Chapter and Verse

I'll admit I'd have been surprised if anyone had recognized the quotation I gave.

I'm not sure whether it was 1985 or 1986. I had been thinking about various friends from college, I remember that much, and somehow happened to stumble upon what appeared to be a new release on a remarkably obscure label by, of all people, Melanie. As it happened, one of the people I'd been remembering had been a suitemate who had been passionately devoted to her recordings. The general consensus at the time had been that he'd seemed better naturally suited to her era than our own. That and a natural curiosity about someone reappearing after some years comprised enough reason and interest for a minor purchase.

It was a painful listening experience. Melanie had attempted to drag herself into the 80's and it just did not work. I can't really recall much of how or why it didn't work apart from one line, "Abuse is just a game I play in bed." But I recall feeling rather sad as the album neared its conclusion, as she seemed just so out of her time.

Then the last song, "Some Body Love," began with, "I fell in love with a man who was twice my age and half my size," and quickly made itself the one success in the entire misplaced collection. I could not really recall how much of her own brand of It she still had, but she still had something worthwhile. And somehow that made the whole thing seem that much sadder. It would have been so much simpler just to be able to stamp, Outlived Her Time, and file her away. But ever since there's been a twinge of lingering regret that comes to me every so often, and has become a sort of benchmark for considering how other well-known people have aged.