A Collective Feeling 6: I Saw The Light
This one's for the lovers
When we told the driver we were in town for a wedding, he asked “Which one? Are y’all at the Botanical Gardens?” It was a popular weekend for weddings in Louisville, according to him and to the four people at my airport gate who asked the gate agent to ensure our delayed flight was going to take off.
It was a popular weekend, but weather was less than ideal. I didn’t see the sun for the four days I spent in town, but I saw a once-in-a-generation rainstorm accompanied by flooding, which has to count for something. We lucked out, the wedding was held inside an art museum and I spent the cocktail hour looking at Krugers and a Lichtenstein instead of huddled under a tent.
A Canadian poet once wrote, “It’s like rain on your wedding day,” and while that phrase may have defined a subgenre of radio rock, it can’t define the wedding. It can’t stop because of a little rain. Love and life go on. And so, in honor of rain on wedding days, here’s a playlist about imperfect love.
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - “This Guy’s In Love With You”
To be perfectly frank, love is corny. The ability to be vulnerable and uncool is, somewhat, the point of being in love. Letting that guard down is an act of love, and it’s the kind of act that Herb Alpert’s willing to provide. Clammy hands, trembling voice, he can’t lock in, but that’s how important love is to this guy in this song.
Todd Rundgren - “I Saw The Light”
Todd is god. I found a real sweet sequence here with the Sade and YYYs songs before this one, where the guitar all sounds similar across decades of love songs, and that’s the kind of thing I’ve always hoped to find in doing this project.
Björk - “Possibly Maybe”
Possibly, maybe, the most realistic song on the playlist. Björk has a way with words and how to sing them, but nothing matches the feeling she inspires in me when I hear her spiral into thoughts of car crashes, losing a lover to a cult, or even the uncertainty that comes with a windfall of cash. What will life bring us? Is it responsible to have someone around to suffer in my losses, to take the same damage that I do? Is that what love is? Does it matter? Possibly, maybe, but probably not.