I first heard his songs on the Nico "Chelsea Girls" album (he and she were a number at the time, you probably know). "These Days" is great ("please don't remind me of my failures, I had not forgotten them), but my favorite is "Fairest of the Seasons" ("yes, and the morning has me looking in your eyes and seeing mine warning me to read the signs more carefully").

There's a wonderful recent live performance of "The Pretender" on youtube: https://youtu.be/jf-rrgiKwCE

Enjoyed the memories thoroughly.