The ground shook. A merchant dropped a crate of olives. I didn't blink. I hit the pre-chorus with a vibrato so intense it rivaled the tectonic plates shifting beneath us.
I held the note for three minutes. The ash encased me in a permanent, singing pose—a masterpiece of vocal commitment. Thousands of years later, archaeologists found me. They didn't find a person; they found a legend frozen in a mid-belt "Eh-he-oh."
People were screaming and running for the harbor, but I stayed centered. As the pyroclastic flow began its descent, I hit that final, iconic line: "Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?"
Then, the moment everyone was waiting for. The clouds turned black, the first dusting of ash hit my shoulders, and I leaped onto a fountain ledge for the big drop. "But if you close your eyes!" I roared.
I didn’t have a backing track. I didn’t have a microphone. I just had the raw power of my own lungs and a dream.
I took a deep breath, ignored the rumbling of Mount Vesuvius in the distance, and began.
“Eh-he-oh, he-oh!” (Bass) “EH-HE-OH, HE-OH!” (Soprano) “eh-he-oh...” (A very breathy, dramatic whisper)
Except, I didn't just sing the words. I became the melody. I did the part, but since it was just my voice, I layered it. I was the lead, the backup, and the synthesizer all at once.