that I would be good even if I did nothing
that I would be good even if I got the thumbs down
that I would be good if I got and stayed sick
that I would be good even if I gained ten pounds
that I would be fine even if I went bankrupt
that I would be good if I lost my hair and my youth
that I would be great if I was no longer queen
that I would be grand if I was not all knowing ...
The words went on and on in his mind. A tune unbidden but not unwelcome.
He had found it in the attic of his father's house. A old shiny circular thing. When held at an angle in the light, it shone with all the colors of the rainbow. It was in a storage capsule. Buried deep among all the odds and ends, the only remanants of his father's now long lost life.
And paper! He had actually found something that had paper around it. Printed paper ! Paper that was almost extinct even in his father's time. But it was torn and ancient. And the printing had long since faded. 'Alanis Mor' was all he could make out.
"They used to call those compact disks, and I bet we still have a relic lying around that can read that for you", the Human-Interface to the nearest Store had said.
And so it was, that he came to own a device, with Sony written on it. It made sound when you placed the shiny round thing in it. He still remembered the first time he had turned it on. It felt funny, having to touch something physically to make it work. A woman's voice, throaty and long since dead, poured out. A soulful melody that seemed to raise his hackles. That first time it had scared him. It spoke, no, it sang of hope and yet had deep sorrow in it.
This song, he would carry to his grave. Turned on now whenever he was feeling low, it haunted him and soothed him at the same time. Reaching something deep inside him, stirring a wailing nostalgia of times bygone.
But he had known it then, the first time he had listened, that it was love at first sound.
The song that inspired this is 'That I would be Good' by Alanis Morissette. Do listen to it, if you can.
Update : this story is also posted at Mount Helicon.
5 comments:
ur poor kid. and his human interface at the store. makes me wonder what will happen to all the cute girls who work in music stores.
Good post.Was music extinct too in this scenario? Perhaps that's why the sound stirred him. Nostalgia? Had he heard a song before? A lot of unaswered questions and the hint of a mystery. Wonderful piece this one.
@zimbly : my kid ?? the human interface can be anybody you want. hot chick, old chick, whoopi goldberg .. you want it, you got it. lol.
@silverine: thanx.
was music extinct i dont know. maybe it was. nostalgia, was the closest to describe the feeling that the songs tirred in him. it didnt have to be anything actually remembered. maybe he thought of the times in which the cd and the song and the singer existed.
nice piece.
as for the song itself- i think i prefer "perfect" from Jagged Little Pill for that soul searing bitterness type of thing..
perfect from jagged lil pill. soul searing bitterness.
i will check it out.
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