Wore My Heart On My Sleeve Like A Stain

HAPPY FREAKIN' NEW YEAR! 2008 will be wonderful. Just puttin' it out there. I also haven't slept since Saturday. I think. Well, Sunday morning. Not on purpose. Yeah.

BUT. Today I found THIS. Which is a compilation I made circa 2003-04 that sort of explains my love for Lloyd Cole. I remember spending so much time on this that eventually Music in a Foreign Language came out & then I had to rearrange everything to get "People Ain't No Good" on it. The time was worth it, I s'pose - as a comp it holds up pretty well, save a track or two (*cough* "Big Snake"). The goal was to include at least one song from every album, & I did, except for Plastic Wood, which is all instrumentals.

Lloyd Cole : Half Of Everything

Tracklisting:
01. Chelsea Hotel (I'm Your Fan: The Songs of Leonard Cohen, 1991)
02. Lost Weekend (Easy Pieces, 1985)
03. So You'd Like To Save The World (Bad Vibes, 1993)
04. Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken? (Rattlesnakes, 1984)
05. Big Snake (Mainstream, 1987)
06. You're A Big Girl Now (Etc., 2001)
07. Happy For You (Love Story, 1995)
08. Half Of Everything (Don't Get Weird On Me Babe, 1991)
09. Undressed (Lloyd Cole, 1990)
10. Four Flights Up (Rattlesnakes, 1984)
11. My Bag (Mainstream, 1987)
12. She's A Girl & I'm A Man (Don't Get Weird On Me Babe, 1991)
13. Love Ruins Everything (Love Story, 1995)
14. People Ain't No Good (Music In A Foreign Language, 2004)
15. Old Enough To Know Better (Etc., 2001)
16. Man Enough (Don't Get Weird On Me Babe, 1991)
17. Rattlesnakes (Rattlesnakes, 1984)
18. Downtown (Lloyd Cole, 1990)
19. That Boy (The Negatives, 2001)
20. Unhappy Song (Love Story, 1995)

The first time I encountered Lloyd Cole was fall 2001, when I discovered his cover of "Chelsea Hotel" on the otherwise dreadful Leonard Cohen tribute album I'm Your Fan. I kind of fell in love with his voice, one thing led to another, I quickly realized that he also has a brilliant way with words & within a year I'd acquired a decent collection. So clinical sounding! Ah, I can do not better tonight. My brain is fuzzy.

One ought not to play favorites I s'pose, but fuck it, I'll say it: I could listen to "Undressed" for endless days. Its innocence & endearing sweetness are enchanting. Having listened to it at least 20 times today & having not slept in about 60 hours, I've concocted all sorts of harebrained notions about it, none of which are as eloquent as "We could disconnect the telephone/Just sit around & mess around & tell your ma we went to Rome, Tennessee". Obviously I love all of these songs, but damned if I'm not a sucker for sweet. Must be the ovaries. Then again, I've also listened to "People Ain't No Good" about 20 times today too, which is, uh, not very sweet. So go figure.

But for the albums, well, Love Story is one of my all-time favorites. As in, ever. Holy crap. It's just...beautiful. If some bastard came to rob me of my Lloyd Cole collection, I would weep fiercely & plead for Love Story to be spared. The CD, anyway. I guess he could have the cassette tape.