Dave’s Anatomy: My History As a Writer #94: The Past As a Good-Bye: “Gimme Shelter”

As a guitarist and a Rolling Stones fan, it’s natural that some of my stories come from those things. I write a lot about musicians:  realistic stories about the trials of being in the music industry, stories where musicians encounter the supernatural, tales of musicians and their relationships. I can draw on my own experience, my knowledge of music, and elements in popular culture for plot ideas. And I created an ongoing character, Sossity Chandler, who toils and plays in bars and small venues until she makes it big and becomes a pop music superstar. The story for today, “Gimme Shelter,” uses that particular song as a jumping off point for a story about a guitarist who has found his niche in the world of music writing and his on/off girlfriend, Orion (Orion is pronounced like the Lake in Michigan, not like the constellation). He learns a lesson about himself from the song.

Orion

In the story, Eliot is with Orion. In their early days they both have aspirations to make it as musicians, and they both faith, though in different ways. Eliot ends up going into the academic world, earns an advance degree, finds a job, and is able to make it the world of scholarship. Orion tries to establish a career as a singer but has little success. She lives a hard-scrabble life, working from gig to gig, hardly making enough money to get by. Eliot’s career takes a turn when he grows weary of purely academic writing and pens a book on British acoustic guitar players. It is an unexpected best-seller and catapults him into the world of music writing.

He maintains a relationship with Orion. They continue as occasional lovers. He gives her money when he senses she is barely getting by. When he does research on themes related to music and popular artists, she often accompanies him. Just off a breakup with a woman he had hoped to marry, he goes with her from their home in Grand Rapids to Lansing, where she is playing a gig in a bar. On the way up they listen on old Rolling Stones records and comment on the music. Despite the fact that he talked about her in an article on upcoming blues artists that was published in Billboard, her career is not going well. She is out of money. He does the usual thing of giving her a large amount of cash to buy them drinks. She will keep the substantial cash that is left over.

As he is watching Orion play, a woman sits down with him. She is also a college instructor and likes his writing. They talk literature. She mentions an article he has written about Michigan author Bonnie Jo Campbell. She says she likes his analysis of the story: “The main character’s interpretation of his relationship to Belle when they were teenagers is the opposite of her interpretation. He saw himself as her savior and champion in those early days; she saw him as someone who sexually exploited and took advantage of her.” He mentions a similar theme in Julian Barnes’ novel The Sense of an Ending. It is obvious the woman is coming on to him, but in the middle of the conversation he has an epiphany—a moment of realization. He says he needs to go, she leaves her phone number. He thinks about Orion and how he has treated her:

As he picked up his guitar case, he realized how he had exploited her—yes, he told himself, exploited described it perfectly. In graduate school he had depended on her for emotional support when he was fatigued, discouraged, or overwhelmed—frequent occurrences for graduate students. More than once she had typed papers for him. She had always been willing to sleep with him when she sensed he needed it. She stuck with him when he was down and as a “friend” when Janelle was cutting him to pieces. She had always been there. Through the years she had borne his whining and condescension like a patient mule. She had supported him emotionally. And how had he responded? He had screwed her, given her money when she was broke, attended her concerts—and when he attended her concerts, they usually ended up in bed together. Exploitation—flat out, no way to sweeten what he had done with a euphemism and no excuse for it.

Eventually, as he and Orion have agreed, they do a couple of songs together. Afterwards, he says he wants to talk to her. She senses his agitation and wonders what is going on. He asks if she knows a place where they can go to talk. Still puzzled at his behavior, she suggests a coffee bar she knows that is open 24/7.

I let the reader imagine what will result from his epiphany, his moment of realization (a technique made popular by Irish writer James Joyce in his short story collection Dubliners). The fact that he has seen his behavior in this new light is at least hopeful.

The story appeared in the online journal Intellectual Refuge. Read it here.

For additional titles, check out my Writer's Page.

A great read is my vampire novel, Sinfonia:  The First Notes on the Lute, A Vampire Chronicle, Part I.  Get a copy here.

I would to hear your comments. Happy reading.