This one experience, in the loving hands of wise friends who wrapped the bursting hymns of Wilson around me, was so perfect that even at the unwise age of 23 I had the wisdom to know I never wanted to try it again, that it was too dangerous and my one ride had been too perfect. (Photo: Courtesy of The Beach Boys.)Īfter that long night (which ended in the brutal white light of the Path Train, where I found myself surrounded by elves), no more painted ducks took flight and the horizon between life and death never again blurred so enticingly which is to say that was the first and last time I ever took LSD. But mostly, for hours that had no minutes, I lived inside the exotic Dixieland ta-das, Summer Place sad strings, turn-signal-tic guitars, angel-glow harmony stacks, Loving Feeling heart-beat bass and chiming radio-century vibes of Pet Sounds, a life-changing piece of music that became a friend for life and said you are home now, you have found the Mother of All Records. I observed the ducks in a thrift-store painting fly out of their frame, and I was gently remanded for attempting to step out of the open window and test the blur between life and death. I sat in a giant puppy-soft chair of unknown but likely ironic origin and watched the tie-dyed purple midnight sky turn the color of a roseate diamond. Soon we adjourned to the fourth floor of a rust-brick walk-up on 14th street between 1st and 2nd Avenues, parchment-colored hallways smelling of radiator steam and cabbage, the linoleum floors dipping in the center as all great East Village apartments once did. Were there any stars above us? I did not notice, though I ran, without comment, to 2nd Avenue and 12th street because I had correctly predicted that a friend from the future would be leaning out a window looking for me. The evening began with mad, childish dashes through Tompkins Square Park, sinister weak-yellow street lamps squinting on us as vials crunched underneath our high-tops and brave rats stood their ground. I was about 10 weeks past my 23rd birthday. At the time, Pet Sounds was exactly 19 years and five days old.
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