April, 1984. A friend, Charlie we’ll call him, and I were on our way to the Silver Dollar Saloon to meet up with the love of my life at the time Jane, we’ll call her and another friend, Buck we’ll call him. Jane floored me from the moment I saw her across the room at college, and I got to meet her because she was friends with Charlie who took great pleasure to embarrass me in introducing us. Confused? Yeah, well, so was I. And dumb in some ways. Before we went in, Charlie said I’ve got something I gotta tell you. Jane’s going out with Buck. I put on the brave smile, went in and congratulated the couple, and when I went home I kicked myself over and over. I thought my world had ended.
I was fresh out of an all-boys boarding school in England. I’d been away so long, I thought I had lost myself and didn’t know if I was here or there. I lacked confidence. I might have been cocky on the outside, but not cocky enough to ask out this gorgeous creature. I thought play it cool and the American bit would come back to me.
The next day, I told her how I felt, and she smiled and said ok, and added the usual we can still be friends bit. I ended up banging out a song for her on my piano, drums and violins and vocals and all.
As the years went by, the happy couple ran aground, and my tape went missing. I kept thinking it’s here somewhere, but it never was. More maddening is the lyrics I’d written down went missing, too. I had only a fragment from memory.
Yesterday, I was sorting through a stack of cassettes from my deceased parents. Imagine my amazement when I heard my piano come through the headphones! A different song, but one I’d not heard in a very long time. And the cassette was of the right type – a plain looking red and white Radio Shack Normal bias. And then, just a few moments later, came my song that I’d been searching for all these years.
Now, the song is crap, and the music is crap, but that’s not the point! Miracles do happen!