Here’s a near-perfect version of one of my very favorite songs by Todd Rundgren, with Daryl Hall singing counterpoint and a terrific band: “Sweet,” from Todd’s criminally overlooked album Liars.

I’ve been living with a lie for so long now, baby
I gotta set my soul free, I can’t take it no more
That’s why I gotta
Sing, shout it, tell the world about it
The truth is sweet

I made a promise to myself not to let nobody else
Have any sway on the way I lived my life
I didn’t see the need to compromise but now I’ve come to realize
That living is more than just surviving
And I’ve been lying to myself, I gotta cover up what I feel
But now it’s time I must admit this is real, this is real

The truth is sweet
Just like honey from a bee
The truth is sweet

So many people in the world let it all pass them by
They won’t admit they need to be rescued from their lonely lives
That’s why we gotta
Sing, shout it, tell the world about it
The truth is sweet

When you’ve been hurt so many times it’s enough to make you blind
To anything that looks like true happiness
Nobody wants to be the foolish one but after all is said and done
You constantly settle for less
It’s like a broken carousel
It just goes round and round and round
But now it’s time you admit
You’ve lost ground
Hear that sound?

The truth is sweet
Just like a baby’s kiss
The truth is sweet

Go on admit it
You know you want it to be true
Go on admit it
You say you don’t but you know you do
Go on admit it
You’ve been disguising what you feel
You could be living in a fantasy
But then that fantasy could turn out to be real
So real, so real

Sweet and true like my love for you

And everybody in the world’s
Gonna wake up some day
Singing love is the answer
Love is the answer
What’s left to say?

That’s why I
Sing, shout it, tell the world about it
The truth is sweet