2000-12-08 | 05:05:35

i got to see aimee mann in concert last night.

aimee is amazing.

i've been a fan since her 'til tuesday/voices carry days in the 80s and have gotten each of her cds as they came out (not that many have due to record company hassles).

her melodies cut to the bone and make my heart ache and soar. so do her words.

me and aimee are likethis. well, of course, i've never met her, but there is an unspoken understanding between us.

she often seems to be singing my life story.

i remember so clearly when aimee's words first zapped into my life like a mosquito of meaning on a naked emotional vein. back during my tour of duty in vietnam (the guy, not the actual war...term of endearment, you see), i had had a particularly frustrating argument with him. i'm not sure what the exact source of the conflict was, but whatever it was that i complained about, he responded, ever so non-chalantly: "that's just the way i am. you'll just have to get used to it."

my response? "grrr." what i was asking for was relatively minor, and yet he wasn't willing to put an iota of effort into fixing it. bad sign. other things were amiss with us as well.

feeling confused about the relationship and bummin' hard one night, i got into my car and started it. when the car radio came on, it was aimee singing "that's just what you are":

"In our endeavor we are never seeing eye to eye

No guts to sever so forever may we wave goodbye

And you're always telling me that it's my turn to move

When I wonder what could make the needle jump the groove

I won't fall for the oldest trick in the book

So don't sit there and think you're off of the hook

By saying there is no use changing 'cause

That's just what you are

That's just what you are

Acting steady always ready to defend your fears

What's the matter with the truth, did I offend your ears

By suggesting that a change might be a thing to try

Like it would kill you just to try and be a nicer guy

It's not like you would lose some critical piece

If somehow you moved point A to point B

Maintaining there is no point changing 'cause

That's just what you are

That's just what you are..."

i remember sitting in that parking lot under the ugly fluorescent street lamp and thinking, "holy shit! how did she know to sing that to me?"

it wasn't the last time she distilled my relationship struggles into a painfully beautiful jewel of a song.

she is a painfully beautiful jewel, herself. sharp, almost bird-like features, lips as wide as the sky, eviscerating eyes, shockingly blonde hair and a sweet, strange, lovely, take-no-prisoners-or-bullshit voice that pulls down through her cheekbones and grovels in emotion as it escapes her mouth.

when she sang "save me" from the magnolia soundtrack (worth picking up if you get a chance--wonderful album), she bobbed her head in halting degrees towards and away from the microphone, as if she was plucking harp strings...only with her voice instead of her fingers.

i teared up more than once. chills were had, as well. there's only one way to say it: aimee rocks my world.

***

today at girlboy, robin shares a very special take on the kind of person who would be the wind beneath her wings.

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