I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn.

My freshman year of college I lived with my best friend from high school, Nick Bognar. He'll correct me on the accuracy of this story, but as I remember it, one Saturday night we decided to take a break from our many drunken parties with the attendant new friends and hook-ups with hot girls, to spend a little quality "us" time. Nick suggested we go to the library and play Gin Rummy. I suggested we play pool instead.
"Only if we gamble," said Nick, who even at this early age was showing signs of the sickness that would haunt his late twenties (Have you seen The Gambler with James Caan? That's pretty much Nick. Shit is sad.)
So we headed out into the bustling metropolis that is Fredricksburg, and found ourselves a pool hall. We were both exceptionally fine pool players, and after we had been there for a few minutes we were surrounded by a crowd of regulars, all of whom wanted to catch a glimpse of our epic eight-ball battle, and I told them all that Nick liked to go by the nickname "Fats."
We had each won a game, when the song "Torn" (a haunting pop ballad that never fails to move me to tears) as covered by Natalie Imbruglia (one of the great unappreciated talents of the late nineties, the owner of a haunting voice and flawless sense of musicianship) came on the jukebox. I was not yet a fan, however, and as it played I derided the song. I might have used the word "retarded." I may even have implied that Ms. Imbruglia was not a singer, but merely an attractive young woman attempting to parlay her looks into a music career. I shudder to think of it, but I think that is what I said.
"Alright," said Nick, interrupting my remarks, "If you win the next game, I will give you my car."
I was shocked.
"I would certainly love to drive your beautiful eggplant-colored Ford Taurus," I said to him, "it is as fine a vehicle as e'er I've seen. But what would I give up if I didn't win, as unlikely as that might seem?"
"If you lost you would have to promise that for the rest of your life whenever this song was played, you would have to talk about how wonderful it is and what a genius you think Natalie Imbruglia is."
"It's a bet!" said I.
You may infer for yourself how the game went.