“Track Five:” I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous
Becks (Rock Writer):
Let’s begin at the beginning:
Lucy (Drums):
We’re lovers and we’re losers-
Prufrock (Frontman):
We’re heroes and we’re pioneers-
Wyatt (Bass):
We’re beggars and we’re choosers-
Prufrock:
Skirting around the edges of the ideal demographic-
Jay (Guitar):
We’re almost on the guest list, but we’re always stuck in traffic…
Becks:
So you feel like you guys- well, you and the band, just missed hitting it big?
Jay:
We made the fuckin’ Troubadour, lady. Yeah. We got pretty close.
Becks:
Which is why we’re here. It’s the five-year anniversary of the last time your band, High Tops, played live… let alone was ever seen together again.
The four of you were on the road to stardom; breaking streaming and download records, booking high-level live gigs… but there was some well-documented tension.
…. And then you book the Troubadour. Your LA farewell show before heading out on a highly anticipated US/UK tour.
Then, POOF: implosion.
Wyatt:
So we’re doing this then? You’re really gonna make us rehash this?
Becks:
The four of you wouldn’t even agree to be in the same room to be interviewed together. So yeah, that’s the story we’re here to talk about.
Lucy:
They let it get out of control- not me.
Prufrock:
What is there to say, really?
Jay:
He said, “What is there to say”?
That guy- he destroyed my music. Our band. Our future. But sure, what’s there to say? (Gulps his water) You know what?
Actually, here’s what I’ll say, and I’m only going to say it once; it’s their fault.
Lucy:
Who’d Jay blame it on? Prufrock or Wyatt?
Wyatt:
I bet she didn’t take any of the blame, did she?
Jay:
They had girls throwing themselves at them every night, and those two assholes had to go for the one girl who ignored them.
Prufrock:
Look, you can’t choose who you have chemistry with. It just happens.
Lucy:
HA! Pruf thought he had chemistry with anyone he made casual eye contact with.
Becks:
Is no one going to address the song that sparked the rumors?
Prufrock:
Oh no, I’ve learned my lesson.
(A beautiful girl sits next to him at the bar) Well- I’ve learned a few specific lessons… but not all of them.
Lucy:
That’s why they’re called rumors. There’s nothing to address.
Becks:
You seem hesitant…
Wyatt:
Look- honestly?
Things didn’t go off the rails until Jay wrote it into the album. We were never the subjects of our songs before then.
Jay:
All he had to do was sing the song. How hard is that?
It was a good fuckin’ song.
Lucy:
My students beg every year for me to teach them the intro beat to that track.
I hate that fucking song.
Wyatt:
You record it, listen to the mixes, play it live- it’s on repeat in your head even when you’re not forced to act like a wind up toy monkey playing it on stage.
By the time we played The Troubadour that song had already poisoned us.
So, yeah, I went slightly insane.
Lucy:
Wyatt was always taking the brunt of Pruf’s bad behavior. I guess when Pruf decided to sing that song directly to me that night-
Wyatt:
He ignored the crowd completely!
Becks:
And Lucy played into it.
Wyatt:
Yeah. She did.
Prufrock:
It was just a bit of showmanship…
Wyatt:
In hindsight, tackling him mid-song wasn’t ideal…
But I want it on record I did NOT break his nose… I just made it bleed a little.
Jay:
They were so dramatic…
Lucy:
I’m sorry? Jay said we’re dramatic?
Prufrock:
Jay was the one who wrote the song! I’m supposed to sing it and sell it every night and not fall for the girl? If anything, he was the one who put it in my head.
Jay:
It was just art!
Becks:
So the song was a fabrication?
Wyatt:
I never denied having a thing for Lucy. But Pruf never wanted until he started singing that song.
Lucy:
Yeah… I mean, I guess you could say it was a “Chicken or the Egg” situation.
Jay:
They’re saying all of this was my fault? That’s some revisionist history bullshit.
You do fact checks right?
Becks:
Of course we do.
Jay:
Good. Because I wasn't to see phone records and text messages- look back at the insta-posts, too. They’ll be dated well before the song came out.
Becks:
I write for an online music outlet. We don’t subpoena phone records.
Jay:
Oh…
Becks:
You wrote a song about a love triangle, entitled “Burn It All Down.” And you don’t think it’s at all possible you could have inspired the downfall of your band?
Wyatt:
Holy shit. You said that to him?
Prufrock:
(Cracks a beer) Did he storm out? God I hope he stormed out.
Jay:
(Storms out) This is bullshit!
Becks:
He stormed out.
He was back five minutes later, but yes, he did storm out.
Lucy:
See? Dramatic.
Becks:
Did any of you try to bring the group back together after that night?
Lucy:
No… Prufrock ruined everything.
Jay:
It was over at that point. Wyatt wanted nothing to do with us.
Lucy:
(Shrugs) …We never got a chance to see what we could be. If we could make it work.
Becks:
The band never got the chance?
Lucy:
(Stares off) …sorry, what was that?
Becks:
We’re you referring to High Tops?
Lucy:
I maybe- also… had a thing for Blake.
But yeah, Prufrock ruined everything. All of it.
Wyatt:
She said what?
I mean, (catches his breath) I know how this is going to make me look but… do you have her saying that- on tape?
Prufrock:
At least I went on to make a career for myself.
Lucy teaches kids how to drum on their parent’s dime, and who the hell knows where Wyatt ended up…
And Jay- Jay has to write for other artists in Nashville because he’s too much of a control freak for anyone to let him in their band.
Jay:
Please, Pruf is an infamous, drunken, half-talented LA rock star that starts a new band every 18 months because his previous ones always leave him. I’ve got a Grammy-
(Bites his lip) Shit, can we edit that last part out?
Becks:
All things considered and referenced here today… do you think you’d ever reunite for your fans?
Or even just to reunite as friends?
Wyatt:
I’d love to see them. Well- Lucy. And maybe, Jay.
Jay:
I don’t need to reunite with them. I can re-watch the footage on You Tube if I want to torture myself that badly.
Lucy:
He mentioned me?
(Smiles to herself) Specifically?
Wyatt:
(Grins) I guess it couldn’t hurt to reach out to her…
Prufrock:
None of them want to see me.
… Do they?
Becks:
Now that you know how your bandmates feel, where does this leave you all?
Lucy:
After all the loving?
Wyatt:
-And the losing.
Jay:
For the heroes and the pioneers-
Prufrock:
(Orders another beer, alone) … The only thing that's left to do is get another round in at the bar.
*Inspired by Frank Turner’s “I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous.”