"I'm in rock and roll."
"No shit? You famous?"
"Not yet."
"Well hey man, chin up, you just gotta keep at it!"
"Maybe. But you know, Nelson, fame isn' always the ultimate goal."
"Really? What's the goal then? Money? Dope? Pussy? What?"
"There is that element, for sure."
"What other elements are there, do you suppose?"
"Well. Art," I say.
"Come again?" says Nelson, putting a finger to his ear.
"There's the art of it. Creating something beautiful and lasting."
"Tell me, Darby, are you on dope now?"
"No, just coffee and doughnuts."
"So you're shitting me then?"
"Nope. Crappin you negative."
"The art of rock and roll," he says. He offers me a cigarette then lights one for himself. Prince's "1999" comes on.
"Like this one," I say, "this one touches one something pretty deep."
"Such as?"
"Millennial anxiety. Sex. Death. The end of pretty much everything. Listen, here's the line. Wait. Here it comes. Right here. Did you hear that?"
"Something about I was dreaming when I spoke this?"
"No, after that. 'Life is just a party and parties weren't meant to last.'"
"Life's a party? Fuck that. Where's the art? My life's no party."
"Yeah but it's one of those scary truths. Prince is saying we're all gonna die."
-excerpted from Grab on to me Tightly as if I Knew the Way, by Bryan Charles
Prince -- 1999
Nirvana -- Rape Me
The Pixies -- Palace of the Brine
Simon & Garfunkel -- The Boxer
Bryan Adams -- Summer of '69
The Doors -- Light My Fire
Metallica -- Master of Puppets
Leonard Cohen -- Bird on a Wire
NOTE All the above posted songs were songs mentioned throughout Mr. Charles's novel.
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