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“Music could have made her forget the present, for a moment, even if only by making her remember the past.”
― When the Music Stops
― When the Music Stops
“There is something expansive, even a little obsessive, about his mind. It’s full of curious and relics, monographs on music and reams of sheet music. She feels as though she is wandering around a charming if rather cramped second-hand bookshop. She wants to stay there, browsing through it all, for as long as possible.”
― When the Music Stops
― When the Music Stops
“Playing feels like opening a door to a private room were she can go and collect herself. That’s why she does it – not to get better or impress anyone, but only to feel free for a while, a bird in flight.”
― When the Music Stops
― When the Music Stops
“…it would be fun to play music.’
‘Fun?’
‘Aye. Else why would they call it “play”?”
― When the Music Stops
‘Fun?’
‘Aye. Else why would they call it “play”?”
― When the Music Stops
“I don’t think she’s really gone…’ Robert hesitates. ‘I just think we can’t see her any more.’
‘What do you mean?’
He straightens up, then hunches forward on his knees.
‘I was reading this thing by St Augustine…’
‘I didn’t know you’re religious.’
‘I’m not, really. But he wrote some pretty good stuff. There’s this bit where he’s talking about time, and how it’s just an illusion.’
Ella frowns. ‘Then what are clocks doing?’
‘They’re measuring the teeth on a cog, or the number of times a pendulum has gone back and forth…’ He looks at Ella’s frown. ‘I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. But what he’s saying is, there’s no such thing as the past or the future, just this big, eternal now.’
Ella tries to get her head around this, craning her neck so she’s looking right up through the gaps in the clouds. The stars flicker.
‘Nope, I don’t get it.’
‘Well, he compares it to a poem…but you could imagine it like a record.’
‘A record?’
‘Yeah, imagine a seventy-eight.’
Ella closes her eyes and pictures the record.
‘So, you put it on the turntable and listen to the first verse of the song, then there’s a chorus, then another verse. While you’re listening to the second verse, the first verse is still there, spinning around on the record, but you’re not listening to it any more. St Augustine said that the record is like a human life, or all of human history.’
Ella thinks for a moment. The idea is starting to take shape in her head as she imagines the shiny black disc, spinning on its axis. She’s not sure if it makes sense or not, but the idea is attractive. She thinks of all the people who have gone before them, their lives still spinning through infinity like silent songs.
‘So where’s Rene, in this metaphor?’
‘She’s like…’ Robert thinks for a moment. ‘She’s like a clarinet solo in the first verse. A beautiful solo, harmonizing with the melody. And then she stops, and she doesn’t repeat again for the rest of the song…but she’s still there, on the record.”
― When the Music Stops
‘What do you mean?’
He straightens up, then hunches forward on his knees.
‘I was reading this thing by St Augustine…’
‘I didn’t know you’re religious.’
‘I’m not, really. But he wrote some pretty good stuff. There’s this bit where he’s talking about time, and how it’s just an illusion.’
Ella frowns. ‘Then what are clocks doing?’
‘They’re measuring the teeth on a cog, or the number of times a pendulum has gone back and forth…’ He looks at Ella’s frown. ‘I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. But what he’s saying is, there’s no such thing as the past or the future, just this big, eternal now.’
Ella tries to get her head around this, craning her neck so she’s looking right up through the gaps in the clouds. The stars flicker.
‘Nope, I don’t get it.’
‘Well, he compares it to a poem…but you could imagine it like a record.’
‘A record?’
‘Yeah, imagine a seventy-eight.’
Ella closes her eyes and pictures the record.
‘So, you put it on the turntable and listen to the first verse of the song, then there’s a chorus, then another verse. While you’re listening to the second verse, the first verse is still there, spinning around on the record, but you’re not listening to it any more. St Augustine said that the record is like a human life, or all of human history.’
Ella thinks for a moment. The idea is starting to take shape in her head as she imagines the shiny black disc, spinning on its axis. She’s not sure if it makes sense or not, but the idea is attractive. She thinks of all the people who have gone before them, their lives still spinning through infinity like silent songs.
‘So where’s Rene, in this metaphor?’
‘She’s like…’ Robert thinks for a moment. ‘She’s like a clarinet solo in the first verse. A beautiful solo, harmonizing with the melody. And then she stops, and she doesn’t repeat again for the rest of the song…but she’s still there, on the record.”
― When the Music Stops
“The train moves slowly, in laboured peristalsis”
― The Rules of Seeing
― The Rules of Seeing
“…since Sandy died, she has been too aware of these ordinary moments. She wants to make them extraordinary. She doesn’t want to waste any more time, thinking it will never run out.”
― When the Music Stops
― When the Music Stops
“She knows better now than to linger in this twilight of happiness.”
― When the Music Stops
― When the Music Stops
“…the centre of gravity in her life has shifted to the past. When they were young, they would talk about the future. Now they are old, and the weight of their lives lies behind them, so they talk of the past.”
― When the Music Stops
― When the Music Stops
“I guess what I’m saying is, when they left they were our dads, but now they’re back they’re soldiers. They’re used to routine and being given orders and giving orders. And they’re used to excitement and being surrounded by other soldiers. They’re used to…I don’t know.”
―
―
“The only thing that she wants to do is keep moving forward. The only thing that she’s afraid of is standing still. That’s what the dead do.
Perhaps there’s another reason behind her fear of inaction, though she tries not to think about it. Inaction drove her and Robert apart. She is making up for saying no at the wrong moment by always saying yes.”
― When the Music Stops
Perhaps there’s another reason behind her fear of inaction, though she tries not to think about it. Inaction drove her and Robert apart. She is making up for saying no at the wrong moment by always saying yes.”
― When the Music Stops
“What’s the matter?’ Rene asks. There’s something unconcerned about her concern. Children have a weird trust in adults to make things okay.”
― When the Music Stops
― When the Music Stops
