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Jack’s birthday was right around the corner, and Davey had no idea what he wanted to do. Correction: he knew exactly what he wanted to do, but he had no clue where to start with it. He wanted to write Jack a song. The problem was that he’d never written a song before and didn’t know how to make a good one. So he went to Katherine for advice. She literally wrote for a living, so maybe she could help.
So about one week before the big day, on his way to work, he stopped by Katherine’s and asked her if she’d come to his house in the evening to help him with something, and she agreed. And that evening, she was there.
“Hey, Katherine! Come on in!”
“Hi! You said you needed my help with something?”
“Yeah.” They sat down on the floor. “I want to write Jack a song for his birthday, but I have no idea where to start.”
“A song? Oh Davey, that’s so sweet!” Katherine gushed, setting the notepad she’d been holding on her lap and getting a pencil from behind her ear. “Alright. Why don’t we start by talking? Tell me how you feel about Jack. Describe your relationship, how you feel around him, all that stuff. We can build from there.”
“Okay…well, one of the main things about Jack is that he’s reckless and headstrong and stubborn, and yet he’s my…my place of peace in this crazy, messed-up world.”
“Interesting…” Katherine muttered as she jotted things down, “tell me more.”
“During the strike, everything was so uncertain and chaotic and random and scary and I never knew what was gonna happen next…but none of that mattered, because we had each other. And even now that everything’s settled down, there’s still that feeling of security with him…chaotic as he is.”
Katherine smiled. “You really love him, don’t you?”
Davey nodded. “Yes.”
Katherine showed Davey the notes she took. She had jotted down the words “place of peace”, “uncertain”, “chaotic”, “random”, and “security”.
“This is just about everything I got from what you said. And if you ask me, these are some pretty good words to write a love song with,” she said.
So they spent the next few hours bouncing ideas off of each other, and before they knew it, they had a full song’s worth of lyrics. They didn’t have a melody yet, though, and Katherine needed to head out because it was getting late. But according to herself, she wouldn’t have been much help with that part anyway.
But as it turned out, it wasn’t like he would have needed help. He stayed up late that night stringing notes together in his head to go with the lyrics. And by midnight the song was complete; now it was just a matter of finding an accompanist and convincing Miss Medda to let him sing the song at her next show. Neither of these things would be too hard, though. Sarah loved playing piano, and Miss Medda loved it when Davey would sing for her shows.
First thing the next morning, he gave Sarah the full update and asked if she would play the piano, which she was more than happy to. Then he stopped by the theatre after working hours to tell Medda everything, and to say she was thrilled would be an understatement. She absolutely loved the idea and decided that he would be the grand finale for the show.
Sarah and Davey spent the next week practicing like crazy. Sarah had Davey sing the song over and over until she could figure out accompaniment that they both liked. But once she did, rehearsing was a breeze. Davey sounded amazing and there was no doubt in Sarah’s mind that Jack would absolutely adore the surprise.
Soon enough, the big day came. Jack spent the day at work selling with his friends (and he wouldn’t have had it any other way), and Katherine went up to Jack and told him that she’d pay for him to see Medda’s show as a birthday gift. He was unwilling at first, but eventually gave in (which was good. The entire plan could have fallen apart if he refused).
That night, Jack sat in the audience with Katherine, Crutchie, Race, and Albert to his right and Les and the Jacobs parents to his left. A few other Newsies who Miss Medda let in for free were sitting in the row behind them. Davey and Sarah were backstage, and Davey was beyond nervous.
Sarah put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, you got this, okay?”
Davey sighed and nodded. “I hope he likes it.”
“Of course he will! If someone wrote that song about me, I’d probably propose right then and there.”
Davey laughed and crossed his arms. “Maybe not that extreme, but I do feel a little better.”
Sarah hugged her little brother. Then they said nothing, they just watched the show from backstage with their arms around each other.
“Are you nervous?” Davey asked suddenly, right before they were supposed to go on.
“A little. But we’ll be great! We got this, Dave.”
And then it was time for them to go on.
“And now, for the grand finale, performing a song he wrote with the help of esteemed reporter Katherine Plumber and with the accompaniment of older sister Sarah, please welcome David Jacobs!”
Davey stepped out into the crowd. Miss Medda, who was backstage on the opposite side of where the siblings had just been, smiled at him encouragingly. Davey looked at Sarah and nodded, which was her cue to start playing.
“Perfect Manhattan night
A thousand tiny specks of light
Go streaking 'cross
The summer sky
Shooting stars, they fall from grace
Hurtle blind through outer space
There's gotta be some reason why
All around the heavens slowly start to fall
They go tumbling through a universe that makes no sense at all
Yeah, the world's a mess
It's chaotic and random, I couldn't care less
'Cause I found something true
In the intricate chaos of you.”
It was around now that Jack began to realize that the song was about him. His jaw dropped and he looked over in Katherine and Crutchie’s direction, and they both beamed at him as Davey continued to sing. He was no longer thinking about his nerves and just allowing himself to get lost in the song, in his thoughts about Jack, his beloved Jack.
“All this cosmic energy
Is swirling through infinity
A mystery I can't explain
But the bigger secret lies
In those supernova eyes
And all the worlds that they contain
There are forces that I'll never understand
But it doesn't seem to matter any time you take my hand
Yeah, the world's a mess
It's chaotic and random, I couldn't care less
'Cause I found something true
In the intricate chaos of you
You lie by my side as the heavens rush past
I feel like I'm falling impossibly fast
In a world full of madness that won't ever cease
Somehow I found my place of peace
So the world keeps spinning on
As the day begins to dawn
Your eyes meet mine in the space between
Time slows down for just a while
In a single simple smile I finally see what it all might mean
Hold me close beneath the brilliant skies above
We'll go tumbling through the contradicting senselessness of love…”
For the last part of the song, Davey sang with as much love, passion, and power as he could muster, and everyone in the room felt it.
“Yeah, the world's a mess
It's chaotic and random, I couldn't care less
'Cause I found something true
Yes, I found something true
In the intricate chaos of you.”
The room erupted into applause. Jack, overwhelmed with emotion and at a loss for adequate words, wiped away a few tears, hoping no one would see (Katherine and Crutchie both did, but neither of them said anything).
After the show, Jack went up to Davey and just hugged him.
“That was beautiful, Dave,” he said.
“You liked it?”
“It was great! Ya really feel that way about me?”
“Of course, Jackie! You’re one of the best things that ever happened to me, never forget that.”
“I don’t have a song or any fancy words to say it, but right back at ya. Thank you.”
“Happy birthday, love.”
They kissed.