My fourth favorite album of 1992 is Lyle Lovett’s fourth studio album, Joshua Judges Ruth. This was the first new material released by Lovett since I’d discovered his jazz-blues-country masterpiece …and His Large Band.
Joshua Judges Ruth, cleverly named after three consecutive books of the Bible, strayed even further from Lovett’s country roots. The only true country tune here is ‘She’s Leaving Me Because She Really Wants To.’ Lovett’s deadpan humor isn’t on display here, either, as most of these songs deal with loss of love or life.
These songs are spare and elegant, lonely and cold. They highlight Lovett’s always-excellent band but even more so his evocative vocals. Lovett is generally a master of the sly wink but here he mines some very earnest emotion.
Lovett blended all of those qualities four years later on his best album, The Road to Ensenada, but this one is a close second.
What sit on my window sill
Some birds won’t you know
But some birds will
All my love is gone
She was angry
He was free
She loved him
The she left me
Now all my love is gone
All my love is gone
All my love is gone
I see the lights they’re flashing
Way on up the road
The red one stops you know
But the wrong one goes
Now all my love is gone
All my love is gone
All my love is gone
And you can beg for sunshine
To pale the moon
But there ain’t a thing my friend
What you can do
When all your love is gone
So if you were thinking about coming back, baby
Now you can do as you please
But don’t waste your time
With him on me
Because all my love is gone
All my love is gone
All my love is gone
All my love is gone
All my love is gone
But I’ve got some birds outside
What sit on my window sill
Some birds won’t you know
But some birds will
When all your love is gone
Meet Me In Montauk 
This was the one album from 1992 I recall actively seeking out, as we were, by this point, huge Lovett fans. The record also wove into the fabric of that incredible year in our lives. Most notably, we bought the album while in Tallahassee for a Supreme Court clerkship interview (I didn’t get the job) and played it for the first time driving back to Gainesville past surreal looking farm structures that looked like glowing alien pods. While listening to one of the tracks, distracted a bit by the pods, I was pulled over for speeding. I tried to distract the cop by talking about the pods, but I’m pretty sure he gave me the ticket anyway. We were bummed about the ticket, but we continued playing the alum for the rest of the drive, soaking in the moody and ethereal tone and mood of what I personally consider to be Lyle’s best work.