I sent a text to April when I heard the news. "Heath Ledger Found Dead in His NY Apt!" 4:46:21pm, 01/22/2008. Suddenly it was everywhere. Found naked in his bedroom by his housekeeper and masseuse. Pills strewn about. The making of a suicide in headlines. April and I had discussed In Rainbows. The new album by the band Radiohead who offered their latest CD for download at a pay-what-you-want price online, (www.inrainbows.com). No longer available, I picked up a copy in store. I was intrigued. April had called it beautiful. She knew Heath too. They attended the Marc Jacobs fashion show together last fall. A year ago this date I watched Broke Back Mountain on DVD on a cold evening in an uptown sublet. I waited so long to see it. Amazing love story meets awkward real life. She got goosebumps when she got the text she later said. I thought about him as if she did for a minute. White noise. My cat snoring. In Rainbows sitting in the carousel played out. Toxicology report to be announced. "It's about the fucking panic of realizing you're going to die...," stated Thom Yorke, (Radiohead's lead singer), speaking of their new album in an interview with The Observer Music Monthly."...and that at any time soon I could possibly have a heart attack when I next go for a run." I am aware of the chances too. Up and down the path along the West Side Highway, between Battery Park and Fort Tryon. My favorite track on the record is Reckoner. On it, Yorke sings; "You can't take it with yer/Dancing for your pleasure/You are not to blame for/Bittersweet distractor/Dare not speak it's name/Dedicated to all human beings/Because we seperate like ripples on a blank shore/In rainbows/Because we seperate like ripples on a blank shore/Reckoner/Take me with yer/Dedicated to all human beings/...
The album's artwork is equally sensual, designed by Stanley Donwood.
