KC at South Coast Plaza – 29Sept2007

Very nice, as it usually is at SCP. The sound is just so much nicer there, for no known reason. Nice crowd this time, too – smaller than usual, but that made it a bit cozier, quieter, and more personal. I had a couple of "couples" come in, not even carrying any books -- apparently simply to sit and hear me play.

The first couple listened for a long time, interacting with me about songs and artists -- appreciative and friendly.

The second couple came in a little while after the first couple left, and since there were no pairs of comfy chairs open, he sat in a chair and she sat on the ground in front of him. She looked familiar, like they'd been to see us before, and she didn't want/need to see a song list, she was "happy with whatever [I] wanted to play". She sat and smiled through a bunch of tunes, and then ventured to request "Mister Bojangles". That had coincidentally been requested several weeks back, so I had printed out a song sheet for it, played through it some, and put it in the "Songs I'm Kinda Working On" section of The Book, so I said, Sure, I'll give it a try.

She smiled through that one, and I flipped through the book looking for something else to play, and came upon Elton John's "Your Song", which, despite being written on (obviously) a piano, works pretty well for me. I fired it up, and when I looked up after a line or two, I could tell something was going on. She started to cloud up, and then started to collapse down between her knees. Her husband could tell something was wrong, too, and he was kind of hugging her from behind and rubbing her shoulders.

I'm thinking, "Is it *me*?!?" But I can't figure out how a silly love song should have this kind of effect on her, so I keep going. She gets smaller and smaller, and is eventually, clearly, crying. I have no choice by this point, so I keep going (simultaneously oddly guiltily proud and mortified), and she starts fumbling in her purse on the floor beside her. I figure she's obviously trying to find some Kleenex, but after she fumbles for a while, she finds what she's looking for, jumps up, stuffs some money in my tip jar, and runs out, off between the bookshelves. Her husband sits for another 10 seconds, grabs the shopping bag they came in with, and takes off after her. They never came back.

Pretty mysterious. I've never made anybody cry before, for one. And, why "Your Song"? Why not "Mister Bojangles", which is a certifiably Sad Song -- and the one she asked for? And most mysterious, why did she go to the trouble of digging out and leaving me a tip -- for making her cry?!?