[ WP ] The day the music died .

If you were to walk up to the Dog's Heart pub, circa 2021, the first thing you would hear is a rhythmic beat. It's the sound of glasses clinking onto tables, the heartbeat of an imaginary drum. It's highly illegal, but at the Dog's Heart nobody particularly cares. 
 
 Keep walking toward the Dog's Heart. As the beat of a dozen glasses grows louder, you'll probably see the lights coming out of its windows. There's nothing else around for miles, but that means more space for the sound to resonate. 
 
 The pub is a dangerous place to be in 2021, after the turning point in history known as the day the music died. It was the same old story: unhappy citizens march and shout and cry until they get arrested or they get what they want. But on the day the music died, somebody raised their violin instead of a fist, and the U.S. government put a stop to it. For five long years, it has been illegal to sing a pitch or play an instrument. For the most part Americans ate up the promise of `` better engineers'' and `` more quiet time'', and for the most part the streets are silent. 
 
 Yet, about two dozen times a day, you'll hear a chorus of drunken voices male and female begin to sing what they call `` Ballad of the Last Guitar'': 
 
 
 They bargained, bought, and borrowed 
 
 
 They cheated, stole, and lied 
 
 
 When they took away our instruments 
 
 
 The day the music died 
 
 
 Their voices blend nicely, despite the buckets of alcohol the bargoers probably guzzled. A poet might say it's the sound of freedom in spite of oppression. The sound of glasses banging, twice per line in a perfect rhythm, would make it hard to hear the lyrics under most circumstances. But the drunken revolutionaries sing loud and clear: 
 
 
 They seized the Stradivarius 
 
 
 And called it `` Silent Night'' 
 
 
 So we took our drums and rifles 
 
 
 And we put up quite a fight 
 
 
 But they were just too angry 
 
 
 And we ran off toward the sun 
 
 
 They burned our every instrument 
 
 
 All, that is... but one 
 
 
 After that line, every sound will cease momentarily. Then, the old barkeep will raise a hand to his guitar and finger-pick a solo. It's an old wooden guitar held together by duct tape, but every note sounds like honey tastes. Then, the barkeep will sing, in a new rhythm: 
 
 
 This is the last guitar 
 
 
 The last illegal chord 
 
 
 The bittersweet sound 
 
 
 Of the modern world 
 
 
 When you look closely, you see that the soloist is right: the bittersweet sound of the modern world is indeed trapped here in the Dog's Heart pub. In response to such a sound there's another moment of silence, as if to honor the fallen music. Then the crowd chants as one voice: 
 
 
 And so we come together 
 
 
 With voices and guitars 
 
 
 And with no one left to listen 
 
 
 We serenade the stars 
 
 
 
 The revolution's stirring 
 
 
 So we raise our glasses high 
 
 
 We sing out to the heavens 
 
 
 And we'll sing until we die 
 
 
 After a cheer and a carefully finger-picked solo, the pubgoers will sing out the verse again. And if you listen closely, with the fine-tuned ears of a true musician, you hear something beyond notes and rhythms. But unlike a love ballad the crowd's throaty sound has a mix of millions of emotions. You could hear a fearlessness, a rage, a sadness, and oftentimes emotions we have no words for. But you ca n't hear fear as they repeat, slowing down to make the words count: 
 
 
 The revolution's stirring 
 
 
 So we raise our glasses high 
 
 
 We sing out to the heavens 
 
 
 And we'll sing until we die 
 
 
 In the United States of America, since a generation of revolters first sung instead of spoke their dissatisfaction, it has been illegal to be in possession of an instrument or intentionally sing a pitch. Despite that fact, every day the regulars gather at the Dog's Heart and sing their ballad. And, in the five years they've been singing, never once has anyone been arrested. 
 
 ( ( Thanks for listening! Be sure to constructively criticize, upvote, downvote, et cetera. And never let the music die. ) ) 
 
 Edit: Formatting is difficult 
 
 
 
 

