The last song (454 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.33 on 5 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Garet Jax (View user info) at 2004-09-09 16:46:58 EDT
High school had just ended, and my friend Jeff was moving away in a matter of days. We had set up this last chance to play together at Michelle's house after graduation. Michelle played bass in our band, and I was over there every week or two to play with her dad and his friends. Neither of the two bands had a name, but neither needed one. We never played a gig, we only got together to just play and enjoy the music.
I played lead guitar, Jeff was drums, Michelle on bass and Kurt on rhythm guitar. Our little high school band only knew 3 songs, and we had only been playing together for a few months. Jeff and I, however, had been playing together for nearly a year. The band that Michelle's dad Mike played in, that met at his house almost weekly, had invited me to play with them years ago. I'd originally learned to play from my parents, both music teachers, and I had always wanted to play in a real band. I had grown with those guys from a frustrated teenager who desperately wanted to be the next Eric Clapton into a decent player who was confident in his own ability.
Now it was our last time to play together. I got to play for the last time with the older guys shortly after graduation. It was my choice that night, and I chose new and old alike. Mustang Sally, Dim, When the Water Falls, and While My Guitar Gently Weeps were among the tunes that flowed that night. Normally I played rhythm, but on that last one I always got to take the lead.
Several days later it was the kids' last chance to play. We met up a week after graduation. At first we played our only set; December by Collective Soul, Come Together by the Beatles, and Push by Matchbox Twenty. These went by quickly, and soon Michelle's dad Mike and I were running the group through some new stuff. Everyone caught on quickly and we played for nearly two hours. However, Kurt had to get to work in the morning, so he had to leave for the night. There were few words, just best wishes and good luck in the future.
After Kurt left, Jeff and I still wanted to play but Michelle was getting tired. It didn't matter, since Jeff and I had been playing together a lot longer than our little band had, and we had our own favorites. We used to go to each other's houses to play together every chance we got (my mom had her own drum set so Jeff didn't have to lug his around all the time). Our repertoire was almost exclusively Beatles, as that was the only "popular" music Jeff listened to. You see, Jeff was most likely the smartest person in our school, and thus had the smallest social life imaginable. When we played, for the most part he was very stiff but somehow he still managed to rock out on the drums.
We did Wipeout after Michelle left, one of our non-Beatles numbers, but we quickly got bored. Thus when the question of which song to end with came up, we knew we had to pull out our personal favorite, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Ever since I had first played that song for him from my mom's record collection, it was our favorite. We didn't know the chorus, we didn't have enough instruments, all we really did was just trade solos off and I'd keep the riff going in between.
Mike gladly offered to give us a bass line, and we kicked it off. The song started like it always did, just hammering that riff over and over again. At one point I decided to give the vocals a try and did my best Doug Ingle impression, but we flubbed the chorus a little so left the words alone. All that we really did with that song was improvise. I took the first solo and started to get a feel for the song. Even though it was the same song as always, the music felt different that night. The bass line laid down the key of the tune for me, which I had never had before, and it gave me something melodic to play counterpoint against.
I played slow at first, noodling around and experimenting. After I had satisfied myself I went back to the riff to give Jeff his chance to shine. Whenever Jeff played this song you could see the music take hold of him. His eyes would close, his head would lean back, and the sticks seemed to dance across the tops of the drums. He beat the hell out of those drums, and brought out the real primal nature of that song. That night we jammed like never before. I offered a bass solo to Mike, but he was happy just plugging away. I played my very best that night, when I took over I'd play slow and plodding at first, then I'd let it scream. We didn't care about when the song would end, nor did we worry about much of anything. We just let the music flow through us.
Finally, it seemed the song was winding down. We hit the main riff one more time and cut it off. When the music stopped I felt a tingling, as if it was all still there just hovering about me. Jeff and I looked as if we were waking from a dream, and Mike just kept nodding. Michelle had emerged from her room earlier in the song and she and her mom gave us a standing ovation (which just isn't the same with only two people.) They informed us that we had apparently been playing that one song for over 45 minutes.
I helped Jeff pack up his drums and we kept talking about how amazing it was, it didn't feel like it had been that long but at the same time had felt longer. Finally when it was time to go we just shook hands, said goodbye, and that was the last I ever saw him. Its now 7 years later, and I've never played like that again
I doubt I ever will
User Reviews
Submitted by Garet_Jax (user info) at 2004-09-09 17:25:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
oops, meant to say Ringo.
Submitted by Garet_Jax (user info) at 2004-09-09 17:25:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Too bad Pete, people just love the Ring head-shake.
Submitted by shane2004 (user info) at 2004-09-09 17:11:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I played in a band until this non- talent hack ringo stole my job !
Submitted by big_wigger (user info) at 2004-09-09 17:01:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i used to do the most kick ass (meaning very VERY LOUD!) drum solo when my band played "wont get fooled again". Our singer would yell into the mike "and on drums ladies and gentleman....doug d!" and then i would launch into about 5 solid minutes of trying to destroy my drum kit 'ala keith moon. our bands name was sonic tonic, which is completely gay, but it was still one the best ever times of my life.
getting old really sucks ass sometimes
Submitted by DamienX (user info) at 2004-09-09 16:57:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'll drink to that