Six feet almost over

I know a lot of people think Six Feet Under jumped the shark a couple seasons ago. I disagree. True, this show may never again reach the apex of Episode 38. But I still love Nate and David and Clair and Ruth and Rico and Keith. (I don’t still love Brenda, because I never did—though she finally seems to be mellowing out. And I always thought George was a very, very bad idea.)

Mostly, I love the setting. L.A. isn’t just a backdrop, but a character of endless possibilities. Because there’s no center and the geographic boundaries seem unmapped, anything could happen, anyone could walk on. Even the dead, which they frequently do. In college, I had a friend from L.A. who believed in ghosts—not ironically or as a way of being eccentric (there was a lot of that going around at Vassar). But as living, guiding presences. I think if you’ve ever spent extended periods in L.A., you understand this. More than any place I’ve lived, there seems to be a lot more going on than meets the eye. And you can believe that permeable borders go beyond the merely geographic.

In honor of Six Feet Under and its new—and last—season starting tomorrow night, a few songs about L.A.:

Los Angeles (mp3) – X

Los Angeles (mp3) – Frank Black

This Town (mp3) – The Go-Gos

Ode To L.A. (mp3) – The Raveonettes

LA (mp3) – Elliott Smith

Los Angeles, I’m Yours (mp3) – The Decemberists

Moving To L.A. (mp3) – Art Brut