Encore: Chapter 7

You’re never gonna find what you’re looking for, there’s always gonna be another door. Turn back to the light, reclaim the fight, it’s where you come from…

Shuey Portman remembered that day in the studio, the old Grand Studios near Edison, where the ancient Spanish guy with ears so sharp they could catch a fly buzzing in the next room would close his eyes with pleasure when Shuey went high. The choir had come early and everyone was getting ready for the star to make his entrance. Shuey pulled in half an hour after he was supposed to, belted out the song in two takes, and allowed himself to believe his producer’s promises that this would be huge.

In an interview on Nachum Segal, Shuey had called it an anthem for the youth, a rallying cry for the kids at risk. Back then, he’d thought “Remember the Glory” was ground-breaking, a different sort of message — but despite the confident assurances of his producer, the song never made it. Maybe the kids at risk weren’t listening to his music, or maybe they just didn’t want an anthem.

Now, the words of the high part played in Shuey’s head, an anthem to a 36-year-old kosher snack salesman who was convinced, for some reason, that he was on the verge of finding happiness. So far, every time a door opened for him, he faced another door. He hadn’t found what he was looking for.