Roy Orbison, Taylor Swift, and A Radio

Only the Lonely Meets The Alcott

A couple of days ago I was in the car, going to a thrift shop in the neighborhood. Heard a song on the radio, "The Alcott" by the National featuring Taylor Swift, written with the Nationals' Aaron Dessner. It gripped me powerfully. It was so well-written: The chorus, with Swift's voice entwined with that of the Nationals' Matt Berninger. "And the last thing you wanted/is the first thing I do." The love is so pure, but it's also untenable.

"I'll ruin it all over," they sing.

As I was about to let this resonate and get out of the car, the DJ on Fordham University's WFUV-FM/90.7 played "Only the Lonely" by Roy Orbison. It was one of those "pull off the road" moments, except I had already pulled off the road, a side street near the thrift shop, to listen to the Swift/National song.

You wouldn't consider this a great segue by the standards of the greats of early freeform FM rock radio in terms of sound. But the emotional link is there. Endless love, way past 'til death do us part. That's beca…