shakenandheard:

“You said you’d love me forever!” a young woman shouted, her heart peeling apart. “Well, forever changes,” her now ex-boyfriend replied. So went an exchange Arthur Lee had heard about, salvaging a splinter of it for the title of his band’s third LP. The couple wasn’t alone- the whole Summer of Love was heading towards a nasty breakup and Mr. Lee had a clearer view than most, writing a foreboding set of songs in his house perched up in the Hollywood Hills. Released in the midst of the flowing hair and flowers of 1967, Forever Changes was one big party bummer. Naturally, it flopped. The way Love saw it, the sunshine was setting fast behind ash clouds on the horizon and, unfortunately, they were right. Within a year, the flower kids would start to wilt, and the beloved American soil they’d scattered with so many hopeful seeds would spit back bullets, gunning down MLK and RFK, and cracking open the skulls of the young with billy clubs in Chicago. Ominous as it is, though, this record’s also gorgeous, with lush strings and brass adding lift to Arthur Lee’s soaring tenor, lending a little hope to the whole affair. If forever can change, then maybe the bad times can, too.

Like clouds covering a setting sun, but with a little lift inside…

FOREVER CHANGES:

• 1 ½ oz. tequila
• ½ oz. fresh lemon juice
• ½ oz. simple syrup
• ¼ oz. Luxardo maraschino liqueur
• 5 fresh raspberries
• 4 fresh sage leaves + 1 for garnish
• white of a small egg

Muddle the raspberries and 4 sage leaves with the syrup in the bottom of a shaker. Add the remaining ingredients and dry shake (shake without ice, that is) to emulsify the egg. Add ice and shake again, straining into a chilled cocktail glass. Float a sage leaf on top.