Forgetting Pride


"Crank up the amp, dude!"

"Come on, you know we don't have an amp."

"Darn." I muttered under my breath. I don't care though. Heck, I managed to get a band together. That's enough for me. Does it really matter that we can't play worth squat?

"Hey, dude! Let's try that U2 song."

"1 - 2 - 3 - 4" The guitar started. It sounds a little funny all acoustic. But, it's a great song.

"In the name of love. One man in the name of love." I belted out the lyrics as I played the drums. I wish I had some mobile drums. It's just no fun sitting still. Makes me feel like one of those 'sorry' high school bands. No wonder they never hit it big - they're sooo boring. My band might be high school age, but we're not gonna be one of 'them' - we're not headbangers. We actually play music.

"Yo dude! What happened to the lyrics?"

"Oh, whoops. Sorry. I got a little sidetracked. Hey! Let's try to bust an original. You know, we can't be a cover band all our lives."

"Here! Check out this lick, dude! I've been working on it for a while."

He busted out a great mellow lick. The bass kicked in with a smooth line. Now, it was just up to me to add the drum beat and the lyrics. I've always hated those standard drum beats. But, a funky beat just wouldn't fit with this song. Or would it?

"This is..."

Hey, the minor funk actually works! I think we might actually have a usable song on our hands. I've always wanted to put "The Hollow Man" to music.

"... the way the world ends."

So depressing. But, at least it's not a love song. There are already too many of those. We need more good literary songs.

"The hollow man is a useless ham/
So useless, Prufrockian/
No cares when he dis'pears/
So finally it happens"

Yeah! Eliot's always been great - just look at Cats. And, I managed to tie in 'Prufrock' to 'Hollow Men'! Man, do I feel smart. We have a number one hit on our hands.

"This is/This is/This is
The way the world ends/
Not with a bang...
but a whimper."

Jam! Just a nice exiting drum fill, and I'm done. I can see the future of our band. Number one hit!

"whimper... whimper... whimper."

"Dude!"

"Yeah?" He loves the song.

"Where did that trash come from?"

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