Words of Every Song

1. THEO, MOVING FORWARD Eight years in, it feels like you're gonna die But you get used to anything Sooner or later it becomes your life BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, "Straight Time" I. Theo Brigham, while walking up Tenth Avenue on his way to meet a band, decides impulsively to visit an art gallery. It is the sort of decision he rarely makes and usually regrets. The gallery itself does not matter, he thinks; it is the idea of it, the surprise, the defiance of his own expectations of himself. He sends furtive glances north and south and then darts left into the first gallery he sees, maintaining his pace as he does so, fairly careening into an open doorway with a rustedover frameno, a frame that has been painted to look like rust. He pauses for a moment on the threshold of the place, peering inside, savoring a bit the odd sensation of shyness. He so rarely puts himself in situations like this one. Rarely makes entrances he has not planned on making. From the doorway, he can see various installation pieces, two of which resemble giant greeting cards. One says, "Love! Love!" One says, "Trust? Ho ho!" Then Theo catches the eye of an officiallooking woman, who smiles coldly and says, "Welcome to ArtSpace." Theo walks out. He breathes deeply, congratulating himself on his brief adventure, feeling that he has once again fulfilled some unspoken promise. But now he must turn his mind to other things: he is going to his fourth industry showcase this week, and he has a terrible hangover. In his messenger bag is a planner. Today's date has written on it, in Theo's neat handwriting:Edgedwellers. 3 pm SoundOff. 19 yr oldsgood for next drive? Call Cynthia re: manager. Theo is not thinking of the Edgedwellers when he walks into the lobby of SoundOff Studios at three P.M., or of their incompetent manager, or of the secretary, Cynthia (though today is her thirtysecond birthday, and he will buy her a bottle of champagne later). No, today Theo is thinking of being a very young mansixteenand hearing Springsteen's albumThe Ghost of Tom Joadfor the first time. He was sitting in a car with a girl. *** Here is Theo in SoundOff's lobby, which is lined with signed and framed posters of the Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Phish. Others too. All famous faces. Theo knows what he will find at the end of the hallway and through the heavy padded door: four terrified kids trying to look cool. He hopes these ones don't have acne. One of the three acts he's seen this week did. Acne throws him off. Through the door Theo goes, enjoying as always the immediate hush that falls over the room when he enters it. He quickly takes in the Edgedwellers, who don't have acne, but do have annoyingly short hair. Tony the sound man is lurking in a corner, fiddling with the sound board. "Hey, guys," says Theo. He walks up to the stage and shakes their limp nineteenyearold hands in turn and prays none of them has masturbated recently. Each straightens a little when Theo greets him, and Theo is amused by their too obviously planned outfits: retro rock Tshirts and Converses all. Theo can tell they are surprised by his appearance, and he likes this feeling; he is slim and tall and quite younglooking, even for his twentysix years. The Edgedwellers might think that he is their age, and this gives him an advantage. He's the one with the contracts sticking out of his messenger bag. He's the one with the messenger bag, come to think of it: an ideal thrift store find. Exactly tMoore, Liz is the author of 'Words of Every Song ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780767926423 and ISBN 0767926420.