing so I recently came across a comic strip from several years ago. It is interesting for several reasons. One, it's the only comic strip I ever saved. Two, it is not funny, not at all. It's Sally Forth, a strip which has never struck me as funny but this particular episode doesn't even try to be amusing. It tries -- and succeeds -- to be exceedingly depressing. Damn near suicide-inducing. But I saved it because I can empathize. Like Ted, I have seasonal affective disorder.