Carla and I are leaning against a rock on Church Street in Burlington, VT, enjoying the unseasonably warm November day. The scene surrounding us is a perfect cross section of hippie and hipster, college kids and dropouts. People rush in and out of cafes, bookstores and the occasional chain retail monstrosity.
We’re eating warm, fresh kettle corn that we just bought from a street vendor. A busker is playing vaguely familiar covers nearby, then starts strumming a B flat to E flat chord progression that reminds me of a Big Star song. He vamps on the chords for a minute or so, until he starts to sing:
“Won’t you let me walk you home from school?”
We stay for the whole song, after which I drop a few dollar bills in his case.
“That was for playing ‘Thirteen,’” I tell him.
Appropriately, I’m listening to Elliott Smith cover that right now …