Episode 29

The Mutual Broadcasting System brings you another episode of Life in Hyperion.

Today's episode: "The Melting of the Iceberg", Part 4

Yesterday, we met Conrad's sister Darlene, who works at the local library.  She interupted Cy's reading and after trading a few barbs, forced Cy to leave.  Afterwards, Cy went down to the Tavern and was met by Polly, looking for a place to play.  With Cy's help, she won the gig and the services of Cy as a back-up player.  As we begin today, Cy is returning home...

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Upon his return home, Cy opens and slams the door. Still upset at what happened, he makes his way into the study. He spots the guitar and decides to play some music. He picks up the guitar and puts the book up on the holding board. He then plays a flurish on the guitar and launches into a tune.
"Most of the people upon this Earth, are warm and friendly, some even from birth. However there are, though they are few and far, those whose very humanity is locked behind a sheet of ice, rendering them unable to be nice." sings Cy.
As Cy plays a small bridge, Thomas walks into the study as Cy plays on.
"What are you singing?" asks Thomas, which stops Cy's playing.
"A tune that I wrote myself. It's called 'The Human Iceberg'." says Cy.
"It sounds like an interesting tune." says Thomas.
"It was inspired by an interesting person." says Cy.
"Do tell who that is." says Thomas.
"It's Conrad's sister, Darlene." says Cy.
"She sounds like an interesting person to me." says Thomas.
"I wrote the song a long time ago and she hasn't changed since then." says Cy.
"More interesting." says Thomas.
"Have you, in your life, encountered a human iceberg?" asks Cy.
"It would help to know what one was." says Thomas.
"A human iceberg is a person who's cold, very cold. They just float through life, like an iceberg floats through the sea." says Cy.
"Don't icebergs melt?" asks Thomas.
"Not human ones. I do admit that some do, most don't because a human iceberg never ventures into a warm climate." says Cy.
"Maybe this one will." says Thomas.
"I don't think so. I don't know when the ice started to form but it'll be there for a long time." says Cy.
"I've never really met a human iceberg that didn't melt." says Thomas.
"The human icebergs that float inside prisons are the only ones that do." says Cy.
"I guess you have a point." says Thomas.
"I know I do." says Cy.
"When did you write your very first song?" asks Thomas.
"About a month into my lessons. It was the song you just heard." says Cy.
"How many have you written?" asks Thomas.
"About a dozen. I prefer to do covers but I come up with an original once in a while." says Cy.
"That's good to hear." says Thomas.
"That first song I wrote I wrote it as a country shuffle because I knew it would upset its target." says Cy.
"A song with a bite." says Thomas.
"Whatever you decide, just remember: always write with the audience in mind." says Cy.
"Helpful." says Thomas.
"Have you written any?" asks Cy.
"I've written a few, mostly instrumentals. I just can't seem to get the hang of writing lyrics." says Thomas.
"Why don't you get your guitar and play me one of your tunes?" says Cy.
"I will." says Thomas, who then rushes into the study and returns with his guitar in hand.
"Now that you have your guitar, we will go about putting words to your music." says Cy.
"That would be lovely." says Thomas.
"Pull up a chair." says Cy.
Thomas then goes and grabs a chair from the dining room and brings it into the study and sits down in it.
"I'm ready." says Thomas.
"Play me a tune." says Cy.
Thomas then starts playing a instrumental. The song's style is that of a country shuffle. As Thomas continues to play, Cy starts picking the notes and playing them on his guitar. Within a few moments, Cy conjures some lyrics.
"Within the state of my mind, the rate of passing time, changes as I go along, like the rhythm of an old song, I feel like an old nursery rhyme. Given the way things go, I feel like there's nothing to know, that there's no room to grow, I must expand so I may go." sings Cy.
"That's a good set of lyrics." says Thomas as he and Cy stop playing.
"That's what came to my head. Say, that song was in a country shuffle type of mode. Is country music your preferred style?" says Cy.
"I've had a liking for it and it seems the best to learn in prison." says Thomas.
"'I got life in prison, for all the wrongs I've done.' That's from an old country song. Here's another one." says Cy, who then launches into a cover of "If I Lose."
Before long, Thomas picks up the melody and sings along with Cy as he sings the lyrics. Thomas then improvises a bridge as Cy plays on.
"Great work." says Cy as Thomas finishes the bridge.
"Know anything else?" asks Thomas as Cy stops playing.
"This will be familiar to you if this actually happened to you inside." says Cy, who then plays the first few chords of "Sing Me Back Home".
"I remember getting that song played to me during my stint in jail recently." says Thomas, interupting Cy as he is about to sing the first verse.
"No doubt performed by Polly." says Cy.
"That's her name. She has quite a voice." says Thomas.
"Don't we all know it?" says Cy.
"I wonder why she doesn't sing in front of people on the outside?" asks Thomas.
"I've asked myself, and Polly, that many times. She only sings for the prisoners and her friends. Never for anyone else." says Cy.
"I wish she would perform somewhere where there aren't bars in the window." says Thomas.
"Maybe she will, one of these days, which is a song she does well." says Cy.
"What?" asks Thomas, not catching it.
"Never mind." says Cy, who then goes back to his redition of "Sing Me Back Home"

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Tomorrow, we venture to the home of Conrad, who shares it with Darlene, who shares a birthday greeting from her brother, who offers an idea, who offers...  You can see where this is going.

Join us, won't you?
Yours truly, John Maxwell.

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