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"Dancing in the street. They're dancing in Chicago, down in New Orleans.Up in New York City. All we need is music" The words floated to me like a misty dream. I felt myself smile. I knew that song, but the voice that I heard didn't belong to it. That woke me up. I opened my eyes with a startle and looked in front of me. A road stretch out, cars on both sides. Where was I? I set up straight and looked beside me. I was looking at Kristin Chenoweth. I rubbed my eyes, clearly I was dreaming. Sure enough, there was Kristin, drumming away on her steering wheel. She glanced at me quickly "welcome back to the waking world." She said it with a smile, like a private joke. "Did I wake you up?" I shook my head "No, not really. It was more because I recognized the song you were singing. I'm usually a light sleeper. So my brain registered something it remembered and it woke me up." She glanced at me again, quickly. "You know the song?" She seemed puzzled by it. "Well, I know one version, I'm not sure if there are others or not. It was Dancing in the street by The Mamas and the Papas." She just stared at me.
I looked out the front window and practically screamed "Kristin!" She turned her attention back to the road and slammed on the brakes. I had to put out my hands to not crash in to the dashboard in front of me. Loud honking from behind us told me we weren't the only ones that almost crashed. I felt the urge to turn around and flip them, but I couldn't... Not with Kristin next to me anyway. "Oh god, I'm so sorry!" Kristin looked panic stricken. She was pale and gripping the steering wheel a little too hard, so that her knuckles were turning white. "Kristin, relax. It's okay." She shook her head rapidly. "No, it's not okay. I almost got you killed!" I grinned and couldn't stop myself. She looked at me in pure horror "How can you find this funny?" I shrugged "Relax, really. I'm okay, you're okay. We didn't crash and you're not in a Ford. The day is looking good." Guess she didn't get my humor or perhaps she was in shock, because she was only staring at me. Her eyes wild and showing a little too much white.
I patted her leg "And besides, how many fans can say that Kristin Chenoweth almost got them killed?" A tiny smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. She smiled, then grinned and finally started laughing. Good, she wasn't almost falling apart on me. The traffic light turned green and we eased forward. "So how do you know the Mamas and the Papas?" she asked me "This was way before your time." What did age have to do with anything? "Oh and like most of the songs on your Let Yourself Go cd weren't be for yours?" I said pointing out the obvious. She nodded "Point taken. So how do you know about them?" I twisted a little in my seat until I found a good spot and relaxed. "My dad taught me. He is really in to music, used to be a drummer in a band. He was even famous in the Netherlands during the sixties. He made a record and everything. This was all before your time by the way." I said and Kristin stuck out her tongue to me. "Yeah, my dad is actually pretty cool. He wrote the song with one of the other guys in the band and it's even now featured on some cd's. He was even in the show before Jimie Hendrix went on." Kristin gave me a look that said wow. Yeah my dad was cool like that and I loved telling the story, I was really proud of it. "So my dad grew up during the time of the Stones and the Beatles and everything. So he got me in to it and I really like the oldies, you know. Credence Clearwater Revival, The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Mamas and the Papas, Queen, Dr Hook, the Kinks... stuff like that. And we kind of connect on that level. We are always singing and drumming away on tables." Kristin smiled "Sounds like you and your dad are pretty close". I smiled back at her "Yeah, we are."
"Why didn't you wake me up when I dozed off?" I asked Kristin "I didn't want to fall asleep on you." it made me kind of sad, how long had I been asleep in her car? "It was only 10 minutes" she said, as if reading my mind. I stared at her "freaky! I was just thinking about how long I had been asleep and you just go ahead and answer the question!" Kristin shrugged "What can I say, I'm psychic." I stared at her open mouthed, she was kidding right? "I'm kidding!" Okay, this was getting kind of freaky! I was thinking things and she was saying them out loud, like she really could read my mind. I didn't want to say it, but sometimes, she could be just plain scary. "And besides, you looked realyl cute while you were asleep." I turned away from her slowly. "You're pulling my leg right?" She shook her head twice "Nope, you rally do look cute while you are asleep." Man, I was so emberassed! "I didn't snore or drool or something right?" Kristin laughed full out, it made me crinch. "No you didn't do anything but look adorable." I sighed in relief, glad it was only 10 minutes of sleep. I'm sure if I slept longer, I would have started drooling or something.
Traffic eased forward."Are we almost there yet?" I asked, while looking out the window. Kristin sighed "No traffic is a real bitch at this hour." I looked at her, shock plain on my face "Kristin!" I could see shame creeping up her face "I didn't mean to say it." she half stumbled of the words. "I don't like that word at all, what made me say it?" She bit her lip. "Well, I'll let it slide this time." She sighed in relief. Did she really think I would be upset about it? I guess, by her reaction, that she did. I've heard worse things said then bitch, but I knew Kristin resented the word.
"What other songs do you like?" Kristin asked me, I think to change the subject. "Oh I like a lot really. Right now, I really like Mika. His songs always make me smile and make me want to dance. But mostly, I like musical stars. Like you, and Idina Menzel, Oliver Tompsett, Kerry Ellis, Shoshana Bean, Megan Hilty, Julie Atherton... and I was quite surprised by Julia Murney." Kristin smiled "Julia is a friend of mine." I nodded "I know she is, I saw this clip on youtube where se mimiced your voice. She was really good at it, but it kind of made me angry." I looked down at my hands. "I know she was only kidding and you are really good friends, but somehow it just upset me. Don't ask me why."
"What do musical stars do for you that others don't?" I guess we were going to talk music for a while. I thought about her question for a few minutes. "I think the biggest reason, beside of course that they have awesome voices, is that not a lot of people know them, so I get to enjoy them on my own or with other fans that know the songs. It their songs always seem to be about other things then your every day." Kristin nodded in agreement "Yeah, I can understand that.What are some of your favourite songs?" Too many to mention? "Well, I really love Helen Dallimore's You're The Top. I know it's an old musical number, but her version is a little more upbeat. And then there's Megan Hilty's Where Does The Love Go. That one almost always makes me cry. Let's see... what else... Well Stephanie J Block's Never Never Land is gorgeous, or her duet with Julia. I love Set back The Set Back. Shoshana Bean's Home. Oh, Julia's Perfect is also extremely gorgeous."
Kristin looked at me, I gave her a blank look back. "Where did you get all these songs?" uhoh... Busted. "Internet?" Kristin nodded "I see and where on internet?" I bit my lip "well, mostly on youtube and with some sites you can turn a youtube video in to an mp3. Or I downloaded them from myspace. I swear that I did not use a download program to steal them." She shifted the gear and turned on the blinker. We were going to turn left. I wondered how long it would take us to actually get to the shop and would they still be open by the time we got there? "Sing something." I blinked, suddenly brought back to reality. "What?" I wondered if I was hearing things. "Sing something." Kristin repeated "One of the songs you just mentioned. Sing something from it." I looked at her car radio and noted a usb portal "Can I just hook up my iPod instead? We can both sing a long if you know the lyrics. I don't feel very comfortable with singing infront of you, to be honest."
Kristin removed a piece of the radio and I plugged my iPod home. The first song that started playing was How Did It All Begin from Piece. I smiled widely. "You love this song don't you?" Kristin asked. I nodded and sang a long.
"Dark eyes, long face
Long nights that fall into longer days
The phone rings and then again
Tell me Joe, how did this all begin?
And she held on
I guess we all do
Yes, she held on
Like I'm holding onto you
But she let go
Why can't I do the same?
What is this life I'm in?
How did it all begin?"
Kristin looked at me, while I was happily singing along to the song. it was perhaps my favourite in Piece. "This is my favourite part! I think it's sung by Julia"
"I'm thirty-five, which means I'm old
I'm thiry-five, which means I'm almost forty
Which means I'm almost menopausel
Exactly like my mother
And the day that I discover
That I've become that woman
That eccentric, controlling, painfully-contradicting, slighty conniving,
overly-critical, blantently honest, morbidly
dramatic woman
I swear I'll kill myself"
Kristin new part of these lyrics as well and we both sang along, stumbling over the last part of the song. We burst out in laughter. After that song came Megan Hilty's Where Does The Love Go. I fell quiet and swallowed hard. "This song gets me every time." Kristin patted my knee as I started singing along softly.
"The books go in the boxes
The boxes go in the car
The car goes to.. wherever
There's no place too far"
I swallowed again past that lump in my throat. "Do you want me to change the song?" Kristin asked. I shook my head "No, let it play. I love the song. No matter how sad it is, I still love it."
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