Endings are tough. You need to tie up as many dangling threads as possible, leave the reader satisfied that reading the book was worthwhile, and try to go out on a memorable high note without it feeling abrupt or forced.
Traditional (but still accurate) opening aside, this ending was extra tough since it isn’t necessarily the end end. Local Boy Done Gone was supposed to be half of a two volume, read in any order sequel1. The other half is called Nelsonification and follows Local Boy’s son, Nelson, the old man, and the redhead on adjacent adventures inside the same timeline(s). The simultaneous release got scrapped when life got in the way, but the goal here was to still wrap up one standalone story while setting up another AND playing it in such a way I’d know it was the midpoint for some readers and the end for others. TL;DR: Tall order for a last but not last chapter!
The chapter itself is a redux of chapter 32 with an older/wiser Local Boy taking the reins and pushing the previous daughter saving resolution further to give 27 musicians a happier ending. How? Via “Won One” — the most important song in all timelines.2 By “putting won and one” together (get it?3) a good timeline is had by all.
Tidbits:
- The lyrics to the little Schödinger ditty are slightly different / arguably better than they were previously, showing Local Boy’s growth as a songwriter.
- Telling his younger self he shouldn’t know too much about his own future shows Local Boy is starting to become the old man—though we still haven’t definitively determined if the old man is his older self or his son’s older self…
- “Becoming someone else is…“
- The lists of hair/skin/eyes represent the 27 club members from the redhead’s list. (The eyes were the most fun / referential.)
| Musician | Hair | Skin | Eyes |
| Robert Johnson | short | black | dislocated lens |
| Billie Holiday | gardenia | black | jaundiced |
| Sam Cooke | natural | black | glowing |
| Jesse Belvin | pompadour | black | angels |
| Elvis Presley | ducktail | white | suspicious |
| Rudy Lewis | flat-top | black | rainbow |
| Paul McCartney | mop-top | white | stormy |
| Jimi Hendrix | afro | black | gypsy |
| Janis Joplin | shag | white | apple |
| Jim Morrison | helmet-esque | white | always black |
| Pigpen | long | white | boar hogs |
| David Bowie | slicked | alien | anisocoric |
| Pete Ham | shaggy | white | smiling sorrow |
| Billy Joel | mullet | white | Cuban skies |
| LoBoDoGo (Local Boy) | lion’s mane | white | eleven |
| Chris Bell | curly | white | bitter |
| Flavor Flav | dreadlocks | white | clocks |
| James Robert Morrison (Jim Bob) | fringe | black | starry |
| Mia Zapata | greased | white | chained |
| Kurt Cobain | punk-rock | white | Pisces |
| Kristen Pfaff | bangs | white | kohl |
| Elliott Smith | braids | white | stained glass |
| Rivers Cuomo | bowl | white | back of my head |
| Guigsy | Noel | white | beady |
| Sistine | strawberry | white | having the look |
| Britney Spears | layered | white | big |
| Amy Winehouse | beehive | white | flickering |
- I ended up with a bit of a BTTF II Jennifer problem where I didn’t want two Local Boys in the back of the van at the end for Nelsonification purposes. Thankfully I’d introduced a leaping-type concept earlier, allowing me to casually pull the Timely Persuasion narrator into the van like it’s no big deal4.
- “Jukebotic communication devices” is a tiny nod to Benji Hughes and LILILIL.
- The actual most covered song of all time is “Yesterday” by The Beatles. Having “Won One” take over that title—and be announced on the Coverville podcast by the world’s foremost authority on cover songs Brian Ibbott—was a fun little easter egg setting up a bigger role for a certain archivist in Nelsonification.
- I couldn’t end the book without saying dangerous folk rock appeal one last time.5
- Timely Persuasion starts at a bowling alley. The narrator sees a tan van drive away shortly after he gains the ability to time travel. The redhead asks if anyone wants to go bowling before settling into the driver’s seat. Wonder where6 she’s taking everyone…
- The final line of Timely Persuasion is “And maybe somebody was.” Finding a way to land on a similar (and rhyming!) line here really excited me.
- It wasn’t until a few months after the book was release I realized how much the ending parallels L Extreme with the (spoiler alert) “play a bunch of songs to save the day” resolution. In LX it’s all the songs on A Love Extreme; here it’s 27 renditions of “Won One,” all done as if they were the original.
Check out Local Boy Done Gone
FOOTNOTES:
- Sequel isn’t exactly the right word, but isn’t wrong either. It’s simultaneously a prequel/sequel/sidequel. Isn’t time travel fun? I should call it a timequel… ↩︎
- Thanks, Bill & Ted! ↩︎
- Maybe this one truly is my favorite chapter title. ↩︎
- It’s kind of a big deal. ↩︎
- Nor this series of commentary blog posts, brimming with dangerous folk rock appeal. ↩︎
- The appropriate question is when the hell are they. ↩︎