Take Your Silver Spoon, Dig Your Grave.

On my mom's side of the family, I have a lot of cousins. My cousin Leah is the same age as me, and also one of my closest friends. Our cousin Amanda is a couple of years younger, and we've haven't been close with her since we were children.

In the spring of 2006, we were at a family shindig with everyone. Leah and I had planned to go out afterwards, so on an impulse we asked Amanda if she was up for it. Surprisingly, she was.

Amanda was engaged to a guy that can only be described as "bad news". He was creepy, he would leer at me and the women in my family, was involved in shady dealings, and was just all-around sketchy. We were none-too-pleased that he had snagged Amanda, but what could we do?

As this was a month or so before the wedding day, we decided to make this night Amanda's last hurrah. Because she's pretty introverted and can come off as snobby, we were surprised that she was looking forward to a night out with us. On the drive to the falls, we talked to her about her fiancee, and if she was excited to marry him.

"I guess." was her reply. She seemed less than enthused.

"So why are you marrying him?" I asked her.

"We've been together for years," she answered. "I want to have a baby soon."

It was a strange conversation, and the topic seemed to bum her out. So I cranked up the tunes and kept driving.

It was a mixed CD I had made a long time ago, and Gold Dust Woman came on. Me & Leah sang it at the top of our lungs, and then played it again. Eventually Amanda learned a few words and started singing along.

The rest of the night was fun. Amanda relaxed and had a great time, saying that we should do it every week. But once she got married, she never called.

Hole's version of Gold Dust Woman reminds me of the one night my cousin seemed happy, after letting us know how unhappy she truly was.