Maybe I won't, maybe I won't

It took me long enough, but I finally remembered to look up Neil Diamond's "Porcupine Pie". As much as I detest and abhor downloading mp3's without proper recompense to the artists involved, I'll make this one mp3 available just this once. Here (right-click and "Save as ...", svp).

What troubles me is not the way he moans "Oh my god ..." at the 55-second mark, but rather the fact that this is the live version off the Hot August Night (Live) album and not the studio version available on the albums Gold, Moods, and Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings ... Plus! According to the iTunes Music Store, those versions are 2:04 whereas the Hot August Night (Live) version is 1:57 (and nine seconds of that are applause).

I'm as mystified as you are that this song got any applause, much less nine seconds' worth.

But seriously ... What is on that extra seven seconds?! I'm thinking it's maybe a spoken word intro, explaining the origin of this too-good-to-be-true tune.

I guess this will have to remain one of those mysteries that $0.99 is too much to pay to solve.