The one last song

My late brother and I lived in different cities, and we tended to have long and hectic phone conversations.

- By Charlotte Grimshaw

Often, he talked and I listened, and many of his thoughts were about music. One day, he was imagining the best song to send at the end of a relationship. When hope was lost and all was ruined, what would be the perfect song to mark the finale?

I had questions. Would it be just one song? How would it be sent? If it went via WhatsApp, should there be an accompanying instruction to listen through quality headphones? You wouldn't want it coming out all tinny from the phone. What if there was an inappropriate video? Would that create a distraction?

His tone was typical, tongue-in-cheek, satirical, yet serious, too. He was musical, could sing perfectly in tune, and had wide-ranging and eclectic tastes. He knew vastly more about music than I did. When we were kids, he spent years learning the piano with William Dart. (I dropped out after a month.)