Helpless.

Silent witness.

It's a sunny Sunday morning. My good buddy, a furry, four-legged friend is slowly fading away. His body is wracked with cancer. He has stopped eating. He is weak, so very weak. I am on death watch. Waiting for his owner to return later today. Hoping that my little buddy can hang on to say his goodbyes.

What to say? Helpless in the face of death.

What is the a.m. soundtrack? Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds "Skeleton Tree." (2016). Sad. Beautiful. Majestic. Deep sadness and certain death hang over this record. A dark masterpiece. The finest art. Makes you happy to be alive, even if being alive means heart-breaking sadness.

It is going to be a long day. It's already been a long morning.

So a 2nd album for the soundtrack this a.m. is already playing on the stereo. Neil Young's "Tonight's the Night." (1975). Neil's dark ode to death and drug psychosis, drug deals gone bad, murder, overdoses, and a "celebration" of all-around bad behavior. It is exquisite. Recorded in the dark of night, fueled by drugs and tequila. Produced by the Dark Knight of  R&R, David Briggs - "Be great or be gone." Over the years, I have played this one so often, I have gone thru multiple copies both on vinyl and cd. Fucking essential.