25 truths as heard on the radio

1. There are 50 ways to leave your lover (Paul Simon, from the album “Still Crazy After All These Years,” which you could use to describe this paper);

2. Even if the first cut is the deepest (Cat Stevens, though Rod Stewart has a wonderful version of it too);

3. So judge not lest ye be judged (REM, New Test Leper, from the album “New Adventures in Hi-fi,” in the mid-’90s around the time the singer came out of the closet);

4. Because some girls are bigger than others (The Smiths in typical misogynist form, as the next line goes “Some girls’ mothers are bigger than other girls’ mothers”);

5. Don’t cross the river if you can’t swim the tide (America, a popular song in the midst of a nervous breakdown);

6. Just as the future’s so bright I’ve got to wear shades (Timbuk 3; I remember Tanya Lara asking about the original and I had to search the old cassette library);

7. And a man needs a maid (Neil Young, a favorite of college brod Paul Icamina);

8. But you can’t always get what you want (Rolling Stones, another staple during breakdowns or plain tirik blues);

9. Love is the drug (Roxy Music who, of course, know that you never get enough of a prohibited substance);

10. And God is a concept by which we measure our pain (John Lennon, whose Dakota apartment is nowhere near George Harrison Plaza);

11. Planet earth is blue and there’s nothing I can do (David Bowie, A Space Oddity; a pity I missed the Bowie tribute by Dizzy Ventura and the Spiders from Mars);

12. Only to find comfort in your strangeness (Cynthia Alexander, who for some reason is not returning texts to her old cell);

13. We are such creatures of little faith (Ray Davies, from his first solo CD bought at a bargain, long live The Kinks!);

14. Even as nobody knows you when you’re down and out (Derek and the Dominos, from “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” long before Tears in Heaven);

15. I fought the law and the law won (The Clash, sounding like the best of the Angry Birds);

16. And time waits for no one (Rolling Stones, from “It’s Only Rock and Roll” in the mid-‘70s, around the time D’Bayan was born);

17. But I can never take the place of your man (Prince, in his lament of the eternal lover);

18. As every day is a winding road (Sheryl Crow, whose music video of this is as dizzying as a remat);

19. And tomorrow never knows (The Beatles, from “Revolver”);

20. Heaven is in your mind (Traffic, in their take on mind over matter);

21. But every picture tells a story (Rod Stewart, way before he concentrated on old standards);

22. So here comes the new boss same as the old boss (The Who, Won’t Get Fooled Again, from “Who’s Next,” with the album cover of them just finished pissing on slabs of concrete);

23. But don’t despair because help is on the way (Grateful Dead, from “Blues for Allah,” with a hip skeleton playing a violin on the cover);

24. There is a light that never goes out (The Smiths, whose lead singer bears a striking resemblance to the TNT Vargas Pulitzer winner);

25. And bulate ni cutie cutie parang spaghetti (Roxlee, from the CD “The Ghost of Rocker Janis,” with line drawings by the artist himself).