"Take another li'l piece of my heart . . . "

I frequently transfer that tune to, I suppose you'd call 'em "best of the best", tapes for the car and commuting to the loop from the burbs of Chicago.

I have listened to it perhaps a thousand times and each time I hear something in her voice that makes the other tunes on the tape seem inconsequential.

Sometimes I doze on the train, but never thru that one.

For her non-fans, take heart, we're unlikely to hear her likes again soon.

You know? If you put that much of yourself into the relatively simple act of singing a song, the effect on longevity shouldn't surprise.

I've often wondered . . .

Maybe it wasn't the drugs; maybe she was just all used up.