I'm listening to Jonathan Richman's "Rockin' and Romance," an early-80's LP of his. Of all his records, it's my favorite. Strangely enough, it's his only album that hasn't been put on CD yet. I lucked out and found a used vinyl copy a few years ago and snatched it up.

The album's great. The backing band is excellent. It's basically an acoustic guitar, drums, and female vocals - with occasional backing male vocals. And the production's really sparse, but focused and vibrant.

And the songs are great, too. Like "The Beach" and "My Jeans" and "Down in Bermuda" and "Vincent Van Gogh" and "Chewing Gum Wrapper."

My favorite is "I Must Be King." The lyrics go like this:

I easy laugh
I easy cry
I soft inside
She partly why

I used to yearn
And now I sing
Since she's my queen
Well, that makes me king

And she and I are like brother and sister
I get to be her companion
And share her secrets
They've put us side by side to live

These days of joy
I stand and weep
Cuz I'm so grateful
to watch her smile when she's asleep

Since we're like birdies
Well this must be spring
And since she's my queen
Well, I must be king

And she and I are like brother and sister
I get to be her companion
And share her secrets
They've put us side by side to live

These days of joy
I stand and weep
I sometimes get grateful
when I watch her smile when she's asleep

Since we're like birdies,
well, this must be spring
And since she's my queen,
I must be king


I don't know. I just like the logic. The idea that, "Well, I don't think too much of myself, but this person I'm with? She's really great. And she likes me. So that must mean... I'm great, too."

And that maybe dangerous in the sense that you're only finding confidence because somebody accepted you, but... you could also see it as... somebody's love giving you strength and happiness. And that's a really beautiful sentiment.

And the best part about the song is that it's playful and fun and you tap your foot and you sing along and in the end, you're left with this incredible love song.

Download it if you like.