obligato

Chapter 01: i
Chapter 02: ii

A smart fellow once told me,
If it can't be sightread, it can't be played

(Maybe he wasn't exactly smart, more wise, but it doesn't matter - the adjective here is a vehicle for fond recollection, although very often it is difficult to be fond of stupid people nonetheless)

And of course, you might as well say that,
If you can't sightread it, then you can't play it
Sort of a crossroads from pithy to profound

If it doesn't strike you, then don't strike it
Leave well enough alone
And trust your gut, which says
I don't think I care for this, after all

If you don't care for it, you've no business playing it
Unless it has business playing you
(Here conjure the image of coins being grubbed from coffers by a smart, or wise, or stupid [read foolish] hand)

If you just can't get the spirit of the thing !
Well then, you might as well give up trying
(That's rubbish, and then you're really a fool)

If you can't say, I love what I'm doing, and I'm glad to be here, without needing to go home and practice
(Even if you're just looking at stupid people and having a laugh, which you can get a practicing license for, if you're good)
Well then, pack up your horn and get the hell out!
But that's nothing we need concern ourselves with, is it?

obviously, we're horn players
obviously, we have the most fun
except when we're kvetching, which makes you laugh anyway, doesn't it?
obviously we're the handsome ones here in the back

obviously we're ridiculous, and ridiculously focused
obviously, we're like a royal court
king and jester, duke and queen
obviously we're not going to waste our time

obviously, we're horn players
obviously, our bells ring up the loudest and rival with so many other sounds
we know what's going on, except when we don't, which is fine, because we sound good anyway
obviously we couldn't be anything else

obviously, you wouldn't want us any other way
obviously, you wouldn't want any other players
the peanut gallery, buy the one and get the other free, frick - and this is crucial - frack
obviously we're irreplaceable