Absolutely unfadeable. Back when I was in single digits, "Bernadette" was the very first song I heard that gave me what they call "the shock of recognition": It made me realize that there existed a fiery, end-of-the-world type of love, and at the same time made me realize that I was six years old and still thought girls were gross and thus there was no earthly reason why I should even have known what the fuck I was listening to--but still, there it was. That long second of silence in the middle--right before he cries "Bernadette!" like he's been shot--holds vast continents. Like those exhausting dreams where I'm reading a book as I'm writing it, listening made me race ahead of myself even as I lagged a half-step behind, simultaneously exhilarated and scared shitless that a day might come that I would feel as strongly as the singer of this song. Probably the only reason that Third Guitar 45 didn't turn my hair into snakes is because I heard "Bernadette" first.
Which one? (I can think of two off the top of my head, LIVE! from the sixties and LIVE & IN CONCERT from the seventies...)
i've said on here before how much i enjoy those 70's four tops records...appreciation is due
