Matthew Duss

A Hundred Floors Above Me, In The Tower Of Song

Leonard Cohen is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

If you want a lover
I'll do anything you ask me to
And if you want another kind of love
I'll wear a mask for you
If you want a partner
Take my hand
Or if you want to strike me down in anger
Here I stand
I'm your man

If you want a boxer
I will step into the ring for you
And if you want a doctor
I'll examine every inch of you
If you want a driver
Climb inside
Or if you want to take me for a ride
You know you can
I'm your man

Ah, the moon's too bright
The chain's too tight
The beast won't go to sleep
I've been running through these promises to you
That I made and I could not keep
Ah but a man never got a woman back
Not by begging on his knees
Or I'd crawl to you baby
And I'd fall at your feet
And I'd howl at your beauty
Like a dog in heat
And I'd claw at your heart
And I'd tear at your sheet
I'd say please, please
I'm your man

And if you've got to sleep
A moment on the road
I will steer for you
And if you want to work the street alone
I'll disappear for you
If you want a father for your child
Or only want to walk with me a while
Across the sand
I'm your man

Five Years of Funk

Congratulations to Sun Tzu Sound on five years.

Shining On

Tom Stoppard on how Syd Barret inspired his latest play.

Fred Kaplan on whether that play, which deals in part with how rock 'n roll culture inspired dissidents in Communist Czechoslovakia, has anything to teach us about how to reach out to Islamic societies.

There's So Much Right

About Carrie Brownstein's NPR blog. In regard to the conversation about preciousness in music, I offer James Taylor, who I think exemplifies this concept with his every tastefully delivered syllable and anemic strum of the guitar.

As for my own musical dealbreakers, the ones that immediately come to mind are: random turntable scratches added for hiphop cache; cellos sawing away on the bass notes; lyrics that seem designed to justify the songwriter's English degree.