Somebody, Loan Me a Dime

After I was downsized from my marketing job for an asset management firm last summer, a close friend said, "Why don't you write about music? You really love it." I said, "Naw, there's no money in it. I think I'll stick with writing about financial services."

Now that there's no money in financial services, I might as well turn to my real passion. Here goes nothing.

I recently promised to explain why I spend late Saturday nights sitting in the garage listening to the 13-minute version of Boz Skaggs moaning Somebody Loan Me A Dime, backed by the late, great Duane Allman on guitar.

1. To a beggar, watery sop is better than nothing. I'm kept company by the light on the car radio, and it's toasty since I just drove home from a futile networking meeting over coffee. Besides, this technically counts as being "out" on a Saturday night. Never mind I'm out in the garage.

2. I lost all my money as an investor in Bernie Madoff's (alleged) Ponzi scheme, so the song is particularly poignant for me. I really do need somebody to loan me a dime.

3. It's after 10 p.m., and it's the weekend, so potential employers aren't calling me anyway. Neither is anyone else. Might as well hang out awhile until it's time to go to sleep.

4. I'm thinking of adding this song to my "Heartache, Head Between the Speakers" iPod playlist, with its mix of maudlin, cynical and sobbingly sad cuts (heavy on Neil Young, Tom Waits and Eva Cassidy). I just need to be sure it has enough angst.

5. Emo. Boz speaks for me. I need to call my old-time, used-to-be employer for a reference and it's worryin' me.

6. Yeah, I'm a good girl, but at the time I worked for them they just didn't understand. Somebody loan me a dime so I can mail them a copy of the song.

7. If this were summer time, I'd be sitting in a darkened house with all the windows open sharing my musical taste with the neighbors. But it's winter and it's cold, so the garage will have to suffice.

8. The car is private - a great place to practice slide air guitar. I want to be a whiz at Guitar Hero. No one can criticize me here.

9. If I can't get a real job, I can write technical articles comparing Duane Allman's chord structures with those used by Jimi Hendrix. See Mom, those childhood piano and music theory lessons really do pay off.

10. I'm not in the mood for anything uplifting. I lost my job and it's a lonely Saturday night, remember? At least this isn't the black night of Porcupine Tree.

11. And the real reason: I don't own the CD with this song, I can't afford to buy even a used copy off Amazon (please, somebody loan me a dime) and it's not available on iTunes. I don't want to miss one single tortured note by running into the house to access the right radio station on the internet.

Jenny L. Herring, APR, is a financial writer and public relations professional with experience in both institutional and retail asset management. </i?