There were lonely times walking along the road by the ocean looking out at the Pacific and the mountains that fell into its arms humming this song, then nights by the fire with the windows open playing this fantastically fun chord progression, wondering if it was better to sing in somewhat of a falsetto or a craggy-Johnny Cash slur. It of course helped that Neko was not only attractive but had an Emmylou Harris voice, maybe a half octave lower, and I wished she was there with me so she can sing and I could play her chords instead of her being another fool playing songs that don't matter to people who chatter endlessly.
It was just different being out there and the people, while nice, were different themselves, cut from a substantially different cloth than the aggressive Northeasterners I had grown up with. The voice in this song has a similar problem and I have always felt it was straight from experience and from the heart. Little things that only someone who has spent time out there would know, the mention not of route 405 but rather "the 405", a mannerism of speaking I picked up while there and still cannot erase, missing snow, missing someone, making a big break which many were skeptical of...it all resonated.
Usually I am not at a loss for words but here I am, possibly because it is so close to me, probably because all that needs to be said has been said in this beautifully crafted song that always breaks my heart happily when I put it on. I think I will, and dust off the guitar and provide backup.
Elizabeth Short (pictured) is mentioned in the last verse and became a Hollywood legend though not in the way she pictured. Found dead with her body cut in half at the waist, a smile carved into her face, her killer was never found.
