I Love You, Baby.
Xxxxx
Based on ‘Can’t Take my Eyes Off You’ by Frankie Valli.
———–
You’re just too good to be true.
You don’t know me, but you smile a warm smile as we’re introduced. You don’t have to do that. I’m just the hired help, just one of the guys who work the dangerous and sweaty magic that lets you soar. Just a roadie, tired and greasy. I fall in love. Just like that. Can you feel it?
Can’t take my eyes off of you.
We’re checking levels. You’re on stage and there’s gear spread all over. I’m in the scaffolding fixing a spot that’s blown, and you’re threading your way though the cables and junk. I worry you’ll trip, that you’ll fall down amongst the amps and junction boxes. There’s some serious current in our wiring jungle. But you weave through them, stepping gracefully. It’s as if you were dancing, just as you do in the show. Can you feel me watching? I know you can. I can feel it.
You’d be like Heaven to touch.
The stage is full. We roadies stand quietly back in the wings and watch the choreographer bully you and the dancer-nancy-boys through the routines. You twirl and kick your legs so high, so high. The pretty boys lift you on their shoulders then swing you. You laugh. You see us watching you. You pout and wink. I know the wink is for me, isn’t it. I watch every rehearsal. I’m sure you wink again. You don’t want a pretty boy. I’m not pretty, but I’m a man. You want a man. I know you do.
I wanna hold you so much.
I see you when you think no-one is looking. I know the outdoor set and backstage layout, and I know where I can sit, high in the flyover to watch you preening behind your screens, combing that famous hair in long strokes, mouing at the mirror. Undressing, just for me. All for me. I imagine lifting you to my shoulders like the dancers do, then pulling you to my chest and holding you tight as you laugh that clear trill the world knows so well. I could carry you away, keep you safe and warm. Love you the way you need to be loved. One day I know I will.
At long last love has arrived.
The night’s gig is over, and the stage is deserted. Except for me. We’ve finished cleaning up the mess the band has made of their section. I’m sweeping the mess, throwing the cans in a sack, mopping up the sticky beer stains. Someone’s pissed in a drum. Bastards.
And then you’re there, drifting onto the stage.
And I thank God I’m alive.
I know you’ve come to find me. We’ll be together. We were meant to be together. I call out. I say the words I’ve been wanting to say all these nights. Why are you not smiling? I’m just looking for my watch, leave me alone, you say. The scowl means you’re just being coy, I can tell. I reach out to enfold you, to hold you the way I know you want me to. To show you a man’s embrace. You scream. We can’t have that. You are mine now. I tell you so. Your eyes open wide. I reach for you.
You’re just too good to be true.
And suddenly you are dancing! I see you twirl, you leap so, so incredibly high. You kick so fast. I feel a jolt to my throat. My windpipe, crushed. I can’t breathe, I can’t move. You’re bending over me. The dark starts creeping in from the edges. All I can see is your face.
Can’t take my eyes off of you.
Creepy, yet effective. Splendid use of the song lyrics.