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<strong>High</strong> <strong>Fidelity</strong><br />
http://www.fictionbook.ru/author/hornby_nick/high_fidelity/hornby_high_fidelity.html<br />
Page 70 of 112<br />
6/20/2006<br />
“Yeah, for people who come in off the street begging us. All the losers.”<br />
“Like … let’s see. Suede, you turned down. The Auteurs. St. Etienne. Losers like that, you mean”<br />
“What’s all this I turned them down It was your rule.”<br />
“Yeah, but you loved it, didn’t you It gave you great pleasure to tell all those poor kids to take a<br />
running jump.”<br />
“Well, I was wrong, wasn’t I Oh, come on, Rob. We need the regulars from here, otherwise there’ll<br />
be nobody.”<br />
“OK, what’s the name of the band If it’s any good, you can put a poster up.”<br />
He thrusts a poster at me, just the name of the band, with some squiggly design.<br />
“‘Barrytown.’ ‘Barrytown’ Fucking hell. Is there no end to your arrogance”<br />
“It’s not because of me. It’s the Steely Dan song. And it was in The Commitments.”<br />
“Yeah, but come on, Barry. You can’t be called Barry and sing in a group called Barrytown. It just<br />
sounds … ”<br />
“They were fucking called that before I came along, OK It wasn’t my idea.”<br />
“That’s why you got the gig, isn’t it”<br />
Barry of Barrytown says nothing.<br />
“Isn’t it”<br />
“That was one of the reasons why they asked me originally, yes. But … ”<br />
“Brilliant! Fucking brilliant! They only asked you to sing because of your name! Of course you can<br />
have a poster up, Barry. I want as many people to know as possible. Not in the window, OK You can<br />
stick it above the browser racks over there.”<br />
“How many tickets can I put you down for”<br />
I hold my sides and laugh mirthlessly. “Ha, ha ha. Ho, ho ho. Stop, Barry, you’re killing me.”<br />
“You’re not even coming”<br />
“Of course I’m not coming. Do I look like a man who’d want to listen to some terrible experimental<br />
racket played in some horrible north London pub Where is it” I look at the poster. “The fucking Harry<br />
Lauder! Ha!”<br />
“So much for mates, then. You’re a bitter bastard, Rob, you know that”<br />
Sour. Bitter. Everyone seems to agree that I don’t taste very nice.<br />
“Bitter Because I’m not in Barrytown I hoped it wasn’t that obvious. And you’ve been great to Dick<br />
about Anna, haven’t you Really made her feel a part of the Championship Vinyl family.”<br />
I’d forgotten that I have been wishing nothing but everlasting happiness to Dick and Anna. How does<br />
that fit in with my sourness, eh What’s bitter about that<br />
“That Anna stuff was just a bit of fun. She’s all right. It’s just … it’s not my fault that you’re fucking<br />
up left, right, and center.”<br />
“Oh, and you’d be first in the queue to see me play, wouldn’t you”<br />
“Not first, maybe. But I’d be there.”<br />
“Is Dick going”<br />
“ ’Course. And Anna. And Marie and T-Bone.”<br />
Is the world really that generous-spirited I had no idea.<br />
I guess you could see it as bitterness, if you wanted to. I don’t think of myself as bitter, but I have<br />
disappointed myself; I thought I was going to turn out to be worth a bit more than this, and maybe that<br />
disappointment comes out all wrong. It’s not just the work; it’s not just the thirty-five-and-single thing,<br />
although none of this helps. It’s … oh, I don’t know. Have you ever looked at a picture of yourself when<br />
you were a kid Or pictures of famous people when they were kids It seems to me that they can either<br />
make you happy or sad. There’s a lovely picture of Paul McCartney as a little boy, and the first time I<br />
saw it, it made me feel good: all that talent, all that money, all those years of blissed-out domesticity, a<br />
rock-solid marriage and lovely kids, and he doesn’t even know it yet. But then there are others—JFK<br />
and all the rock deaths and fuckups, people who went mad, people who came off the rails, people who<br />
murdered, who made themselves or other people miserable in ways too numerous to mention, and you