I stopped to listen, but he did not come. I began again with a sense of loss. As this sense deepened I heard him again. I stopped stopping and I stopped starting, and I allowed myself to be crushed by ignorance. This was a strategy, and didn't work at all. Much time, years were wasted in such a minor mode. I bargain now. I offer buttons for his love. I beg for mercy. Slowly he yields. Haltingly he moves toward his throne. Reluctantly the angels grant to one another permission to sing. In a transition so delicate it cannot be marked, the court is established on beams of golden symmetry, and once again I am a singer in the lower choirs, born fifty years ago to raise my voice this high, and no higher.
why once again that
I is a singer? Is it on Boogie Street - off Boogie Street - on Boogie Street - off...?
Here we are again, at the beginning of a book. I've read a bunch of books, and one thing I know about books is that they often begin by introducing the most critical characters. This is in first person, so there's character "I," there's a
he, and there are angels.
He seems to be more powerful than Mr.
I.
He decides when to be available and when to not be, while Mr. I begs and offers very small gifts with high hopes.
What happens when angels sing? What makes angels sing? They seem to have acknowledged that something has started at the beginning of this book. Is Mr. I singing with angels? And if he is, is he singing with them as an accepted member of their troupe, or is it more like that annoying guy in the audience next to you who sings along with Leonard on every song on June 23 in Montreal? Did I pay my $150 to listen to that guy?
This high and no higher, and how high is that? G#?

He starts out so lonely, but ends up with angels for friends, maybe. Not bad.
I wonder if
he thinks music is important. Song is an interesting way to communicate. For ages, song was the way one generation spoke to another, even over several generations.