(like many things in life, the following goes down easier while listening to al green, here singing "what a wonderful thing love is" (listen)(BUY!). al condenses four-hundred pages of baldwin into about four minutes, and if he spares us the view from the gutter, it's only out of christian charity. sometimes i think only al green is in the position to sing about love b/c only he has as many tones as love has modes, and he has the scars to prove it, Lord. love begins as a loping groove, it brings laughter & joy; suddenly everything begins to scatter, most notably the self, and al cries & entreats, but he's never ashamed of it, he is not too proud. "what a wonderful thing love is"? it's not irony & it's not r&b--he's singing for all you kids. that said, i can't think of another al green song in which the words are quite so unintelligible ... but never has he sung so directly about the subject of love--that is, the loved object-- not even on "l-o-v-e (love)." he goes to the river; he drowns; he comes back & he's still in love w/ you. what did he see? what is his message? "i've been crying about your love." happy tears or sad? yes.)