The camera turned on, showing a small enclosed room with posters of pop stars from days past and sound suppressing foam along the walls. In the center of the focus was a standing microphone and a chair. Alvin walked around the camera to sit down on the chair and pick up an acoustic guitar from out of view. He cleared his throat and started talking to the camera as a chat started to pop in with viewers entering to greet him.
"Hey everyone! Welcome back to Alvin's Jam Sesh Live," Alvin greeted his audience, though his tone was a little different than his usual screen confidence. The chat began getting more and more enthusiastic with the rate of messages popping up. "We're uh… we're doing something a little different today... I know you guys like when I cover the oldies, but today is a song request."
He looked down to the chat from his end. "H-Huh? Oh, the requestor? Uh… Yeah they're uh… anonymous! Yeah that's it! Either way, doesn't matter. They chose a song that meant a lot to them and wished that we made it back in the day. Not that I would make something like this. Maybe Simon or Theodore, those guys are saps."
He looked at the chat again, and groaned. "Yes yes it's a sappy song, alright? Look, let's just get it over with. Okay? Next stream we'll be back to the regular stuff."
Alvin placed his guitar on his lap and began to strum out to warm up. Then he began to play as he harmonized to get ready to sing and perform with more and more entering the chat.
If you love me, don't you let me go
If you love me, don't go
If you love me, don't you let me go
If you love me, don't go
Alvin's eyes began to open wider. He made a strange and confused face without even realizing it, despite knowing and practicing this song before the stream.
There are some things that we can't control
Give it enough time and we will know
As the days roll, try and keep me close
I know my love for you is sure to grow
Just give it time, give it time
You are forgiven, please be mine
Alvin stopped for a second as the last verse caused his voice to crack a bit and him to strum a chord weirdly. His chat all started to explode with their responses ranging from support and emotion to laughing at him with the occasional attempt to troll. He cleared his throat and chuckled to play if off as he read more of the comments. "Okay, not cool! Anyone who says this is a tribute to some… girl will get temporarily banned tonight!"
"We're just here to perform for a longtime fan's request. Huh? Oh thanks for the kind words 'OGmunkfan', yeah I'm doing GREAT. No problems here!" He sat back up and kept his pace again. "Let's get back to it." He then began to play again.
If you love me, don't you let me go
If you love me, don't go (Don't go!)
If you love me, don't you let me go
If you love me, don't go
Things are getting dark, they've been scaring me
Now the moon is gone, and I can't see
His voice cracked a little more, but he didn't stop playing this time. He could feel that his eyes were starting to sting a bit, but he brushed that off too as he kept playing, choosing to ignore the chat this time.
Do you remember, when the sun was out
Light was all around, behind the tree
High up in the trees, you made a nest for me
We made loud love above the canopy
Will you wait for me underneath the sea?
Can you hold your breath until I'm free? (Until I'm free!)
Alvin stopped trying to engage with the chat. He was too wrapped up in the song as his face grew dimmer and his eyes began to shimmer a little more. He tried to shake it off to save face and all the while he sang, the chat went rabid.
If you love me, don't you let me go
If you love me, don't go (Don't go!)
If you love me, don't you let me go
If you love me, don't go
Down the old road Past the dry well (Past the dry well)
There was one thing I could tell (I could tell!)
And we both knew That it wasn't true (Wasn't true!)
Only I knew It was you (It was you!)
His voice struggled more and more as he sang to the verses and strummed his guitar. He tried to force it into frustration and act as if he was really passionate about the song for the sake of the chat not laughing at him.
All those hard nights, all those perfect days (All those perfect days!)
All my memories, fade away (Fade away!)
So tonight I'll just remember you (Just remember you!)
How I want to, like I do (Like I do!)
If you love me, don't you let me go
If you love me, don't go (Don't go!)
If you love me, don't you let me go
If you love me, don't go
At the last chorus, he began to slow down more and more while he tried to bring it to an end. Once he finished with a lingering note, he sniffed and looked away from the camera as soon as he remembered he was still live streaming.
"Okay, thanks for watching, don't forget to like and subscribe for more live content!" He sniffed again and then ran up to the camera to shut it off, racing through his sign off. Before the live stream ended, the chat poured in with supportive messages, but also others making fun of him and saying exactly what they all knew he was trying to hide.
Editor's Note: This one is a little more experimental and it's super important to listen to the song "Loud Love" by Good Old War prior to reading. Given the nature of the chipmunks, there always has to be that music element to it but with writing, that feels so alien to me. So with this idea I decided to try something a little different for me at least. I'm trying with this to incorporate music somehow into this story series that helps convey the tones I'm going for since I can't animate the scenes and master playlist in my head and I don't have an endless budget to hire anyone. The best part about fanfiction is no licensing fees!