Better Together

Chapter 29

Chapter 29:  Fixing it!

We had a fabulous drive home.  Even with the awful Denver traffic.  We plotted and planned. We came up with great ideas.  Harry even shared the song he had written with us.

“That is a really great song!  Are you going to suggest it for your next album?”

“I don’t know, it’s so personal.  Most of the stuff we write is personal to a degree, but this is about us.  Most songs are about or for the fans.  This is about friendship and an unlikely brotherhood you know?”

“That’s what makes it so good Harry, it’s real, there are real feelings and emotions in it.”

“Might I make a suggestion?”  Lian had been taking notes and throwing in comments periodically, and they had been good.

“Absolutely, please, your suggestions are great.”  Harry and her were fast becoming friends.

“I love the song.  I love your performance here in the car, without a band and all.  But the way you sing it is more like a ballad, a slow song, it’s almost sad.  You said yourself it’s about friendship and brotherhood.  I don’t see you five as a quiet mushy group.  You all have hearts, they beat, and your song has heart, but it isn’t beating.  I like it as a slow song, but I would LOVE it with a beat!  From a fan perspective, it needs more for me to buy into it being about you guys.  I love that idea.  Your right, all your songs are lovey dovey chick songs.  I think the fans will love this song, but make it real Harry.  We aren’t stupid, we will not pick up what your putting down right now.”

He sat in contemplation.  I was a little worried that she may have crossed the line.

“Your right Lian.  We aren’t a quiet, sappy lot.  We are loud, rambunctious and definitely walk to our own beat.  This isn’t a slow song.  I need to kick start this heart and make it real.  Thank you!  I knew there was something I just didn’t have right with this.  Louis and Liam are the music brains, they can write this stuff and see things outside the box and fix it as they go.  I can write, but making the music work has not been a strong gift.  Thank you for telling me, I think I know how to make this work now.”

He started scratching away at his song then, so we let him as we drove into town.

“Harry, where are you staying?  Did Jonathan get you a reservation?”

“No, I’m staying with you if that is all right.  I of course will pay you for allowing me to bunk with you and will buy my own food.”

Lian and I got quiet then.  We lived in a puny little income controlled apartment complex with about 500 other families, some not the most desirable neighbors, some just flat out scary.  Ours was not a neighborhood I would walk in alone at night.  Our apartment was dinky and outdated.  We had a roof over our head and we were grateful, but it was not a place we brought family and friends too.

“Oh Harry, our place is not suitable for you.  It’s so tiny, you won’t have any private space, and it’s not really a very nice area.”