"Baby I've been searching like everybody else
Can't say nothing different about myself
Sometimes I'm an angel, sometimes I'm cruel
When it comes to love I'm just another fool"
Prior to becoming famous for being shot, Marc Cohn was known for his one big hit, "Walking In Memphis". In a Sirius-oriented world, where they only play the hits, that's all most people are familiar with. But Marc's debut album is full of gems. Especially the final track. Which almost seems like an afterthought. Just Marc and his piano, singing about his true companion.
Don't believe the rappers talking about bitches and ho's. Boasting about kicking women to the curb. We're all looking for that one special someone. Who KNOWS us. Who we feel comfortable with. Who we can be ourselves with.
Today's dating rules seem to say it's all about image. Lose that last ten pounds, get new clothing, be bright and sunny and the guys will like you. And men, be sure to lavish a ton of dough on her. Show her that you've got resources, that you can pull her up into a lifestyle she's always dreamed of.
That's all bullshit. People want somebody who's open and honest. Who tells his story, and listens to yours. Reveals his flaws as well as relishes his victories. In other words, people are clamoring for, desirous of, someone real.
You know the people in a good relationship. They're members of a conspiracy. They laugh at each other's jokes, make inside references. They're bonded. Whereas so many times the people who LOOK good, both individually and together, turn out to have so little together. You hear about infidelities, separations, divorces. Whereas the first couple, they're together forever. Whether regaling you with stories of watching "American Idol" or climbing the Himalayas.
Sometimes I'm an angel, and sometimes I'm cruel. It's the human condition. I wish it wasn't so. But things happen. Having nothing to do with the other person. And I lash out. I hope at those times, there's enough bedrock for the relationship to sustain. Because I don't want to lose my true companion.
"True Companion" is not the only stellar track on Marc Cohn's debut. Sure, the album has the aforementioned "Walking In Memphis" and "Silver Thunderbird", but the other song that will never be eliminated from my iPod is "Dig Down Deep".
"Baby let's go below the surface
See what we can find"
It happens all the time. I'm talking to somebody's wife at a party and when the husband sidles up she says I'M TELLING HIM THINGS I NEVER TOLD YOU! Hell, I had a similar thing happen last week at XM. Wherein a coworker said the same thing to someone whose office was right next door. Somehow, in America, digging down deep is illegal. Not proper decorum. We're supposed to respect others' privacy. Whereas everybody's so LONELY! Just dying to tell his story, just dying to know that somebody else knows. They want to let it out, so it's no longer bottled up inside.
I don't want to talk about things. I want to talk about you, who you are, what you feel. Not only your victories, but your losses. Hold back, and probably we won't be spending too much time together. For not only is our interaction unfulfilling, you make me feel like some kind of freak, for wanting to know. And, if you tell enough, and feel the warmth from the bond, and gently investigate, I'll tell you my story too. Which is so hard for me to do, but what I'm dying to do.
Ultimately, "Dig Down Deep" is about a love relationship. About not going out on the town, not going to sleep, but getting into it RIGHT NOW!
Everyone always says tomorrow. Which really means never. It's too dangerous. If the truth comes out they'll be rejected. Marc knows this. Which is why he ultimately sings:
"It's an open invitation
So baby don't you cry
It's a life long celebration
And I think we're right on time
It's a feeling in your heart
And a lump in the throat
It's a strange and lovely ride
Wanna dig down deep inside"
You know how it is. When the conversation is done, you TINGLE!
Unfortunately, Marc Cohn never equaled the brilliance of that debut album again. He switched to the guitar on his second record. And there weren't as many keepers. One never knows why someone loses the muse, why they can't open up and deliver again. Maybe because it's been a lifelong dream. And once fulfilled, once it's all out, and their honesty delivers success, they either bask in it or don't know what to do next.
But in my iTunes library, I've got this live version of one of those later tracks, "Lost You In The Canyon", that is one of my favorite P2P downloads ever. With just Marc and his guitar, you feel the despair, the DISCONNECTION. And this honest emotion touches me. So, when I opened an envelope from Jordan Burger at the Agency Group and found a new live Marc Cohn album in the bunch of CDs, I immediately put it in my computer.
It's all the great tracks from the first album, as well as renditions of the few stellar ones thereafter. And as I was pulling down the titles from CDDB, I marveled that I had never HEARD of this CD.
I went onto Amazon. It wasn't there.
I googled Marc, and what came up was a fan site.
I didn't believe he didn't have his own site. Finally, I just typed marccohn.com into the window. And, at marccohn.net, I found his site, with this new album, and little else.
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