Part 5 of Rock and Roll is Dead

Matty turned off the news report from the Riverside Dome and sat looking at the line of guitars on the wall. This was like a teenage dream come true. First week at the guitar shop. He had already sold a couple since starting on Monday. He pulled down an acoustic Fender and started picking a soft, sweet melody. Eve came up the steps from the basement.

“That’s a pretty tune.”

“Thanks, I guess,” he muttered, looking slightly embarrassed.

She laughed. “How come you aren’t at the Riverside Dome tonight? I hear Bring Your Ghost to the Fire are playing?”

“Oh, Eve, mate. A guy was in this afternoon, claiming to be Hubie’s guitar tech. I used to fucking love that band. The first album was like a slice of life-saving, street-level, tough rock and roll with a big heart.”

“Oh, I know, I loved that. It’s weird. It’s an album you could fire up at a party, or on your own at 3 a.m., and it still hits.”

Matty looked up from the guitar. “You serious? You love that album?”

She looked at him, a little surprised. “I knew you were one of the fucking good ones.” She laughed, and he started playing the opening riff to “Howl on the Lonesome Road.”

“Holy fuck,” she smiled and started singing the first verse:

‘Has been, used to be, doesn’t make a difference,
We’re here in this moment, and by God, you got to live it.’

They both joined in on the pre-chorus, Matty reaching for the note:
‘Hey now, can you hear it?
The sound of the universe,
The sound of whatever’s left,
To lift us up.’

Eve smiled. “That was the best.”
Matty was nodding his head. “How did they go from that to ‘Boogie Pants’?”

She sang:
‘She got the boogie, Boogie pants, Boogie woogie,
Boogalicious,
Boogie woogie bluesy.’

They both started laughing.
“Yeah, that’s a bit shit,” said Eve, as Matty played the riff from “Boogie Pants.

“Hey, we could go sing at that open mic,” offered Eve.
“Yeah, definitely. I know it’s kind of like they stopped trying. Maybe the record company had too much of a say. You know they like a more commercial sound.”

“Yeah, here’s to punk, do it yourself.””

(c) Paul Andrew Sneddon