Follow Your Leader

Follow your Leader

by Eden Clarke

Foreword:

Back in fall of 2009, Lee and Eden were discussing various physio- and psychological aspects of the society in which we live. Lee started to give his views on leaders within our communities and how they come to be and how they affect and influence the human psyche. Eden told him he should blog about it (wise words, it seems, as we now witness Lee's inabilities to maintain the utopic standards of BOTM). However Lee said he couldn’t get a full article out of it. He offerred the task unto Eden who jumped at the opportunity. Fresh off the amazing success of the Roy Story trilogy Eden saw the chance to move from self indulgent first person narrative to a self indulgent adaptation of the two conversations he and Lee had. What followed was a witty and captivating play that gripped the blogging world and is sure to take over broadway itself!

- Eden Clarke

Act I

(Eden knocks on Lee’s door. He smiles as he remembers the cheerleading twins he met at a club the night before. Both of them still asleep in his bachelor pad that overlooks the harbour bridge. The smile turns to a frown as Lee answers the door)

Lee: Hey Eden! Glad you could come around and hang with me, even though you are so much cooler than I am.
Eden: Don’t mention it, champ. You did buy me an iPod so I guess I owe you something, right?
L: Yeah! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Wow you are soooo funny.
E: I know ey?

(They go into the rumpus room and sit down. Eden picks up Lee’s guitar and plays around with the strings)

L: Man, I’ve been practicing that song you wrote for me the other day, but I think I need some more lessons cos I’m not very good.
E: Umm…yeah sure. That’s cool, man…Just the usual $30 an hour.
L: Oh, right. It’s just that I don’t have the money on me right now. Could I pay you back tomorrow?
E: Yeah, nah that’s not going to work for me. Do you wanna just…I don’t know…talk instead?

(Lee is despondent but jumps at the opportunity to talk)

L: Yeah, dude. I’ve been thinking a lot about leaders recently.

(Eden turns on the TV, taking advantage of Lee’s Foxtel and pretends to listen)

E: Oh yeah, cool man. Go on.
L: Well, I mean everybody always talks about how we have world leaders. You know like Barack Obama or Kevin Rudd, and all those guys. But then I think to myself ‘these guys aren’t my leaders.’ They make decisions about how to run the world and they have been elected by the people to lead them, but who says they are my leaders, right?
E: Oh yeah, cool man. Go on.
L: Well I mean I get to decide who is my leader. A leader is someone inspirational. Someone who has lived their dreams and who shares similar ideas to me. They open my mind to new views that I wouldn’t regularly consider. Like Wayne Coyne, man. Now he is my type of leader. He is someone you can follow. I mean seriously, how cool is Wayne?
E: Oh yeah, cool man. Go on.
L: And these ‘world leaders’ are so disconnected from me. Obama is a cool guy, and it’s great that he may do some good, but I can’t truly relate to that. And he is one of the likeable world leaders. Then you have Wayne or Pete Townsend. I can connect with these guys on so many levels. They do what they love, and I love it with them. They are free and outspoken. Opinionated and confident. They are inspirational in art and life. I could follow Wayne. I could follow John Lennon. Isn’t that great man! We can choose our leaders!

(Eden looks at his gold watch and realises that he has nowhere to be, but wants to leave anyway)

E: Alright I’m outties, mate. Have a good one.
L: Oh really...But I thought we could talk some more...
E: Nah. Maybe next time, mate.

(Lee goes in for a pound but is left hanging as Eden heads out the door, pretending not to notice the gesture)

***

Act II

(Three months pass before Eden returns. Only doing so as a favour to Donna. To whom he owed a great many favours.)

Lee: Hey dude! It’s great to see you!
Eden: Oh yeah, cool man. Go on.
L: So like I was saying we can choose our leaders. But it shouldn’t just stop there. We shouldn’t just find people who guide us. We should do more than just follow. We should strive to be like them. They have found something inside themselves that serves as such an inspiration to us, we should find what it is inside us that will reach out to millions. Or even to thousands, or hundreds or just each other or just to one’s own self. We can be leaders of ourselves and any or everybody else. Free at heart, true to ourselves and confident, just like Wayne and Pete and John. They guide me through life with their music and I’m going to use what I learnt from them to guide myself and others…And we could all be…umm free and umm…like leaders. You know like a visceral and organic inspirational…umm…what was I saying?
E: I don’t know, man. I think you were just rambling. Nothing worth repeating.

Fin

- Eden (while listening to You In Reverse – Built To Spill, and Lee)