Tuning up

Leon hates Christmas. No, that's not right. Leon hates Christmas music. No, that's not right either. What Leon hates is trying to remember Christmas music once a year.

"I mean you what, play it once a year, right? You never get anyone asking for O Christmas Tree at a wedding, right? So you gotta go back once a year and put it all back in your head. Yeah, and anyone can remember the first six bars... Dah dAh da da, dad dAH da da, da da da DAH dah dah dah-- repeat, then what?

''Da dah da=ah dah dah dah dah, right."

''Except the notes on 'not only green when summer's here' aren't right or don't feel right. There's a kind of slide there and your head can't keep it for a year without thinking about it. So, that's what going on here. Tuning up and thinking about it."


He turns his back to the crowds walking by and starts honking the melody line. He is not going to make anybody listen to something that's off. He plays it through once, and once again. And once again only faster. He had forgotten about this song until he was walking past the Graybar Building and heard it on the little radio the tree vendor had, hadn't really listened to it, just caught a few notes out of the air, but thought it might be the kind of thing you could play and people would drop a few coins in his case.


It seemed short. That was what was bothering him. It seemed short. The whole thing was like eight lines long. The first two and the last lines were the same and there wasn't much middle. Was there a chorus he was missing? He played it through again. It was starting to feel okay It was starting to feel like he was tuned up and ready to light it up. He played it one more time from the top, honking and toodling just a little to put a little tinsel on it. Right.