For serious

Whether or not I've met you, whether or not you knew Jon very well or not at all, I say this: Lend me your addresses! I've finished this collection of music that addresses What's Happened in ways I, for one, have found helpful. And no joke: I'd like to share this collection of songs, selected in Jon's memory, with everyone possible. Who knows if the music's good enough to trump our deep-rooted musical preferences and ideologies; although I hope it is, I can't make calls like that. What I can do is send you a copy. You know what to do: email me.

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Here's another appetizer. I'm really trying to drum up interest here, I know. So here's the song, its liner note, and its lyrics:

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Track 7: The White Stripes, “I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet)” (from Get
Behind Me Satan)

Here’s another song I see as a ventriloquist’s dummy animated by Jon’s voice and heart. I can easily see Jon as the “I” in this song. In fact, it might be the best realization of Jon’s frame of mind so far, of all of these songs. I should amend that to say that it realizes Jon’s frame of mind in the days or months (or God, maybe even years) prior to the step he finally took that Saturday morning. I should also call your attention to the lyrics about the singer’s sister, and allude to the deep friendship Jon had / has with Melissa. (Some critics have made reference to some incestual aspect to the singer's reminiscences, but I find such suggestions to be groundless and bunk.) I should do the same with the lyric about the singer missing his mother. Jon didn’t say things like “I miss you, ______,” but you knew he did. I should also mention in passing that the verse in which the volume drops and the singer’s voice grows intimate is a particular eerie, ultimately helpful lyric to hear; frightening in its relevance, it reminds me of Jeff Buckley’s photo in the liner notes to Grace in which Jeff seems to be flying down the stairs thanks to the up-tilted perspective of the photographer, a shot that’s made eerier when you know that Jeff Buckley drowned—accidentally—in the Mississippi.


"I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)"
The White Stripes

Well I miss my mother
And I miss being her son
As crazy as I was I
Guess I wasn't much of one
Sometimes I miss her so much,
I want to hop on the next jet
And I get lonely, but I ain't that lonely yet

And I love my sister
Lord knows how I've missed her
She loves me
And she knows I won't forget
And sometimes I get jealous
Of all her little pets
And I get lonely, but I ain't that lonely yet

I roll over in bed
Looking for someone to touch
There's a girl that I know of
But don't ask for much
She's homely, and she's cranky
And her hair's in a net
And I'm lonely, but I ain't that lonely yet

Are you my friend when I need one
I need someone to be one
I take anybody I can get
And sometimes I wanna call you
And I feel like a pet
And I'm lonely, but I ain't that lonely yet

I go down to the river
Filled with regret
I go down and I wonder
If there was any reason left
I left just before my lungs could get wet
I'm lonely, but I ain't that lonely yet

And I love my sister
Lord knows how I've missed her
She loves me
And she knows I won't forget
And sometimes I get jealous
Of all her little pets
And I get lonely, but I ain't that lonely yet
Yeah I get lonely, but I ain't that lonely yet