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Ozymandias
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Daaaaaaarn, it's been a long time since I wrote anything Muppet related, so here we go! This technically should go in my poetry thread, but this also doubles as a story so I'll leave it as is. Hope you guys enjoy!
I don't often get asked to solo or to step up to the plate for any of the songs that the Electric Mayhem write, play or cover, but tonight, before the show starts, Dr. Teeth pulls us all together and holds up a sheet of paper. His eyes are solemn, this is as serious as it's going to get.
"Boys... and Janice, the owner of this fine establishment, one J. P. Grosse, will be in attendance this evening, and he has requested that we cover a song by The Seatbelts."
Floyd and Lips shrug simultaneously. "I've never heard of The Seatbelts." Lips confesses. "Should I?" You can tell that Floyd doesn't either, but he's too proud to admit it.
"I doubt it, because I haven't either. Apparently they were best known for some kind of foreign cartoon work, so beats me." Dr. Teeth rolls his eyes at Mr. Grosse's odd taste, then continues. "The song's called "What Planet is This?" and requires multiple wind instruments, but we're gonna do what we do best, which is what?"
"PLAY DRUMS! PLAY DRUMS!" Animal roars from the back of the room.
"The other best thing."
"Ooooh! IM-PRO-VISE!"
"The man has it." Dr. Teeth flashes his signature grin, then continues. "Any questions?"
"What's the leading instrument?" That's from Floyd.
"Saxophone."
All eyes turn to me, and I blink, surprised. A saxophone solo? "Can I see?" I ask, and wordlessly, Dr. Teeth hands over the saxophone sheet. I take one look and almost choke on my own spit. Jim Henson, there are so many musical notes on the page the paper's almost completely black! It looks like a flock of crows gathered over a snowy field, resting, about to leap off of this page I'm holding any second. I gulp nervously and doubt myself for a moment, but only then, as my eyes widen and a roar of excitement fills my stomache. A saxophone solo and a challenging one at that? Oh finally!
"You up for the challenge, Zoot?" Dr. Teeth must have noticed the look of shock on my face.
"Yes." I say, determination growing like a weed inside of me. "I'll do it."
*******************************************************
Lips will be playing right alongside me as the second featured instrument. When I ask him if he was nervous, he shrugs.
“The way I see it, we’ll either play well or we’ll crash and burn, and if it’s the latter, let us go down in flames of glory!”
I bite back a grin. Lips always gets more poetic when he’s nervous.
We walk onto the stage, under the blazing lights, and begin to play our usual set between skits. It’s alright but I feel coiled up as tight as a guitar string about to snap, and it’s throwing off my playing a little bit. Lips too. I can see him giving us the side eye once or twice while playing “Mr. Bass Man”, so I ease off a bit, look out at the audience. They look fairly apathetic, and I twitch before continuing the song. Would this last song wake them up?
Just as Kermit was about to end the show, Dr. Teeth walks out on the stage and grabs Kermit’s arms from behind. Kermit yelps, but before he can recover Dr. Teeth is bellowing, and we are poised in the wings to move.
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, ON SPECIAL REQUEST, THE ELECTRIC MAYHEM FOR ONE FINAL PERFORMANCE!”
Kermit just stares, dumbfounded. I feel sorry for him even as we move onto the stage and he is dragged off of it, protesting all the way. Poor whelp. We’re in position now, only Lips and I are out in the front, stripped bare under the glare of the spotlight and the collective stare of the audience. The apathy is melting away, replaced by curiosity. We have the note sheets in front of us, and Scooter had generously volunteered to turn the pages. I look over at Lips, feeling the sweat beading under my collar. His stare is vacant for a moment, but then he turns to me and flashes his “Ready!” grin. I grin back, then nod at Dr. Teeth. My lady is draped lovingly in my hands, and the fear shifts into determination. I can do this.
“ONE! TWO!”
One last look at Lips. He is smiling.
“ONE TWO THREE!”
The song begins.
Immediately the cheers start up, and grow with each note that sails into the air and slips into their ears, along with every collective shout of “What planet is this?” The notes gently dance over the brain waves and filter down from there into their soul, my soul too. It is beautiful, it is magical, and suddenly there it is, my solo. The nerves came crashing down like a wave for the first five seconds, but there is a sudden release of tension from my back and shoulders as I slip into my groove, but this time it is different. This time I am truly alive, every note coursing through my mind and heart, pouring down through my veins, into my fingers and lungs and I play. I don’t even notice the cheers growing into a roar, or the widening eyes of my bandmates as they stare in surprise. All that exists is me, the notes, and the brass instrument covered with the vibrations and the sweat of my palms.
I don’t stop playing until halfway through, where Dr. Teeth’s vocals and Animal’s drums take over for several seconds. It is smooth sailing from here, right to the crescendo. I play everything that I have in me for these final notes, then with the final blast, Lips and I lift our brass in triumph, as I hear the final notes kickback against the walls of the theatre and wash back over the audience in a mighty echo. As I step forward to take my bow, I look up, and my saxophone almost slips out of my fingers in surprise as the audience rises to their feet. A standing ovation for us, for me, for the first time in my life. Even Kermit is on his feet in the wings, jumping up and down, hooting and hollering. I sink down to my knees and weep as the cheers go on and on. This is the best performance I’ve ever done, and I know, as I look out into the sea of joyful, shining people, that there will be many more saxophone solos after this.
**********************
If you were curious about the song they were playing, here it is:
. You will all know where Zoot's solo begins. 
Saxophone Solo
I don't often get asked to solo or to step up to the plate for any of the songs that the Electric Mayhem write, play or cover, but tonight, before the show starts, Dr. Teeth pulls us all together and holds up a sheet of paper. His eyes are solemn, this is as serious as it's going to get.
"Boys... and Janice, the owner of this fine establishment, one J. P. Grosse, will be in attendance this evening, and he has requested that we cover a song by The Seatbelts."
Floyd and Lips shrug simultaneously. "I've never heard of The Seatbelts." Lips confesses. "Should I?" You can tell that Floyd doesn't either, but he's too proud to admit it.
"I doubt it, because I haven't either. Apparently they were best known for some kind of foreign cartoon work, so beats me." Dr. Teeth rolls his eyes at Mr. Grosse's odd taste, then continues. "The song's called "What Planet is This?" and requires multiple wind instruments, but we're gonna do what we do best, which is what?"
"PLAY DRUMS! PLAY DRUMS!" Animal roars from the back of the room.
"The other best thing."
"Ooooh! IM-PRO-VISE!"
"The man has it." Dr. Teeth flashes his signature grin, then continues. "Any questions?"
"What's the leading instrument?" That's from Floyd.
"Saxophone."
All eyes turn to me, and I blink, surprised. A saxophone solo? "Can I see?" I ask, and wordlessly, Dr. Teeth hands over the saxophone sheet. I take one look and almost choke on my own spit. Jim Henson, there are so many musical notes on the page the paper's almost completely black! It looks like a flock of crows gathered over a snowy field, resting, about to leap off of this page I'm holding any second. I gulp nervously and doubt myself for a moment, but only then, as my eyes widen and a roar of excitement fills my stomache. A saxophone solo and a challenging one at that? Oh finally!
"You up for the challenge, Zoot?" Dr. Teeth must have noticed the look of shock on my face.
"Yes." I say, determination growing like a weed inside of me. "I'll do it."
*******************************************************
Lips will be playing right alongside me as the second featured instrument. When I ask him if he was nervous, he shrugs.
“The way I see it, we’ll either play well or we’ll crash and burn, and if it’s the latter, let us go down in flames of glory!”
I bite back a grin. Lips always gets more poetic when he’s nervous.
We walk onto the stage, under the blazing lights, and begin to play our usual set between skits. It’s alright but I feel coiled up as tight as a guitar string about to snap, and it’s throwing off my playing a little bit. Lips too. I can see him giving us the side eye once or twice while playing “Mr. Bass Man”, so I ease off a bit, look out at the audience. They look fairly apathetic, and I twitch before continuing the song. Would this last song wake them up?
Just as Kermit was about to end the show, Dr. Teeth walks out on the stage and grabs Kermit’s arms from behind. Kermit yelps, but before he can recover Dr. Teeth is bellowing, and we are poised in the wings to move.
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, ON SPECIAL REQUEST, THE ELECTRIC MAYHEM FOR ONE FINAL PERFORMANCE!”
Kermit just stares, dumbfounded. I feel sorry for him even as we move onto the stage and he is dragged off of it, protesting all the way. Poor whelp. We’re in position now, only Lips and I are out in the front, stripped bare under the glare of the spotlight and the collective stare of the audience. The apathy is melting away, replaced by curiosity. We have the note sheets in front of us, and Scooter had generously volunteered to turn the pages. I look over at Lips, feeling the sweat beading under my collar. His stare is vacant for a moment, but then he turns to me and flashes his “Ready!” grin. I grin back, then nod at Dr. Teeth. My lady is draped lovingly in my hands, and the fear shifts into determination. I can do this.
“ONE! TWO!”
One last look at Lips. He is smiling.
“ONE TWO THREE!”
The song begins.
Immediately the cheers start up, and grow with each note that sails into the air and slips into their ears, along with every collective shout of “What planet is this?” The notes gently dance over the brain waves and filter down from there into their soul, my soul too. It is beautiful, it is magical, and suddenly there it is, my solo. The nerves came crashing down like a wave for the first five seconds, but there is a sudden release of tension from my back and shoulders as I slip into my groove, but this time it is different. This time I am truly alive, every note coursing through my mind and heart, pouring down through my veins, into my fingers and lungs and I play. I don’t even notice the cheers growing into a roar, or the widening eyes of my bandmates as they stare in surprise. All that exists is me, the notes, and the brass instrument covered with the vibrations and the sweat of my palms.
I don’t stop playing until halfway through, where Dr. Teeth’s vocals and Animal’s drums take over for several seconds. It is smooth sailing from here, right to the crescendo. I play everything that I have in me for these final notes, then with the final blast, Lips and I lift our brass in triumph, as I hear the final notes kickback against the walls of the theatre and wash back over the audience in a mighty echo. As I step forward to take my bow, I look up, and my saxophone almost slips out of my fingers in surprise as the audience rises to their feet. A standing ovation for us, for me, for the first time in my life. Even Kermit is on his feet in the wings, jumping up and down, hooting and hollering. I sink down to my knees and weep as the cheers go on and on. This is the best performance I’ve ever done, and I know, as I look out into the sea of joyful, shining people, that there will be many more saxophone solos after this.
**********************
If you were curious about the song they were playing, here it is:
