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“Ben! I need your help!”
“Woah, everything okay?!” I jump up and put the guitar down, thinking for a second that we’ve got some home renovations emergency on our hands.
“Fine, fine,” she waves a hand impatiently. “I need help with a beat. I’ve got some verses here, but I can’t get the meter just right. Can you help?”
She looks at me, her eyes big and shining behind her glasses. Her hair is in a messy ponytail, with little strands going in all directions, and she’s wearing her signature cleaning look—or uniform, rather—the old BSB t-shirt and cut-off shorts. After days of ‘drill sergeant’ Lacy running Rose Manor, it’s refreshing to see her spontaneous and excited, getting into an unstructured creative groove. I’m grateful to see this side of Lacy again and will happily do what I can to keep her in this headspace.
“Absolutely, come on, pull up a chair,” I say, gesturing to one of the tall barstools at the studio’s edge.
Lacy grabs a chair and settles across from me, her notebook in hand.
“So, whatchya got?” I ask, giving her an encouraging smile. “Must be good.”
“I don’t know, you tell me! Here!”
She thrusts her notebook at me, but I shake my head, declining.
“Better if you read it out to me,” I tell her, “Then I can start to hear the beats naturally.”
“Okay, okay. Here goes.” She takes a deep breath and then starts to read some of her lines, a tiny furrow crinkling her brow as she concentrates on the words, her voice soft and melodious.
“I wonder what it’s like, a love like that? Guess I’ll never know. I’m the girl in the back. Hidden in the crowd, where you can’t see. A guy like you would never notice me. Some days I think, I’m okay alone, but maybe a guy like you could be my home. I wish you knew how much I cared, but you’ll never know ‘cuz I’m too scared. So I’ll stay back here, hidden in the crowd, And never speak those words out loud.”
As Lacy reads the verses, I strum and drum on my guitar, finding a beat. I’m so focused on the process that I don’t really register the words she’s saying. My main aim is getting the beat right.
“So, what do you think?” She asks as she stops reading, gazing up at me.
“Awesome stuff, Lace. And I think I can help you with the beat. Can I see your notebook?”
She hands it to me, and I read back the words as I drum out a beat on my guitar:
“I wonder what it’s like, a love like that?
Guess I’ll never know. I’m the girl in the back.
Hidden in the crowd, where you can’t see.
A guy like you would never notice me.
Some days I think, I’m okay alone,
But maybe a guy like you could be my home,
I wish you knew how much I cared,
But you’ll never know, ‘cuz I’m too scared.
So I’ll stay back here, hidden in the crowd,
And never speak those words out loud.”
“What do you think?” I ask when I’m done.
Lacy’s biting her lip in concentration, nodding her head and looking serious.
“Yeah, I like that! What about adding some kind of extra beat around ‘hidden in the crowd’? Like draw a little extra attention to those words? So, it’s like this counterintuitive thing. She’s trying to stay hidden but the beat is actually calling her out?”
“Good call,” I say with a grin, giving her an appreciative look. “You always know how to give it some deeper meaning,” I add. “It’s cool. Okay, let’s try this again. You read out the verses, I’ll count the beats.”
