Confession time. Yeah! I can get pretty soggy sometimes.

There are certain songs I just can't sing because of the way they affect me. I steal wholesale from Gordon Bok's records, but one I just can't get through is Turning Toward the Morning. Does it to me every time. Mary Black's recording of Anachie Gordon is another one. Why? I do others with similar themes with no problem. Perhaps it's Mary Black's intense performance of the song, but I can't even listen to the song without puddling up.

Not everybody's cup of tea, I know, but one of my favorite operas is La Bohème. It's about the kind of people I have known. Bohemians, Beats, hippies, whatever you want to call them. The ones in the opera are in Paris around 1850, but they're the same kind of young people, struggling to make their way as artists, poets, and musicians. It's so bloody sad in the final act when Mimi is dying. The best version I have ever seen was a Metropolitan Opera production (currently available on videotape and DVD) with Teresa Stratas and José Carreras, directed by Franco Zeffirelli. The singing is magnificent, the acting is excellent, and they all look the part. Sometimes just a recognizable snippet of music from La Bohème can set me off.

On the other hand, to me, Bobby Goldsboro's Honeyis pure pukesville.

Don Firth