The Vintage Reader

In the spring of 1981, I bought Along Comes the Association at a garage sale, and listened to it constantly. So I've known all the words to "Cherish" for 24 years. And yet, I never noticed how creepy they are until yesterday, when I heard it on the radio:

"I don't know how many times I've wished that I had told you,
I don't know how many times I've wished that I could hold you,
I don't know how many times I've wished that I could mold you into someone who could cherish me as much as I cherish you."

What was probably seen as adolescent wistfulness in the 60s sounds a little obsessive now.

And then there's this:

"I'm beginning to think that man has never found
The words that can make you want me
That have the right amount of letters
Just the right sound
So I can make you hear
Make you see that you are drivin' me out of my mind"

Which might as well be a note from a stalker. I will never hear this song the same way again.