Brooklyn Baby - The Beginning of Lana Del Rey

Part 10 - The Next Best American Record

Dreaded Mondays. I woke up exhausted, but well enough to go to work (I couldn't skip any more than 3 days a month). I went through my daily morning routine in a half-asleep daze, unconsciously walking to the mailbox for the day's letters and magazines. I opened it up expecting the usual spam catalogs and utility bills, but it was a surprise when I saw a letter addressed from the songwriting competition.

My face lit up, and I practically squealed standing there in the road, alone. I tore open the flap and snatched out the sheet of paper, almost giving myself a papercut. I quickly skimmed through the insignificant information, blah blah blah, until I saw the answer.

We regret to inform you that you have not been chosen to be a top 100 qualifier of the 2006 Brooklyn Songwriting Competition.

A sharp pang of failure hit my chest like an arrow. Welp. What am I going to do now? I always thought that somehow I would make it, that I had some version of a suppressed talent that I wasn't aware of. But this all but confirmed my worst fears. I was ordinary.

I decided I wasn't going to dwell on it because I still had the band. It wasn't like I was going back to square one.

I reached in the mailbox for the rest of the mail. A yellow envelope caught my attention. My heartbeat went into overdrive when I saw that it was addressed by the same company as the first letter. My hands fumbled trying to rip open the letter. I frantically read the words on the page.

Dear Elizabeth Grant,

I was one of the judges on the panel for the 2006 Brooklyn Songwriting Competition, and although you did not win a qualifying position, I was very impressed by your submission. I would like to invite you to send a completed demo of a song with original instrumentals and writing at the email jackthomas@yahoo.com. Hope to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Jack Thomas

It took me three more reads to process the information. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I ran inside to call the band and deliver the great news.

"Hey, Aaron! Who's with you?" I asked.

"Tim, Drew, and Tags. Why?"

"Um I have some big news, but where's Arthur?"

"He leaves us a lot, we never know where he goes. I wouldn't read too much into it; he's a weird guy."

"Uhh... Okay," I dragged out the last part, dismissing the information. "I got the opportunity to make a demo for a large record label!"

"WOW, that's amazing! You are talking about including us right!" Aaron said. 

"You better!" I heard Tim yell in the background. "Ignore him!" Tags added.

"Of course!" I responded. I quickly filled him in on the morning's events. 

"Well, I'll see all of you today for our first Monday practice, but I have to go now or I'll be late for work."

"Looking forward to start working towards something," Aaron said and hung up.

The workday flew by and Amelia and I didn't talk as much as we used to. By lunch, we grabbed sandwiches from the kitchen and sat in the bed of her truck like always.

"So where did you go last night?" she asked, chewing her turkey and tomato on rye.

"Just the band, nothing special," I said quietly.

"Do you want to go out tonight? I want to see them again."

"Sorry we are having our first real practice tonight, and most of the weeknights from now on."

She didn't say anything, so I kept talking.

"We got this demo deal, and it is going to take a lot of work to do, especially if we want it done in three weeks. Last night we just got dinner and talked about our pasts. You know I really feel like last night was when we all clicked, when we officially started the friendships, and-"

"GOD Lizzy! Are you going to start canceling on me?"

Shocked, it took me a moment to answer. "Amelia, it's only been half a week!"

Her eyebrows raised and she leaned in inches from me, "Ya, but when does half a week turn into a month? Into a year?" she said frantically.

I softly shoved her shoulder to push her away from me. "You are being ridiculous. I know I didn't call you or anything, but I was busy! I had a date with Arthur, and my Aunt and Uncle were gone, so I had to clean the whole house, and so much other stuff that kept me busy!"

"Just don't come crawling back to me when they all break your heart or decide they want someone different as their singer," she said and jumped out of the truck, storming off back into Ruby Tuesday.

I rolled my eyes, passing this off as just another dramatic Amelia episode, and went back to work.

In the evening when I showed up at Drew's mobile home, the trailer 2 rows down, and 3 to the right had a large For Sale sign on it. I gave it a second of my attention, then my mind changed the subject.

I walked in to see all the boys already warming up on their instruments.

"Hey guys," I said as I waved to them. "Hey baby," I said quietly just to Arthur, and leaned in for a kiss on the cheek. He smelled of something distinct, but I couldn't place it in my memory.

"Hey beautiful," he responded after our lips parted ways. "I am ready to hear that pretty voice of yours."

Over 3 hours later, we had 8 potential chord progressions down, 3 possible sets of chorus lyrics, and 2 different bass lines for the bridge. We decided to call it a night when Arthur was so tired he couldn't even hold his head up.

I said my goodnights and walked back out to where my car was. The available trailer kept drawing my attention. The For Sale sign might as well have bright flashing lights around it. I don't know why I was thinking so much about moving into it when I had a perfectly good home where I lived. I had stability and wealth, so why was I considering choosing the harder lifestyle?

On the drive home, I finally realized why I was fantasizing about leaving: freedom.