Don't Get Your Mind Made Up

        I went to open mic to play a new song that I wrote. It's probably the best song I've ever written in my entire life. I was looking forward to playing it. I sat at the bar, sipped a beer, and waited my turn. 
        The bartender walked up to me, "are you going to play something new tonight?'
        "Yep," I beamed.

        I finally had a turn at the mic. I plugged my guitar in and broke into the song. I noticed right off that nobody was listening. In fact, people were talking very loudly. I couldn't believe it. I played the song the best I could, all the while thinking, wow this sucks. When I finished the song, the crowd's response was lackluster. 
        I stepped back and gathered myself for my second song. I decided to play a tune I'd written a couple of years earlier. I was going to can it at one point and remove it from my repertoire entirely thinking it was too soft and gushy. But I thought I'd give it one more chance before I did that.

        I broke into the tune and right off I noticed a change in the audience's demeanor. At one point near the end of the song the room fell silent. They were actually paying attention. When I finished playing I walked back to the bar and sat down to finish my beer. The bartender walked up to me. He was moving real slow. He had a coy look on his face. He put his hand to his jaw and rubbed it as if to think. He looked me in the eyes and leaned in. "Did you write that second song?"