The Last Encore

All I’m asking for is just one more time. I would give just about anything to experience the exhilaration of standing on stage, in front of thousands and thousands of adoring fans, and do what I was born to do one last time. I want to feel the energy of the crowd surround and elevate me to the highest heavens so that I’m not aware of myself anymore. I want to lose myself in the music; become one with the pulsing rhythm and allow the lyrics to transport me to a place beyond my imagination.

I want to fly, higher than the sun. I want to ride on the crescent of undiluted energy; the kind you only find at a rock concert. I want to cast my eyes over the crowd in front of the stage and see them bouncing up and down in time with the music. I want to see countless emotions reflected on their faces as they leave behind their mundane lives and follow me wherever I wanted to take them. I want to see them sing along to the songs I’ve written and experience the ecstasy of hearing the lyrics sung back to me.

I want! I want! But fuck it! What I want I can’t have!

There is only one problem though. I haven’t been on a stage, let alone sing my heart out, in too many years I care to remember. The life I’ve lived as a rock star has come and gone; much to my dismay. It all ended very suddenly and it took me by complete surprise. That’s not how I’ve planned it at all. But isn’t that the usual story? I never saw that one coming; not by a mile. But that’s a story for another time. I have to find a solution to this situation though. I’ve got to think of a way to feed this unquenchable thirst I have. I want to experience the love and adoration of thousands. I want to hear them chant my name until even the music is obscured by the insistent rousing voices.

Do you think I’m vain? I probably am, yeah … but, hey; that’s what rock stars are all about! I was fucking great back then. Everybody thought so too; especially my fans. I know I still am. I still have what it takes; that hasn’t died. I can’t shake the feeling, that given half a chance; I can show them what it means to be hailed as a rock god.

Why this burning desire? I guess it has to do with immortality. It has been said many, many times over but another rock star said it best: When you have a song that becomes part of people’s lives, forever making memories, it is nothing short of magic. It is the closest thing to immortality we’ll ever know.

And I guess that’s the bottom line …