Even though I'm always whining about having no money, I of course sprang to see alt-country icon Neko Case last night--heck, she was performing right in my neighborhood.
I had a great time, despite the fact that the venue offered only the crappiest beer available (Bud, Bud Lite or Corona--not even Heineken, much less Guinness), or the idiots pulling out their cellphones every five minutes, or the somewhat disorienting fact that half the men in the audience looked like insurance salesmen and the other half looked like runners-up in a Moby lookalike contest, all shaved heads, soul patches and hipster eyewear. (Not me, of course--my shaved head, facial hair and glasses are a representation of my individuality. Right? Right?)
Case's songs tend to be relentlessly dark, but despite this, and despite her awesomely beautiful voice, I found myself at an emotional distance for much of the show. I enjoyed it, but remained curiously unmoved.
Then this, a cover of a much-loved Harry Nilsson song,
and maybe it was the thought not only of Nilsson, but another fallen hero, John Lennon, who produced the original version, or more likely these lyrics--When you're older/And full of cancer/It doesn't matter now/Come on get happy/'Cause nothing lasts forever/But I will always love you--that couldn't help but make me think of Mom, and conjure a sudden, unexpected vision of her listening to this song, which would surely have made her cry...maybe it was all these things that made me unleash my own flood of tears.
