The Long and Winding Road.Addie, February, 2000
Disclaimer: This is for fun only, and no profit is being made. All the
characters belong to Anne Rice. The Beatles belong to themselves, even
though at the time they were popular, I was madly in love with Paul
McCartney and wanted him to belong to me. I recently saw Sir Paul McCartney
on T.V. and seeing him again gave me the idea to write this spec.The songs, Yellow Submarine, Help, Yesterday and The Long and Winding Road,
are all copywrite to the Beatles.Whether Armand and Louis would ever have gone to an early rock concert is
purely speculative on my behalf. But I wanted to write a more light hearted
piece, albeit a little sad.
For my beta reader Paula.....
New Orleans 1970
Louis:-
I saw him again today, looking into a shop window. He appeared to be
listening to the music that was blaring from one of the speakers. His hair
had been cut short, with a little fringe hanging over his brown eyes, making
him look so young. He blended in with the other teenagers who were standing
along side of him, swooning over the young men on the television.If there hadn't been a feral vampire, lingering at the end of the street who
required a quick dispatch, I would have walked over to him and said hello.
By the time I returned to the street, sated on the feral's blood, he was
gone. The music still filled the shop front though, and I glanced at the
musicians with their guitars and long fringes.They looked familiar to me, I had heard their music for quite some time.
Everywhere I went there were photos of them, or posters stuck on buildings.
Their music seemed to be an anthem for the teenagers. It was quite catchy
really, and I found myself humming along to one of their songs. It was a
silly song about a Yellow Submarine.Later that evening, while I was trying to read, the inane song still
playing in my head, I saw him at my doorway."I wondered if you would come visiting?" I said to him.
"I always like to catch up with you, Louis, whenever I am in town. Still
living in this little hovel I see." he said, glancing around at my humble
abode."I'm happy here. I have all my books. What more could I want?"
"Music!" he said. "Don't you ever listen to music?"
"I hear it in the streets when I go walking. Sometimes I go to the opera."
Armand walked over to me and kissed me on the cheek. "Well I brought my
transistor radio with me. I like to listen to The Beatles.""The Beatles??"
"That English group who were playing on the television, when I saw you
watching me." he said."Oh them!" I replied.
"They are coming to New Orleans you know next week. It is so exciting.
The whole town is abuzz. Its more exciting than watching men walk on the
moon. I mean, The Beatles are coming here."Armand was just about jumping out of his skin. He flicked on the radio and
turned it up full volume. "Help me if you can I'm feeling down......and I
do appreciate you being round."He began to sing at the top of his voice, flinging his arms around, smiling,
laughing. I had never seen him so happy."I've got two tickets you know." he shouted over the music, and he waved
them in the air."Will you come with me?"
"I don't know Armand." I replied, turning down the radio just a little.
"It's not really the kind of music that I like. And I don't like crowds
very much, you know that."He looked like a sullen schoolboy all of a sudden, and stopped swaying his
hips. "Please Louis. I don't have anyone else to go with, and I don't want
to go by myself. Please!"'I don't know."
........................the following week.
How did I let him talk me into this I thought? Here I am standing in a
queue, surrounded by mortals. It was almost more than I could stand. They
all had their radios on and Beatle music was blasting my sensitive eardrums."Just as well I made you take two victims." Armand whispered into my ear, as
we shuffled along. I glared at him.The hall was even worse than outside. It was packed full of throbbing
teenagers, shouting, sweating. Their scent was just about knocking me
over. I had to hold onto Armand lest I tumbled. We finally found our
seats, squeezed tightly together between a young man who looked exactly like
one of the musicians, and a row full of overwrought teenage girls on the
other side of us.The lights dimmed, the screaming began. I covered my ears in abject horror.
Armand grabbed my arm, any minute now he was going to start screaming as
well, and if he did, I was leaving.One of the musicians was shouting into the microphone now, trying to quieten
the audience. He stomped his feet, and screeched. "Shut-up" The
auditorium went silent, the musician sighed then smiled at us all."That's John Lennon." Armand was saying. "And that one over there with the
baby face is Paul." Armand had a glazed look in his eyes and a rapt
expression on his face.The musicians were beginning to play a sweet ballad. '
"Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they are here to stay
Oh I believe in yesterday."Poignant words, a meaning that reached out to me, tugged at my heart
strings."Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be
there's a shadow hanging over me,
Oh yesterday came suddenly.Why he had to go I don't know
he wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for Yesterday"Armand grabbed my hand tightly squeezing. He looked at me and I bowed my
head. These words were being sung to me surely.
I could picture Lestat, happy and carefree, singing to me as we walked
through the streets of New Orleans. The Beatle's voice was mellow, and
filed the auditorium with its message of lost love.The young man next to me was sobbing. It was all too much. I needed some
fresh air, I needed to get outside. I went to stand up, but Armand pulled
me down next to him."You have to wait for the next song Louis, please. You will love it."
The musicians readied themselves to sing their next ballad, and all the
young girls began to scream again. Their screams ripped through me, it was
completely beyond my comprehension.A moment of silence as they began........
"The long and winding road that leads to your door,
Will never disappear, I've seen that road before.
Leads me to your door."I was picturing myself walking along the street near our apartment, Lestat
waiting at the door for me....."The wild and windy night the rain washed away,
Has left a pool of tears, crying for the day
Why leave me standing here, let me know the way.
Many times I've been alone, many times I've cried."The young women were wailing now, and my hands were shaking.
They were for me those words. They reflected my sadness, my loneliness. I
was leaning forward now, letting the music wash through me and reach my
soul."Anyway you'll never know the many ways I've tried,
But still they lead me back to the long winding road,
You left me standing here a long, long time ago.
Don't leave me waiting here, lead me to your door."It was beautiful. Paul's voice was clear and smooth, his soft brown hair
flopped over his soulful brown eyes. He was blurry all of a sudden as I
realised that I too was crying. The words were poignant, real. Memories of
my yesterdays with Lestat flowed into my mind again as I wiped the tears
away.I glanced across to Armand who had tears flowing down his cheeks. He looked
at me."You are crying Louis." he whispered.
"No I'm not." I said, and turned away.
The end.