Women's voices: I see my light come shining

Today I’m sharing another Voice on that whole love-at-a-certain-age thing. I can’t stress this enough: men just don’t even want to think about this kind of thing, much less talk about it.

Patty Loveless is another of the artists my sister’s mix tapes introduced me to while I was in the UK. I came across “Ships” on my own, and I was struck immediately by its charm. You know I hate Vegas—it’s my idea of Hell gone bad. The last time I was there, to go to CES in 2009, the best thing I could say about it was that I was so glad to get out of the place, even Seattle looked good by comparison.

But I’m not sure “Ships” would work in any other setting. The concept of two people who are worn down and worn out going to that conflation of fakery and greed with the vague idea of striking lucky…and then doing just that is the very definition of romance. Anyone can fall in love with someone if you’re young, good looking and energetic (viz: every movie shown on Hallmark Channel). But to find love like Eddie and Lily—well, just the thought of that brightens my day.

A song—and Voice—of an entirely different nature. Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders were big when I was in college, and I’ve always had a soft spot for her—living the dream of leaving Akron, Ohio, for London…

And “I Shall Be Released”—well, like “The Times They Are A-Changin’”, one of the anthems of my youth.

Crank the volume up on this one, and sing it with Chrissie and me.