Dialogue between Elton John and Mick Jagger
(Mick Jagger and
Elton John are both in London, and casually meet in a Cafe. They realize that
they are sitting next to each other and they begin to talk.)
Mick: Oh my God! Elton,
what are you doing here?
Elton: Hello Mick! Just
having a cup of tea, what about you?
Mick: Well, I’ve just
come from the hospital, my partner just gave birth to my child.
Elton:
Congratulations!!! I’m extremely happy for you old paw.
Mick: Thank you so
much, I wasn’t expecting this at all, but it’s such a blessing. You only have
an eighth son once in your life, right?
Elton: Of course!
(The waiter
addresses to the musicians, and asks them for their order.)
Waiter: Good afternoon
sir, what would you like to drink?
Elton: I’d like to have
a cup of green tea with honey and biscuits.
Waiter: Okay, I’ll get in
a second.
Mick: Hey, could I
order too?
Waiter: Of course, Sir.
What would you like?
Mick: Bring me a glass
of your best whisky, I wanna celebrate the good news!
(The waiter
leaves, and the two singers keep talking while waiting for the drinks.)
Mick: So, how are you
doing with music? I’m going to Coachella in April with the guys, it’ll sure be
fun. What about you? Any recent concerts or something?
Elton: Yeah, my next
concert is at the end of this month in Las Vegas and ...
(The waiter comes
back, interrupting Elton and bringing the drinks. Elton picks a biscuit, wets
it into the tea and bites it, visibly enjoying it. Mick rapidly drinks half of
the whisky, hits the table with the glass, and breathes out sonorously before
answering, without paying much attention.)
Mick: Oh, Las Vegas, so
many good memories from there. Back when I was young and handsome… I’d even go
to your concert if, you know… Your music didn’t suck.
Elton: Oh I’d ehm, love
to see you there of … Wait. My music WHAT?
Mick: Oh, never mind. I
was just thinking out loud.
Elton: No, I am NOT
forgetting it. You insulted my art.
(Mick contains his
laugh for an instant, while Elton keeps getting angrier and angrier.)
Elton: And it’s even
worse coming from you, with that noisy style of yours. I can’t believe you
consider the incoherent mess of noise your group produces even likable.
Mick: Oh oh, buddy, slow
down, you’re on thin ice. So now it turns out that my music is too slum-dweller
to sir Elton John, the most beloved British musician. What a surprise. So it’s
better to sing some sissy letter without any charm while some basic piano or
violin melodies are playing in the back.
Elton: At least I know
how to sing.
Mick: And now you’re
talking about singing, don’t make me laugh. You may have a better voice and all
that stuff, but where’s the passion!? You cannot transmit anything with a
perfect, calculated, artificial voice. You should be more natural, sporadic.
With that voice and the sad piano… Your music feels too blue.
Elton: I guess that's
why they call it the blues. But that’s not the point. Conflict and suffering
are what build up stories. Especially good ones. It doesn’t matter if what you’re
telling is something sad, something wrathful or just cheerful. What really
matters is making the listener feel chills, making him or her genuinely care
about what you’re telling and letting them escape from reality, even if it’s
just for some minutes.
Mick: Wow, that was so
sissy, man… But I agree, of course, don’t stare at me like that. I think we
just diverge in how we wanna tell all that. But we should respect one another
despite of that. Sigh… Sorry buddy, I just got excited. I take back all I said
before.
Elton: Me too, old boy,
my apologies. Moreover, I think we agree in something else about music.
Mick: Oh. And what’s
it?
Elton: That modern music sucks.
Mick: Hahahaha!! You’re
great Johnny. Yeah, no doubt. I can’t even recognize it as music. I mean, in
the old days composing, playing music and singing was hard, it required effort.
And if you weren’t from the best, you wouldn’t go anywhere! And now… It’s just
disgusting…
Elton: Totally agree.
Most of today’s ‘musicians’, for calling them somehow, don’t want to tell
anything nor innovate. They just let some publicist write some crap lines about
love, attach a computer-generated melody, change their voices through edition,
show some boobs or something in their videos and wait for dollars to fall over
them.
Mick: And there’s that
thing… Reggaeton I guess… I can’t even imagine how any intelligent being can
support that. What an annoying amount of…
(Mick drinks the
rest of the whisky while he keeps cursing softly. Elton takes a gulp from his
tea and sighs.)
Elton: You know, I
sometimes feel like I’m getting old for all of this... Music is not what it
used to be, our styles are getting less and less influential and we’ve got our
own families... Of course I still love the feeling of being on stage the
furore of the stadium, the heat coming from the huge lights upon me when I’m
singing...
Mick: The affection of
the fans...
Elton: Of course that’s
important too. But I don’t know… Isn’t better to burn out than to fade away?
(The song ‘Something About The Way You Look Tonight’
[from Elton John] starts to sound. It’s coming from Mick’s mobile phone. He
seems quite ashamed. Elton looks at Mick surprised while asking him:)
Elton: What’s that?
Mick: Oh, It’s nothing,
just a friend of mine who… Sigh. You know, I’ll be honest. I like this song, I
confess. It reminds me a lot to my partner... so, it’s her... ringtone.
Elton: Oh. I wasn’t
expecting that.
Mick: It’s not that
weird. I like some of your tracks. But I hate to admit it ‘cause, you know…
It’s not what people expect from Mick Jagger. I’m the bad boy, the Satanic
Majesty… And I know it's only rhythm and blues, but I like it. Anyway,
I’ve gotta go. I haven’t answered yet, and I don’t wanna make her upset. Also,
something might happen with the child. See ya bro.
Elton: Yeah, see you.
Good luck!
(They both pay their drinks and leave the cafe at the
same time, but in different directions. Elton takes out
his smartphone and searches ‘rolling stones’ in YouTube. He finds ‘You can't
always get what you want’.)
Elton: Well… I’ll give
it a try, I guess.
LUIS TORTOSA, PAULA AVELLANEDA, VALERIA ORLANDO and ADRIÀ PALENCIA
1 BTX A
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