Giving Credit to Lloyd Cole

There is someone to whom most of us are indebted, even if we have never met our influence in person, shared a drink, or had a long conversation. One of these influences of mine is Lloyd Cole. I first heard his songs as a high school kid back in Central California, but what really sealed my allegiance to Lloyd (I have known him so long now that we are on a first name basis) was my sophomore roommate in college playing his album X for me. I was studying creative writing and trying to get a handle on the whole loving-the-opposite-sex-but-not-being-loved-by-them-thing. Lloyd’s songs were poetic, employing an obvious degree of literary knowledge and an enviable ability to turn a memorable phrase. He also understood the appeal many males like myself have held for the beautiful but damaged woman. Yes Lloyd was my musical companion. In fact, I would surely include a few of his songs on that imaginary MP3 player that would accompany me to the deserted isle on which I would be stranded. Yep, Lloyd would serenade me as I scaled the rough bark of coconut trees and chased fish in the tranquil waters of the lagoon.

I was reminded of my fondness for Lloyd Cole today when I came across an older article about him from Traffic East Magazine (http://trafficwest.com/archives/issue-three/lloyd-cole-in-his-american-circumstance). The article is good and captures just why so many of us appreciate his oeuvre. I need not summarize the piece for you (I think you should read it for yourselves), but I felt I needed to acknowledge my debt to Lloyd and hope that maybe some of you might check out his music on your own. Feel free to start with his earlier work with the Commotions. I particularly recommend “Jennifer She Said”, “My Bag”, and “Perfect Skin”. From there I suggest you give the aforementioned X and then Love Story a listen. The rest of his catalogue is impressive too, but one needs to start somewhere. As for myself, I am grooving to Music in a Foreign Language at present, which always shocks me with its ability to capture the feelings I had of inhabiting Los Angeles in the Nineties and being a somewhat lost college graduate. Lloyd’s music does that: It transports one to a period and a place with its circling guitar chords and confessional yet witty lyrics. But I will not claim this is just a sentimental time machine. Lloyd’s music helps us to begin a halting dialogue with our former selves in the hope that the experiences of our past might explain the current conditions of our present circumstances. In one of my favorite songs—“My Alibi”—he writes, “Remember when you said you're my best friend
 If that's the best that I've got”. Well, I consider Lloyd both a friend and certainly one of the best popular musicians we have. I hope you can become acquainted too.