Chapter 16: Fight Song

Labatt’s Guest House, London, Ontario

7:46pm, Tuesday, November 20, 1979

“ ... You know, Love Stinks!” Zupena sang in a fairly deep voice.

“Zupi! ... Ya-you always know exactly what to say to make me feel better,” Lynette finally chuckled with tears still running down her cheeks.

Zupena smiled at Lynette and leaned over to give her a kiss on the crown of her head. I winked at my tall beauty, who then surprised all of us, again, by softly singing:

“You love her, but she loves him.

And he loves somebody else, you just can’t win.”

I smiled at Zupena as she sang the opening lines, and then joined in with her on:

“And so it goes, ‘till the day you die.

This thing they call love, it’s gonna make you cry.”

I wasn’t surprised that my other bandmates, including Lynette, then harmonized along with us:

“I’ve had the blues, the reds and the pinks.

One thing for sure... LOVE STINKS!“

“Zupena, you’re accent goes away when you sing,” Lisa excitedly said from across in the love seat.

“You have a beautiful singing voice, too,” Sammy quickly added.

“You should have heard her singing along to Hot Rod Lincoln, Saturday night in my car,” I proudly said as I rubbed my blushing girlfriend’s blue jean covered hamstring.

“I’m not sure if I should ask this or not, but do you guys wanna play that... Love Stinks song?” Eda softly asked from beside her sister.

“No, no, no! Gawd, no!” Lynette laughed as she finally lifted her head up from my chest and wiped her tear streaked cheeks with the sleeves of her green Michigan State sweatshirt. “It’s not like I don’t like that song, but...”

“Say no more, Cano,” Eda softly chuckled.

“Drink and snack time?” I softly asked as I scratched Cano’s back as she sat on the edge of the leather couch.

“I can use a few munchies and a Coke,” Sammy replied as she pushed up out of the recliner.

“Zupena, would you like a Coke, Diet, Sprite or Mountain Dew ... oh, or just water?” Lisa asked as she scurried around to the fridge, while Sammy grabbed the crackers and Fritos bags from the pantry.

“Coke, please,” Zupena replied with a smile as she and I both had Lynette tucked under our six-foot-three inch shoulders.

“Oh, Cuda. What am I gonna do?” Cano softly asked as we leaned on the island as Sammy, Lisa and Eda got the drinks, snacks and cracker supplies out for us.

“For starters, try not to mention my name when another guy is going down on you,” I laughed as I hugged her in tight to my body. Heck, I wasn’t stupid ... with her held tight to my body I was in less danger of getting smacked upside my head, or in some other more painful location.

“Mikhail!/Michael!” Zupena cried at the same time Lynette laughed out my full name. Because I didn’t have control over my Amazonian girlfriend like I did with Lynette, Zupena was free to abuse the back of my head with a left handed smack.

“Give him another one from me,” Sammy laughed. I immediately leaned away from Zupena and Lynette. With her extra-long arm, Zupena still clipped me, but not with as much force as her first direct shot.

“I doubt I’ll ever have another guy get between my legs after word of what happened gets around,” Lynette half-way smirked, “at least not Medway guys.”

“Why don’t you just return to your first true love?” Lisa softly said as she handed Zupena her can of Coke before she raised my can of Coke up in honest salute.

Sammy’s eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets at Lisa’s words. She was the only other person in ‘The Know’ about my Shannon situation from our conversation with Tempe at the end of the day. I gave her a ‘please don’t‘ look and a nod of thanks while the other girls focused on Lisa’s question.

“I good if Lynette like to get back with Mike,” Zupena said after listening to Lisa, Eda and Sammy bouncing that idea around for a few moments.

I darn near blew a mouthful of Coke out my nose when Eda jokingly asked, “So, if Lynette gets back with Cuda, I wonder how many girlfriends it takes to qualify as a harem?”

“I think Cuda may have reached that limit!” Lisa laughed as she wiped a few Coke droplets off the back of her hand and wrist from my minor eruption.

“So it’s four... PLUS, is it?” Sammy chuckled and winked at me.

“God! You girls just aren’t right,” I cried as I wiped my chin and hands from my Coke explosion.

“I think you’re the one who isn’t right, Cuda,” Cano replied as she pulled me down to plant a kiss on my cheek.

“Here. You must forgot. Let me show you where to do that,” Zupena softly said as she peered around Lynette’s head and smiled at me. I leaned forward and gladly accepted Zupena sweet lips against mine.

“Ah-hum!” Brick said as she lightly tapped my shoulder from the other side of the island. “I think I’m Harem girl number one, so I should get at least as good as kiss as Harem girl number three.”

“I think we could argue ‘bout who is Harem girl one, Brick, but...” Lynette quickly added as I leaned over to share a kiss with my youngest girlfriend.

Things settled down a little after that crazy round of ‘Mike and his possible harem’ discussion. We enjoyed a short respite with various cracker snacks and a few handfuls of Bar-B-Q or Regular Fritos. I couldn’t help but smile as my bandmates made Zupena feel more than welcome during our band practice. Both Cano and Sammy tried to convince Zupena to join the school’s choir after the Christmas holidays because of her sweet alto voice.

“Sooooo, what are we gonna get to first?” Eda asked after washing down her ham and cheese cracker with her Sprite.

“Anybody got anything for the NIS concert they want to share?” I asked after downing the last of my Coke.

“I, uh, kinda have a something that ... just might be good for my, or maybe Cano’s stripping song ... if her vocals work better with these lyrics than mine,” Sammy softly said as she peered over at Cano and me.

“Are we gonna have a go of it here, or over with our instruments?” Brick asked before popping another mini-handful of Bar-B-Q Fritos in her mouth.

With most of us still in snack or junk food mode, Sammy replied, “I’ll give you a lyrical version of it here.” She finished off her Diet Coke to clean out her mouth from the Bar-B-Q Fritos before she softly sang in a un-Sammy-like girlish voice:

All the girls, even Zupena, had their eyes closed as they listened to Sammy’s dreamy lyrics and sweet, falsetto voice. I easily imagined the soft soothing keyboards, which Cano would create to go with these opening lyrics. I smiled at Sammy as she turned it up a half-notch as she sang the next part of the first verse:

Cano was the first to open her eyes and focus on Sammy’s face and body as our redheaded singer added her hand gestures to emphasize the feelings she felt as she built up to what was sure to be a powerful chorus. Eda and Lisa both locked in on Sammy’s emotion fed body as she sang that, “I will scream them loud,” line.

Our redheaded vocalist then channeled her inner rock chick as she closed her own eyes and pumped her fist in the air as she immediately growled out:

Sammy opened her eyes as she sang that last line of the chorus, and stared at us with the same type of fire we’ve seen in her as if she prepared to compete in her Wushu combat matches. I thought she was going to continue with a second verse of this song, but she simply rested her hands on the kitchen island and waited.

“Holy mackerel! Sammy!” Brick exclaimed as she reached in front of her sister and grabbed Sammy’s left balled up fist.

“And you thought I maybe should sing that song! ... Are you outta your ever-lovin’, fight-song-ing mind?” Cano asked in a ‘what the fuck‘ voice after another moment of silence.

“Is, uh, is there anything in there that you think we should kinda change to make it better?” Sammy asked after taking a few deep, calming breathes.

When none of us said anything for a few more moments, Zupena squeezed my hand and gave me a little head nod. I then asked, “What did you think of this song, Zupena? Got any suggestions?”

“I ... I really love song, Sammy. Your voice is able to be sweet and defiant all in same song,” Zupena said in her Latvian accent.

“Thanks, Zupi,” Sammy replied with a smile. “Do you have something that you think can make this song better?”

“I hear in second part of verse a few words that make more sense to me as troubled but determined girl. I wonder if ‘brain‘ goes better than ‘head‘ as sing wrecking ball line. Also, is night time that you mostly sing, so if you use ‘tonight‘, not ‘at last‘ in next line ... I think may work better with intent of song?”

I could tell that all four of my bandmates were instantly replaying Zupena’s suggested words within their minds. Brick’s eyes opened first and she immediately sang, “Wrecking ball inside my brain ... wrecking ball inside my head ... inside my brain ... inside my brain.“

“I love that change!” Sammy exclaimed after she listened to Brick’s sweet voice and imagined her voice singing that change.

“Her ‘tonight‘ word also fits better than that ‘at last‘ combo,” Eda added as she used her hands to ‘play the words’ through her main musical output mechanism.

Without anyone prompting her, Sammy then sang the second section of her first verse with Zupena’s two suggestions. I reached around Lynette’s back and gave Zupena’s neck a slight squeeze and soft rub, as all the girls in our band couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces as Sammy sang those lines again.

“Zupi! You’re a song writer, now!” Lisa proudly stated as she reached out to share a high-five with Harem girl number three or four, depending on Lisa’s or Lynette’s prior perspectives.

“Those were excellent suggestions, Zupi,” Cano said as she went up on her tip-toes to give the taller blonde a kiss on her cheek.

“You really need practice on aim ... lips are here,” Zupena softly said as she took Lynette’s face in her large hands and shared a fairly heated kiss with her teammate.

“Hot damn,” Cano softly whispered after Zupena released her lip-lock and grip on her face. Cano actually had to lean back against my shoulder for a moment to readjust her own long legs under her body.

“I think you and Tempe might have some girlfriend competition, Bricky,” Sammy lightly sniggered as the two basketball babes refused to break their staring contest.

“I’d definitely be saying, ‘Hot damn’ after a kiss like that,” Eda added, which triggered Lynette to break the stare and turn to look at our flushed drummer girl.

“I go to bathroom,” Zupena quickly added as she blushed to near Sammy’s hair color.

Knowing full well that the tall blonde didn’t really have to use the facilities, Lisa quickly stepped back from between Sammy and her sister and softly said, “I’ll join you, Zupena.”

“Did I do something wrong?” Lynette softly asked as my oldest and youngest girlfriends zipped down the hallway, and ducked into the master bedroom.

“I think Zupena might be afraid of the feelings that you, and possibly Tempe and Lis, have generated within her mind and soul after sharing a few kisses, Cano,” I replied as I gave my first love a tight side-to-side squeeze.

“So you guys didn’t do anything together on Sunday?” Sammy correctly surmised from my words.

“Sammy, guys ... don’t go there with Zupena? If she wants to...” I softly asked but Cano interjected,

“We aren’t going to push her into saying or doing something she’s not ready to share with us.”

“I’m just worried about her. This ... is all royally new to her,” I added with a smile as I pointed between all three of the girls at the island.

“We’re not experts on this kinda relationship dynamic, Mike,” Sammy replied with a smile.

“Yeah, watching Lis handle all this is mind-boggling to me,” Eda added with a roll of her blue eyes.

“Come on. Let’s get our instruments out and ready to put some music to Sammy’s lyrics,” Cano said as she lightly slapped our interwoven fingers and hands down against the kitchen island.

Eda did a one of her kick ass drum lines after she kicked off her shoes and pulled her socks from her feet. After about thirty seconds of E’s skilled double-bass drumming and octopus-arm stick work on her main drums, Lisa led a laughing Zupena back down the hallway to the main living room area. Lisa immediately went to get her Rickenbacker bass from its case, while Zupena veered off towards Lynette.

Lisa winked at me as I watched my taller girlfriend wrap Lynette up from behind in her arms and whisper something in her ear. Cano’s eyes got real big after hearing Zupena’s words. She then struggled to turn in Zupena’s strong arms before giving the taller girl a sweet kiss on her nose, chin and finally her lips.

“Do I wanna know what you gals said?” I asked as Brick walked in front of me over to her wireless microphone.

“I’m sure you’ll find out when or if Zupi and Lynette feel like sharing things with you,” Lisa replied, giving me a small taste of my own words.

All I could do was nod in approval of Lisa’s sense of privacy for her girlfriends, her harem sisters.

“Cano, I’m guessing you have an idea of how to begin this song?” Sammy asked as she strummed her 12-string acoustic guitar.

“How about we start off in ‘G-major’ with a moderate eighty-eight to ninety beats per minute pacing,” our keyboardist replied.

“I think your chords should progress from something like a ‘G to G5 to F-sharp, then possibly to E-minor and C’,” I added as Sammy fingered out a ‘G-chord’ on her guitar.

“Would a simple flat stick rap work well on that second segment of the first verse?” E asked as she lightly did a few of those soft sounds for Cano, Sammy and me.

“I think that would be good, E,” I added and Cano rapidly nodded in agreement with my reply. I then turned to Brick and said, “Me and you get to take a back seat on this ‘till Sammy rocks the house with her chorus, yes?”

“How are we gonna backup Sammy’s vocals?” Brick quickly added.

“Let’s have Sammy solo sing it to start, and then we’ll figure out the when’s and the who’s of harmonizing with her,” Cano replied as she adjusted the volume on her keyboards to a relatively low level to pair up with Sammy’s expected soft, sweet opening vocals.

“Works for me,” Brick replied as she plucked out a couple of soft chord progressions on her bass.

“Me, too,” Eda added with a smile.

Before Sammy and Cano got this song started, Zupena came and sat down in the recliner and stretched her long, lean body out in a nearly fully reclined position. Sammy simply smiled at Zupena and chuckled, “Make yourself at home, my co-lyrist.”

“I like chair. Very comfortable,” Zupena replied as she put her hands up behind her head.

“That it is, Zupena,” I said as I strummed my pick over Silverburst’s electric strings.

Before Sammy and Cano got through the first couple of lines, Eda kicked her upper bass drum a couple of times to get them to stop their efforts. She then said, “I can’t wait. We need my flat stick to introduce each line after Sammy’s opening, ‘Like a small boat‘ phrase. I think if I rap it a fraction before each line’s lead word ... that will sound cool.”

E then sang the opening line and gave a small flat rap on her snare before singing, ‘on the ocean‘. She then repeated that snare rap and sang ‘sending big waves‘, snare rap, ‘into motion.’

“Yes, yes, yes, Girlfriend,” Sammy said as she gave Eda a big thumbs up gesture.

“Okay, whenever you gals are ready,” Cano replied from behind her keyboards.

Lisa and I were semi-leaning on each other as the other three worked that out. Zupena gave both of us a small wink as she watched our band work in full-blown song creating mode for the first time. The two of us didn’t make much of an effort to separate as we listened to the others play and sing through that first verse. When Sammy’s vocals amped up as she neared that finishing question in the first verse, I winked at Lisa and mouthed, ‘Ready, Girlfriend?‘

Lisa’s powerful bass boomed on Sammy’s cried, “Fight Song!“ phrase, which gave me her answer. Eda, Lisa and I definitely gave this chorus the driving oomph it required, as Sammy belted out her one-hundred percent guaranteed, striptease song’s vocals.

“I like ... a lot!” Zupena said as she snapped shut the recliner’s leg rest and jumped up to her full six-three height.

“I like it, too,” Cano replied with a smile. However, I knew that look and waited for her to add, “There’s just something that doesn’t ... feel right with that last question before you bring on the chorus, Sammy.”

“So, when I’m singing, ‘Can you hear my words this time?’ what... ?” Sammy sing-song asked before Cano immediately said,

“It isn’t your words, Sammy, but your powerful voice that I’m, we’re hearing. Listen!” Cano then sang, “Can you hear my voice this time? This is my fight song! Take back my life song! Prove I’m alright song-ongggg!“

“Jeezes-Oh-Pete, Cano! That was a freckin’ awesome change!” Sammy shouted and circled her right fist in the air.

“I liked that stylized ‘song-ong‘ phrasing,” I added as I walked over to Sammy and gave her neck a light squeeze.

After Brick and Sammy danced a little over those slight but powerful changes, Eda said, “I think those chorus lines should have a little echoed harmony.”

“Cano needs to be the main harmonizer,” I said after E’s suggestion.

“Me and E can do a soft echo,” Brick immediately replied, “with my high and E’s mid-alto tones.”

“Let’s give it a shot without our instruments,” Cano said.

“I’ll start back at, ‘All those things,’ okay?” Sammy quickly responded to Cano’s instructions.

The four Bandettes created a wonderfully sweet, yet forceful vocal arrangement of those first few lines of the chorus. When they continued with the, “My power’s turned on, starting right now I’ll be strong” lines, I thought, ‘A staccato foreboding of Sammy’s lead vocals on those remaining lines of the chorus would make this song explode within people’s minds.’

I made an executive decision to halt their vocals by ripping out a reverb’d ‘G’ chord on my guitar, which achieved my desired effect ... the girls immediately stopped their vocals and stared daggers at me. I smiled at them for a moment and then said, “Cano, how about you adding a soft but sharp pre-lead to Sammy’s vocals starting with ‘My power’. I think Brick’s higher voice would work better as the main harmonizer with Sammy’s strong voice. E, you keep doing your chilled echoed vocals.”

“So, you’re thinking I should do the main harmonies on the whole chorus, Mike?” Brick asked with a grin on her face.

I nodded in response to Brick’s question, and immediately looked at our keyboardist to gauge her thoughts on my vocal suggestion. She looked at me for a second and then closed her eyes to mentally create that sound in her head. When she opened her eyes again, her hazel orbs sparkled and she said, “I’ll hold off singing with those pre-leads ‘till the final few lines of the chorus. I think that will make Sammy’s vocals detonate through the speakers!”

We ran through this song a few times with a few more minor musical changes but the girls’ four part vocals rightly took center stage with this emotional, uplifting song.

“I not hear you give title to song,” Zupena said after our fourth run through and our first without anyone adding any additional suggestions. “I could be wrong, but My Fight Song makes most sense for title, yes?”

“I was kinda leaning towards just, Fight Song as the title, Zupena,” Sammy replied as she lifted her acoustic guitar from around her head.

(Note: Fight Song was written by Rachel Platten, along with Dave Bassett and John Levine. It is from her 2015 EP-CD of the same song name, and her 2016 debut studio album, Wildfire. This song peaked at number six on the Billboards’ charts and reached number one on the Adult Contemporary and Adult Pop Songs charts. It also has been certified as 3x platinum in both Canada and the States.)

“I don’t think you’d go wrong with either of those titles,” Eda said as she got up and stretched behind her drum kit.

“Sorry, Zupena, but I’ve gotta lean towards Fight Song,” Lynette chuckled as she came around to the front of our practice space.

“I’m good with Sammy’s choice,” Zupena said as she too got up to stretch out her long limbs and slender torso. She then smiled at me and asked, “What title is your favorite, Mike?”

I laughed and said, “That’s the two song writers’ decision to make.”

“Chicken,” Lisa said as she wrapped her arms around my waist to pull my back against her large bosoms.

“Have I or any of us offered up a contrary opinion on someone else’s song titles?”

Brick relaxed her hold on my torso and tried to spin me around in her grasp. With my right arm now free, I reached for Brick’s right hand and then lifted her arm up to lead her into an overhead, inside double-spin to position her slender body in front of my torso. My youngest girlfriend then tilted her head back, inviting me to lean down to plant a kiss on her soft, pink lips.

After a short drink and Fritos break, I said, “So, I think we have Sammy’s stripping song basically down. Do we wanna have a go at Brick’s and E’s Love Shack song or do any of you have something else you wanna fool with?”

“You just want to play E’s drums, again!” Sammy said.

I just smiled at Sammy and the girls, and then scampered over behind the drums. I always did enjoy picking up E’s sticks and laying some literal lumber to her skins and metals. It was a lot more fun with Zupena there to watch me show off a little as the girls finished up their snacks and drinks.

Because I had tinkered with E’s double bass kickers in prior down times, I was just now getting a feel for their dual thunder outputs. When I put together a triplet-echoed bass sound to go with a syncopated snare, tom-tom, and high-hat rhythm, Eda turned her full attention to my drumming.

“Are you putting two timing patterns together?” she asked as she glanced between my feet and hands.

I simply nodded a confirmation and then ripped out a descending tom-line, which I punctuated with several combined upstroke and down-strike cymbal crashes.

“Pretty impressive, Cuda. I kinda liked those ending cymbal strikes,” E said as she went to the closet to get out Cano’s acoustic guitar for Love Shack.

“So dis will be your concert striptease song, yes?” Zupena asked Lisa as she sat back down in the recliner.

“I’m thinking it will be,” Brick replied as she blushed a little at the thought of actually taking her clothes off to this song.

“Unless I, or one of us can think of another good song, I’ll be stripping to it, too,” Eda added to her sister’s reply.

“This will probably be the best song for you, E as you’ll be out front with us instead of, ‘Haha’, hiding behind your drums to strip,” Cano stated as she pulled her long hair out from under her keytar’s strap.

“And you said that like hiding behind my drums is a bad thing,” Eda laughed as she practiced the three chords on Cano’s borrowed acoustic guitar. I couldn’t help adding a ‘ba-da boom-crash’ to E’s humorous statement, which earned me a small bow from our main drummer girl.

In short order, I tapped out the count for Love Shack and then ripped out the opening rhythms and sang:

“If you see a faded sign at the side of the road that says ‘15 miles to the... ‘“

“LOVEEEE SHACK!” Lisa cried out to complete the opening lyrics.

Zupena couldn’t help but get up out of the recliner to dance to this catchy, silly song. She laughed and clapped when the girls did their four-person train shuffle as I sang that relatively long vocal section in the middle of the song.

Everyone in the guest house, including Mr. and Mrs. Labatt who walked in after our opening few lines, just about died when Lisa ad-libbed some of her lines. Eda even stopped playing her acoustic guitar at Lisa’s crazy last lyric and hand gesture. Instead of singing the regular, “Glitter on the mattress. Glitter on the highway...” lines, Lisa sang:

My youngest girlfriend made sure we all knew exactly what and where she was talking about by pinching her polo covered boobs and then pointing at her crotch at the corresponding final lines.

“Lisa!” Katie Labatt laughed as our bassist’s grin spread from ear to ear after she killed us with her perfectly timed, NIS appropriate creativity. Sammy’s dad had to turn around and walk to the front door as he was dying from laughter after Lisa’s bold off the cuff lines.

During a more instrumental section, I saw Sammy whisper something in Lisa’s ear. Lisa’s eyes immediately opened up and then she gave Sammy a quick little nod. Even as I was singing my lyrics, I thought, ‘Oh, Lord. Something wild is coming down the pipe.’

Something wickedly wild was indeed added to this song. Instead of Lisa wildly singing, “Tin Roof! Rusted!” Sammy stepped up to her microphone and forcefully sang, “Puss-ssy! Drippin’!“

That surprisingly wick line caused Cano to majorly flub her keytar playing for a couple of seconds before she regrouped and got back into the groove to finish off this song.

“You two girls can’t ... you aren’t seriously thinking of singing those sinfully wicked lyrics, are you?” Katie excitedly asked of Lisa and her step-daughter.

“We’re gonna be naked by the time we sing those lines, so why the hell not!” Sammy replied to her step-mom. She then turned to her normally straight-laced dad and asked, “Don’t you think those lines are perfect for this crazy ass concert, Daddy?”

“If you girls are comfortable singing them in the buff, then I’ll be cheering you on like crazy from the side-lines,” Mr. Labatt chuckled in response to his daughter’s very direct question.

“Well, I’d say other than a few unexpected screw-ups by me, that that song is sounding pretty concert worthy,” Cano said and laughed at herself as she purposely made her keytar sound ridiculously screechy.

I looked at my watch after I saw Zupena take a peek at her watch. Because it was nine-O-five, I said, “I’m not sure we have time to fool with anything else, tonight. Plus, I’ve got a couple more homework problems to complete before my bed-sheets call out my name.”

“Are you giving Zupena a ride home, Cuda?” Sammy asked after she set her Strat in its case, before putting it in the storage closet.

“I’m planning on giving all the girls a ride,” I replied with a wink at Zupena.

“No, no. I’ll give Eda and Brick a ride home,” Sammy quickly said.

“Here, you can take my car, Samantha,” her dad said as he dug out his car keys from his front pocket.

“You’re letting me drive your Beamer? Whoa! Thanks, Daddy!” Sammy exclaimed as she caught her father’s tossed key ring.

“Just watch your speed. It will run a lot faster than it feels ... especially after driving around in your Bronco,” Mr. Labatt cautioned his daughter.

“I’ll be extra careful with your car,” Sammy gleefully replied as she did a little two-step dance.

While the Labatt’s were making their transportation methods known, Zupena whispered in my ear, “You not upset at no driving Lisa home because of me?”

“God, no,” I softly replied and turned to kiss Zupena’s cheek.

“Hum,” she hummed with a smile. Zupena then lightly laughed, “You, like Lynette, need to work on your aim, yes?”

“Sometimes it is a good thing to miss your mark,” I replied with a raised eyebrow. When Zupena gave me a confused look in response, I completed my thought process by adding, “That makes the extra practice needed to correct the problem, all the more fun.”

“Yes, that practice is most fun,” Zupena laughed.

“What is fun, Zupi?” Lynette asked with a grin.

“Aiming practice,” Zupena replied as she touched my lips, then her own with her fingertips.